» The members of a civic organization located in South Gyeongsang Province and Busan Metro City demonstrate against the Lee Myung-bak administration's decision to resume imports of U.S. beef from cows older than thirty months old at Gaman Port in Busan on August 2, 2008.

More than 20 progressive civic groups vowed yesterday to reject subsidies from the South Gyeongsang Provincial Office after the provincial office announced it would not give subsidies to groups that have an experience to be punished by “Assembly and Demonstration Act”.

The progressive organizations said, “South Gyeongsang Province has revealed its intention to tame the progressive organizations through the subsidies. Therefore we decided not to apply for them.”

Lee Jong-eun, the director of the Federation of Civic Organizations located in South Gyeongsang Province, said on the same day that “Twenty organizations affiliated with the federation will not apply for the subsidies and some of the organizations that have already applied for them will withdraw their applications.”

The federation includes the Korean Federation for Environment Movement, the Citizens‘ Coalition for Economic Justice and the YMCA.

The South Gyeongsang Provincial Office had announced on May 15 that it would distribute a total of 656 million won ($514,380) to the civic organizations, which was double the amount of money compared to last year’s subsidies. However, it limited the areas to which the subsidies could be applied to “green growth” and “economic revival.” It also excluded groups that have an experience to be punished by “Assembly and Demonstration Act” from receiving the funds.

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