Editor-in-Chief: Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman 
   
 Anti-FTA protests turn violent in S Korea
 
SEOUL: South Korean farmers and activists clashed with riot police in at least three provincial cities on Wednesday in protests against a free-trade deal with the United States, police said.

The violence came after unionists and activists called strikes and rallies nationwide against proposed labour reforms and the South Korea-US free trade agreement.

In the eastern city of Chuncheon, riot police trained water canons and fire extinguishers at some 150 protestors as they attempted to force their way into the Gangweon provincial government compound.

“At least three were injured, including one protestor with bone fractures in his leg,” a police officer told AFP by phone.

“The protestors wound a rope and tore down the iron gates which apparently fell upon the man’s leg,” he said. A policeman also suffered a cut over his eye when his glasses were shattered by a stick wielded by a protestor.

The 150 protestors were among some 3,500 people who marched through the streets toward the compound, chanting slogans and carrying banners against the South Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA) deal.

Similar but less violent protests were reported in the central cities of Daejeon and Cheongju.

In Seoul, some 5,000 people marched through the city centre for a candlelight rally near the City Hall. They chanted, “Let’s unite and crush FTA” and “Stop US mad cow beef.”

The Korean Alliance against the Korea-US FTA, a coalition of civic groups, has called for street protests every Wednesday for three straight weeks, starting November 22, to urge an end to the negotiations.

The protests drew some 70,000 people in Seoul and 12 provincial cities, it said.

In contrast to the violent anti-FTA protests, unions’ response to the strike call was more muted than in the past.

Unions at three major carmakers stopped work for just four hours instead of the requested eight, and workers at a fourth ignored what some labour leaders called a “political” strike.

Auto workers are normally among the nation’s most militant.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) had Tuesday urged its members, notably auto workers, to stage a day-long stoppage in protest at government labour reform proposals and talks on the free trade agreement (FTA).

It said the number of strikers, mostly auto workers, exceeded 200,000 nationwide Wednesday but the labor ministry said only 59,000 workers at 112 workplaces joined the walkout.

Unions at top automaker Hyundai Motor, its sister company Kia Motors and Ssangyong Motor staged a four-hour afternoon strike. GM Daewoo workers did not stop work.

“This political strike does not really mean to bring big damage to the company,” Song Hee-Seok, a Hyundai Motor union leader, told AFP. GM Daewoo’s union said assembly line operations were normal.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors lost production of 2,500 cars due to a four-hour partial strike last week. The auto industry is a key growth engine for the export-driven economy.

“Hyundai and Kia have already had a long spell of strikes over wage negotiations and they are under public pressure not to stage further strikes,” said Kim Jun-Ki, an analyst at the Korean Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

Unions at automakers owned or run by foreign companies no longer go on strike for political purposes, he told AFP. “They have turned practical for the sake of unionised workers’ welfare.”

President Roh Moo-Hyun’s government has been pushing for the US FTA despite strong opposition from farmers, workers and other activists who fear for their livelihoods.

Apart from the FTA, the KCTU opposes attempts to reduce disparities between “regular” workers on full contracts with unemployment, pension and health benefits, and “irregular” workers with far fewer benefits.