Amnesty Int’l declares “urgent action” regarding labor in S. Korea

Posted on : 2014-03-19 15:53 KST Modified on : 2014-03-19 15:53 KST
International human rights group pressing for release of incarcerated former Ssangyong unionist
 former leader of the Ssangyong Motor chapter of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union
former leader of the Ssangyong Motor chapter of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union

By Kim Hyo-jin, staff reporter

Amnesty International has declared an “urgent action” campaign to press for the release of Kim Jeong-woo, former leader of the Ssangyong Motor chapter of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union.

Kim was convicted of obstruction of justice when he tried to stop the police from removing a memorial altar to deceased Ssangyong Motor workers that was located outside the main gate to Deoksu Palace in central Seoul. He is currently serving a ten-month prison term.

Amnesty swung into action on Mar. 17, posting a message on the websites of its chapters in around 150 countries - including South Korea - asking members to take part in calls for Kim’s release.

The group announced it was taking “urgent action,” citing concerns that Kim “will be given a heavier sentence by Seoul High Court as part of a continued crackdown on trade unionists in South Korea.”

While Kim will complete his prison sentence in April, Amnesty believes there is a high likelihood that a higher court will give him a harsher sentence, with the prosecutors appealing the verdict of the lower court.

In its call for urgent action, Amnesty also denounced the South Korean government for using damage compensation and seizure of property as means of repressing labor.

“As of May 2013, the total amount of damages claimed against the trade unions affiliated with The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) stood at approximately US$122 million. In November 2013, Suwon District Court ruled that Ssangyong workers must pay approximately US$1.28 million in compensation to the police and US$3.1 million to the company for damages incurred while they were on strike,” Amnesty explained.

This is the first time that Amnesty has taken urgent action regarding South Korea since 2011, when it opposed efforts to deport Michel Catuira, then-president of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants Trade Union (MTU). The group launches an urgent action campaign when it deems that there is an urgent need for intervention in a human rights violation.

“The labor rights situation in South Korea is of great interest to each chapter and the secretariat of Amnesty International and to the International Trade Union Confederation,” said Byun Jeong-pil, campaign leader of Amnesty’s Korean chapter. “We settled on Kim’s case because of its symbolic value and how it may affect various issues related to the violation of labor rights, including damage claims, freedom of association, and suppression of labor by Yoosung Enterprise.”

Last month, Amnesty Secretary General Salil Shetty sent a letter to South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the first anniversary of her inauguration as president. In the letter, Shetty expressed his concerns about various human rights violations in South Korea, referring specifically to the government’s denial of the Korean Government Employees’ Union (KGEU) request for recognition as a union, its decision to strip the Korea Teachers’ and Education Workers’ Union (KTU) of its legal status, and arbitrary application of the National Security Law.

 

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