![]() ![]() But rather than parole Han immediately upon taking office, Moon waited a year to set the labor leader free.Īs a presidential candidate, Moon promised to implement a pro-labor agenda. In 2016, Han Sang-gyun, then the president of KCTU, was jailed for organizing anti-government protests that laid the groundwork for the Candlelight Revolution. The KCTU itself played a pivotal role in Moon’s rise to power. A former human rights lawyer, Moon was elected president four years ago on a pro-labor ticket after months of mass protests, now known as the Candlelight Revolution, led to the impeachment of his corrupt predecessor, Park Geun-hye. ![]() Tensions had been smoldering between organized labor and the government of Moon Jae-in since before the pandemic began. At the time of publication, workers at five hospitals are on strike, despite the deal. Though health care workers had come to a formal agreement with the government, they were not pacified, and they threatened additional work stoppages. Yang’s arrest came on the heels of a national strike by nurses and health care workers, which ended just hours before the police raid on the KCTU headquarters. ![]() Yang’s arrest, which global labor union organizations have condemned as “wrong and disproportionate,” will no doubt worsen relations between the South Korean government and the country’s unionized workforce. Since President Moon Jae-in took office in 2017, his government has escalated tensions with the labor movement, which was largely responsible for his rise to power. This was the backdrop against which KCTU held its rally, where unionists demanded a moratorium on job dismissals during the pandemic and direct cash payouts for workers and small business owners. After eighteen months of the pandemic, however, Koreans have grown tired and frustrated with a government that struggles to vaccinate the population and control new variants. South Korea’s initial response to the pandemic - including strict quarantines and track-and-trace measures that were made possible by the cooperation and sacrifice of working people - was successful enough to draw international praise. After the rally, only three attendees tested positive for COVID, with little evidence tying their infections to the rally. The union members gathered anyway and carefully followed government guidelines for social distancing. On July 3, about eight thousand KCTU members attended the rally, calling on the government to address inequality exacerbated by the pandemic.Ĭiting super-spreader concerns, the government refused to grant a permit for the rally, despite the KCTU’s repeatedly expressed commitment to the COVID protocol. Inside, they arrested Yang Kyung-soo, the president of the country’s largest umbrella organization of independent unions.Ībout three weeks ago, a local court issued an arrest warrant for Yang after prosecutors alleged that he violated COVID-19 social distancing requirements by organizing a rally in downtown Seoul. Before dawn on September 2, 2021, hundreds of police encircled the headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and pried open the door. ![]()
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