Korean Confederation of Trade Unions

On April 10, more than 300 members of the Daewoo Motors Workers Union, with their lawyer holding a copy of a court order, tried to enter their union office located within the Pupyong plant of Daewoo Motors in Inchon. When they arrived at the south gate of the factory, they were met by about 500 riot police in full riot gear. Soon the ranks of the riot police increased to approximately 1,500 officers. What ensued for about three hours was a carnival of bloodthirsty violence and total disregard and disdain for the law, legal rights and human rights by the government of last year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

At the end of the incident-filled day, 14 unionists were hospitalized for various serious injuries - partial paralysis, broken noses, broken ribs and broken hands. Virtually all of the unionists were beaten to varying degrees.

When the unionists were stopped by the riot police, their lawyer from the Korean Metal Workers Federation (KMWF) read out to the riot police the ruling of the court and warned that obstructing the execution of the court ruling was against the law and constituted a crime.

According to a statement issued on April 12 by the Association of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, a commander of the Pupyong police station who was in charge of the riot police which met the unionists claimed that "the government is above the law."

For a time, there was a lull of sorts filled mainly by shouting and shoving by the protesting unionists. This lasted for about one-and-a-half hours. The riot police though began to show their impatience and began beating the unionists who stood up to them. The unionists decided to take off their shirts and lay down in the street to show that they did not mean to do anything but go to their office.

A command, however, was delivered to the riot police to remove the unionists. This was the beginning of the carnage. Riot police began charging the workers, slashing and beating them with their batons and hammering their shields on the unionists lying in the street. Defenceless, the unionists began to get back on their feet and tried to flee, but the riot police chased them, dragging them down and indiscriminately beating them.

After 30 minutes, the rampage ended with bodies strewn on the street, many with blood spewing out of their heads and other parts of their bodies. One unionist had his lung pierced by a broken rib. Another, having been beaten on his head and face, had a broken nose, and the skin around his eye was torn. He now faces the possibility of losing his sight due to excessive hemorrhaging. Another could not stop vomiting because of the barrage of beatings he received. Another could not talk properly, stuttering heavily after the shock of the battering he received.

A total of 43 unionists were taken to the hospital by ambulance. In addition, 21 unionists were arrested and taken away by the police. They were only released after serving 48 hours of mandatory detention for questioning. Most of them were also in need of medical treatment for their injuries.

Unionists 'Banned' from Entering Their Office

The incident occurred as unionists tried to enter their union office. Their office was closed by the management following the forcible removal of the striking workers by the riot police on Feb. 19, 2001. Since then, the management has completely closed off the union office near the south gate of the Pupyong plant. Instead, it designated a small building near the west gate.

However, the new "union office," located within the plant compound, is not accessible from within the compound as it is totally surrounded by a newly erected three-meter-high iron-sheet wall. Anyone wanting to enter the new "union office" has to leave the plant compound through the west gate and go through a hole created in the compound wall to get to the building. Any worker in the plant, in order to go to the "union office," has to obtain a pass to leave the company grounds during working hours.

The union and its leadership, who are camping at Sangok Cathedral near the plant along with about 500 union members who were dismissed by a retrenchment order on Feb. 17, do not recognise the space designated by the management as its office. The original union office near the south gate that was easily accessible to the workers is currently closed by the management.

The Pupyong plant, ever since work resumed on March 7, has become a "martial law" area with more than 2,000 riot police stationed throughout the compound. Each of the gates to the plant compound is guarded by riot police and barricaded by container boxes.

On March 7, the union sought a court injunction against the obstruction of union activities and entry to the union office (the one which is recognized by the union). The Inchon District Court on April 6 delivered its ruling, ordering that members of the union as well as members of its industrial federation, the KMWF, and its national confederation, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), should not be obstructed from entering their original union office. The court ordered the court bailiff to make the intent of its ruling and order public through an appropriate means.

Although the court order was posted at four locations at the Pupyong plant by the court bailiff, the management and the police remained resolute in blocking the union members and leaders from entering the union office. When the union members were blocked by the riot police, the union lawyer, Park Hoon, identified himself and read out the ruling of the court repeatedly, warning the police that its actions were against the law.

When the union members took their shirts off and laid down in the street in protest, Park also joined them. When the police began its violence, Park was also subjected to a brutal beating. Because of the kicks and beating he received on his face, his glasses were broken, causing severe cuts. He also complained of an inability to breath due to the numerous blows he received, and he is reported to have fractured his pelvic bone. He is currently hospitalised and is unable to walk on his own due to the pain.

In a statement, the Association of Lawyers for a Democratic Society described the police action as "barbaric," saying, "It cannot be referred to as police carrying out public authority as it is no different from criminal gangsters." It further noted that, "even during the days of the military regimes of the past when human rights were trampled on, we have not heard of police beating up and causing injury to a lawyer who was carrying out his obligations." The Korean Bar Association on April 12 also issued a statement protesting against the behaviour of the police, especially the total disregard shown to the court order and a law practitioner.

The Public Outrage

When the police atrocities, which were captured on video, were made public, even some police officers expressed deep shame. One police officer, responsible for keeping a watch on the KCTU headquarters, said, "I am totally speechless."

The KCTU produced 1,000 copies of the video to distribute to civil society organisations and member unions. The KCTU web page with a digital video file of the carnage was flooded with concerned citizens. In addition, the KCTU and its affiliates and members plan to organize a video viewing campaign for the public, setting up stalls with video and television monitors on major streets in large cities. The KCTU has presented many civil society organisations and even political parties and the National Assembly with copies of the video. In a statement on April 13, the KCTU invited President Kim Dae-jung to personally view the violence of the police captured on the video to see for himself whether the "work" of his police force was befitting a president who is a recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Condemnations and protest statements expressing outrage and calling on the government to address the cause of the incident were issued by many different organisations: major legal bodies, such as the Korean Bar Association and the Association of Lawyers for a Democratic Society; major civil rights groups, such as People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD); major civic organisations, like the YMCA; and major human rights organisations, such as the Sarangbang Human Rights Group. Some of these organisations have set up an ad hoc investigation committee to examine the case. In addition, some political parties and national assemblymen are also calling for the establishment of a special parliamentary body to investigate the case.

On the other hand, the Korean Employers Federation (KEF), the industrial relations counterpart to the KCTU, in a document distributed on April 13 to its members stated that the police action which led to the savage attack on workers was a "legitimate execution of law and order."

The incident prompted the KCTU to highlight and lament the insensitivity of the whole society that has developed under the numbing impact of the economic crisis and government-driven structural adjustment. The commonly felt urgency to crawl out of the crisis - at whatever the cost (the sacrifice of workers) - that has been encouraged by the government has blinded society and the people to the key principles and values that the people have struggled for over many decades. This has resulted in command-driven restructuring, unquestioning dependence on the government and turning a blind eye to the government's heavy-handed treatment of anyone who opposes or becomes the victim of the "unavoidable" government-led restructuring programme.

For example, in the aftermath of the dismissal of 1,750 workers by Daewoo Motors on Feb. 16, a cumulative total of 671 workers (as of March 13) who took part in various protest actions were arrested by the police, resulting in charges being laid against 100 people, 20 of whom were ordered to be held in custody while the rest will face trial without being held.

The KCTU was moved to declare in its April 14 statement that "we are saddened to suddenly discover that all the progress and achievement in the area of democracy and human rights that have been won by the people through many decades of struggle against dictatorial regimes have been destroyed" while the whole society has been seized by a crisis mentality.

The public outcry is expected to rise and gain momentum. The KCTU's protest rally on April 14 in Pupyong, dubbed "Resolution Rally Calling for the Resignation of the Government of President Kim Dae-jung for Its Responsibility in Police Violence and Massive Retrenchment Dismissal," brought out more than 3,000 people in the Inchon area.

On April 17, the KCTU formally filed a legal action against the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, the chief commander of the Inchon metropolitan city police, the commander of the Pupyong police station and the field commanders of the police responsible for the April 10 incident for abuse of authority, obstruction of the execution of a legal order and manslaughter.

The KCTU in its April 14 statement demanded that President Kim Dae-jung apologise to the people for the violence against the Daewoo Motors unionists and to personally visit the hospitalised workers. It also demanded the immediate dismissal of the chief of police and that criminal action be brought against him as well as the release of all of the arrested members of the Daewoo Motors Workers Union and the resumption of negotiations over the fate of the company.

The Government Is Repenting - Righting the Wrongs?

While the government has suspended the commander of the Pupyong police station from his duties, it has not changed its old habits, for it is targeting unionists to vilify them as the "cause" and "perpetrators" of the violent scenes on April 10.

On April 11, two unionists were apprehended by the police in relation to the union's effort to enter the union office. At the end of two days of detention for questioning, the police and prosecutors have laid charges against them, and they have now been arrested and are being held to face trial on the charges. The police have also issued a subpoena against 56 unionists in relation to the April 10 incident.

The government is not only refusing to recognize the reality that its policies are giving rise to this kind of tension and confrontation all across society, but it is trying the turn the tables against the workers. This reflects the tendency and choice of the government to rely more and more on the physical force of the police and the authoritarian powers of the State to implement its restructuring programmes as they are met with greater resistance due to their glaring ill effects on the people.

Unless the incident is taken by the government as a timely opportunity to review and reflect on what it has been doing wrong and begin to address the causes of the problems, then the government may have to face a widespread groundswell of resistance.