South Korea to arrest 3 union officials who organized beef protests
South Korean police are seeking arrest warrants for three officials in the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions over orchestrating illegal protests and strikes against U.S. beef imports, the Korea Herald reported Thursday.
“They are alleged to have directed KCTU members to go on strike, calling for the renegotiation of the U.S. beef import deal,” the story said. “They are also accused of instructing members to illegally demonstrate in front of warehouses in Gyeonggi Province to block the transit of U.S. beef. The allegations include that they led unauthorized gatherings against U.S. beef imports, and illegal occupations of public roads during the protests” as well as illegal sit-ins at retail outlets selling U.S. beef.
Meanwhile, the KCTU called the decision to arrest its officials a misuse of power and a quashing of democracy.
“The Lee Myung-bak dictatorial regime which betrayed the people is trampling democracy by abusing its power after it lost the confidence of the public,” KCTU said in a statement. “The action is an unjust oppression on the rightful exercise of workers’ rights to protect public health, and an absolutely political one. We will take it as oppression against our 800,000 members, and collectively and strongly react to it.”
Lee, elected president earlier this year, has been dogged by controversy over imports of U.S. beef. A deal to allow all imports to enter South Korea backfired spectacularly in June, when nightly protests in Seoul over the safety of U.S. beef finally compelled Lee to apologize for ignoring public concern. The two countries are still trying to hammer out a deal, with Korea calling on the U.S. government to prohibit the export of older cattle, that are more prone to mad cow disease.
South Korea’s assembly is planning to investigate the lead up to the deal to resume U.S. beef imports, signed April 18, though as of Wednesday, the deeply divided political body had yet to even decide on who should testify in a hearing on the matter.
