hankyoreh

The government shut down about 140 offices of the Korean Government Employees’ Union (KGEU) on September 22, under a law stating that the union must register as a legal entity. The law went into effect in January, but the union had refused to do register itself officially, saying that the law would limit its freedom of assembly and freedom to strike.

Police were sent to forcibly close the offices, and clashed with members of the KGEU in many parts of the country. Forty-nine union members were arrested.

The Yeongdeungpo district police station forcibly pulled the unionists out of their local office and closed the office that morning. In the process, the police arrested seven demonstrators, including Jeong Jong-gwon, chairman of Seoul committee of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP). Meanwhile, the Jongno district police station took in six union members, who disregarded an order to vacate their office. In the union’s Mapo district office, 10 unionists were arrested after a confrontation with police.

According to the police, among 104 offices which will be forcibly shut down, 35 have already been completely closed and 54 are in the process of being vacated.

Regarding the enforcement of the shutdown, an official of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs said, "The public servants’ union hasn’t registered as a legal entity, disregarding the law enacted this year. As we can’t associate with unlawful organizations, we will continue to urge those union members to withdraw from the union after shutting down the union offices."

In response, the KGEU, supported by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the nation’s two largest umbrella labor groups, firmly declared that it would strongly resist the government measure. In consequence, clashes and conflicts between the authorities and the union will likely become even more serious. "The government tries to destroy our union, using the same methods as the past military dictatorships. We will strongly resist the authorities and fight to recover our union offices," said Kwon Seung-bok, head of the KGEU. Kwon has been on a hunger strike for 11 days.

Choi Nak-sam, a spokesperson of the KGEU, said, "We can’t accept the current law, which completely ignores workers’ fundamental rights. We are going to stage a joint demonstration with civic groups."

Civic organizations urged the government to stop suppressing the union. Over 200 legal experts, including lawyers and jurists, held a press conference in front of the Central Government Complex in Seoul, reproaching the government for its measures toward the union. The group said that bodies such as the International Labor Organization (ILO) also urged the government to solve the problem through dialogue.

In a statement, the DLP said, "The government is interfering in labor rights by forcing us out of our offices for the sole reason of not registering as a legal entity, when our actions have been just."