Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 15:06:23 +0200
Subject: M-G: Korean Unions May Launch Labor Party


Thought I would forward this to the lists.
Bob Malecki
>From: Institute for Global Communications <labornews-AT-igc.apc.org>
>Subject: Korean Unions May Launch Labor Party
>
>
>Korean Herald
> 03-31-97 : Labor Groups Likely to Form Political Force
>> 
>>      By Choe Seung-chul Staff reporter
>> 
>>      What critics call old-fashioned Korean politics is likely to
>>      undergo a major change later this year in the wake of the change
>>      to the labor laws. Labor groups are expected to form their own
>>      political force in the near future as new labor laws, passed by
>>      the National Assembly early this month, allow workers to become
>>      involved in politics. The militant Korean Confederation of Trade
>>      Unions (KCTU), the nation's second largest umbrella union, is
>>      seeking to play a role in December's presidential poll.
>> 
>>      In a conference of representatives from member unions Thursday,
>>      the KCTU decided to actively participate in the coming
>>      presidential election either by fielding its own candidate or by
>>      forming an alliance with opposition parties. In the meeting, KCTU
>>      leaders also agreed to launch an ad hoc panel, which they said
>>      will be composed of more than a thousand union leaders, during
>>      the first half of this year to carry out joint activities with
>>      dissident and civic groups.
>> 
>>      After this, around September at the earliest, they plan to stage
>>      a full-fledged election campaign backing an independent pro-labor
>>      candidate who they believe would work in the interest of workers,
>>      KCTU officials said. They also plan campaigns against those who
>>      voted for the old labor bills passed through the Assembly in a
>>      secret predawn parliamentary session last December with only
>>      ruling party members present.
>> 
>>      The labor group, which remained outlawed until it acquired legal
>>      status via the new labor legislation, spearheaded a month-long
>>      protest strike against the old labor laws. An official said that
>>      the organization will ``seek to form a joint front with dissident
>>      and opposition groups against the ruling party or launch an
>>      intermediate political group before the December vote.''
>> 
>>      The KCTU also plans to stage a full-scale election campaign
>>      against the established political parties right after its member
>>      unions approve the plan in a vote slated for August. ``We will
>>      actively play a role in the upcoming presidential election as
>>      it's about time we pursued the interests of workers and citizens
>>      and reinforce our strength on our own,'' an official said. The
>>      ultimate goal of the organization goes beyond the December poll,
>>      says Chang Yong-hwa, another official.
>> 
>>      ``Our objective is to launch a reformative party in which workers
>>      would have the initiative as stipulated in the KCTU's platform,
>>      and secure a negotiating group in the National Assembly in the
>>      year 2000,'' he said. Chang said his group has had a political
>>      committee in operation since the inauguration of the KCTU in late
>>      1995 and the panel has studied ways of building a party of their
>>      own.
>> 
>>      The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) which claims the
>>      largest membership doesn't seem to be interested in forming a
>>      political party. Federation officials said they, instead, focus
>>      their efforts on backing a candidate who they believe would work
>>      for union interests. As soon as they agree on whom they support,
>>      they will begin campaigns, they said.
>> 
>>      Established politicians seem to accept the possible inauguration
>>      of a pro-labor party as ``inevitable'' but feel
>>      ``uncomfortable.'' ``The advent of a labor-backed political force
>>      is expected to greatly affect boss-dominated and
>>      regionalism-based Korean politics,'' said Rep. Chun Jung-bae, a
>>      lawyer-turned legislator of the opposition National Congress for
>>      New Politics.
>> 
>>      But he said that many politicians will feel uneasy about the new
>>      political force, which is likely to challenge their old-fashioned
>>      political practices. Chun, however, predicted that labor groups
>>      are likely to fail if they seriously aim to win the December vote
>>      by fielding an independent candidate. Chances of victory look
>>      very slim, he said. Han Sang-jin, a sociology professor at Seoul
>>      National University, agreed with him.
>> 
>>      ``With their reformist features, their potential is enormous as
>>      they would be able to successfully set themselves apart from
>>      existing parties,'' Han said. By competing the established
>>      political parties in an election, they may contribute to
>>      modernizing old-fashioned politics, he said.
>> 
>>      ``But they should be able to come up with various programs that
>>      could attract the lower classes estranged by the established
>>      political parties and create improved political competition,''
>>      Han said, adding that any hasty move by workers to launch a
>>      political party without extensive studies would only lead to an
>>      early collapse.
>
>
>


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