S. Korean Workers Strike to Protest Govt Manipulation


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

source - Reuters 05:57 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern 

By Kim Se-yoon 

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's unionized workers expanded their strikes
Thursday and vowed they would get even bigger unless the government
addressed allegations that a state-prosecutor masterminded an earlier 
strike. 

The government said it wanted a dialogue.

The Korea Metal Workers' Federation, which represents the country's
auto-related industries, said the number of workers on strike
nationwide rose to about 20,000 from about 17,000 the previous day.

``The federation will not stop its strikes unless the government
completely reveals the truth, introduces a special prosecutor and
punishes those prosecutors who worsened the labor-management relations
by manipulating strikes at the national mint,'' said a federation
spokesman.

Local media have reported that a state prosecutor bragged to reporters
over drinks that he had triggered a strike at the national mint last
November by getting the mint chief to shut down one of the company's
plants.

The prosecutor reportedly wanted to give the government an opportunity
to show its resolve in the face of labor unrest by cracking down on an
illegal strike, the reports said.

After an emergency meeting of labor-related ministers, the government
said it would seek dialogue with the labor groups to ease ongoing
strikes and try to address allegations about the mint strike scandal.

``The government will seek to have a dialogue with labor groups and try
to persuade them to end their strikes,'' a labor ministry official
quoted ministers as saying at the meeting.

``Ongoing strikes could hurt the South Korean economy,'' Prime Minister
Kim Jong-pil was quoted as saying.

The militant Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has scheduled a
massive rally in Seoul Saturday and would begin nationwide general
strikes on June 17.

``The government should punish officials related to the scandal and
address allegations about the mint strike scandal,'' KCTU said in a
statement.

The more moderate Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) planned to
strike on June 16 for one day and again on June 26 to demand wage
increases and an end to massive layoffs.

South Korean labor groups said the mint scandal had fueled
participation in the latest round of strikes which began as a protest
against layoffs resulting from corporate restructuring.

The labor ministry said the strikes were unrelated to the brewing
controversy over possible government manipulation of the national mint
strike.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has said the government would clear
any suspicions about the national mint strike manipulation.

Earlier in the week, the president sacked his justice minister because
of the scandal.

The ruling and opposition parties are still negotiating the terms of a
government-level investigation into the matter.
 
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