Following three days of regional strikes on 25 June – 27 June, the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) called
a national metal workers’ strike on 28 June 2007 and again on 29 June 2007 in opposition to the signing of the
Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. Over 110,000 (out of 150,000) KMWU members stopped production lines all
over the country, with striking workers joining regional rallies throughout the peninsula on both days.

The KMWU strike was part of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) all-out struggle against the
KOR-US FTA. Braving pelting rains, KCTU members from other sectors joined the metal workers at Daehakro
Street, where the KMWU had held a strike rally for strikers from Seoul and outlying regions. After the KCTU
demonstration, peasants, culture groups, women’s groups, students, and other social movements and NGOs
joined the 20,000 workers and all the demonstrators marched to the center of downtown. With over 100 riot
police buses blocking the way, the closing rally was held at Jongro-1-ga, sponsored by the Korean Alliance
against the KOR-US FTA (KoA), a broad alliance of about 300 different groups from civil society and social
movements, including the two national trade union centers. Particularly, on 29 June, the Korean and US trade
negotiators were concluding a superficial and ineffective clause for labor rights to dress up the agreement,
which heightened the concern but will not change our opposition to the FTA.

[Picture not reproduced here: Workers in raincoats fill the streets of Seoul against the FTA on 29 June 2007, with
over 20,000 demonstrators voicing workers’ and peoples’ opposition to the Korea-US FTA]

Ironically, even while the “FTA labor rights clause” re-negotiations with the US were underway, the South
Korean government actively sought to prevent the metal workers from exercising the right of collective action
by denouncing the strikes as “illegal.” This is based on the government’s somewhat political view of the strike
and view that workers ought not strike over larger socio-economic issues relating to globalization even though
the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) has explicitly acknowledged—in reference to Korea in the
CFA June 2007 report—that larger socio-economic globalization issues are valid concerns for workers and the
right of collective action should not be restricted solely on the basis that globalization issues are involved. Yet,
in a cabinet meeting on 19 June, South Korean President ROH, Moo Hyun set the tone by calling the workers’
concerns about the impacts of a Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, “improper/illegitimate claims,” and stating:
“It is difficult to permit improper/illegitimate claims forwarded through illegal methods.” Thus, the Thursday
before the strike (21 June), the Labor Minister, in collaboration with the Minister of Justice and Minister of
Commerce, Industry and Energy, announced in a joint statement that the strike is now defined as “illegal.” The
Labor Minister also went on public radio to tell workers that the government would not “tolerate” the strike;
meanwhile the public prosecutor had also been warning workers they would be dealt with sternly on the basis
of “no tolerance” for this collective action.

On 27 June – 28 June, the South Korean government speedily issued arrest warrants for the KMWU President,
First Vice President, and General Secretary on the national level, and every single chairperson of all 14 KMWU
Regional Branches. Arrest warrants were then issued for 6 KMWU Hyundai Motors Branch top officers as well
as for 4 officers of the KMWU Branch at Kia Motors. Thus, in the run-up to the 29 June demonstration, already
27 KMWU national, regional and enterprise-level leadership were wanted by the government for arrest.

Employers have filed damages claims for losses, resulting in the government opening investigations for possible
“criminal obstruction of business” of 67 KMWU leaders at regional, national and local level because of the
strike, thereby opening the path for police interference into union affairs and harassment of union leaders.

In particular, the speed with which all the summons were served and how quickly the courts authorized all 27
arrest warrants cannot help but raise suspicions that instead of handling this in normal procedural channels
where police must justify the arrest warrant, the arrest warrants and summons for KMWU were somehow fasttracked
through with an urgency stemming from the politically motivated goal of blocking the workers’ efforts
to voice their concerns to the public.

Unprecedented Targeting of KMWU Leadership at All Levels for Arrest and Damages Claims

- 27 Arrest Warrants
(criminal obstruction
of business by
holding a strike)

* National Level: KMWU President, First Vice President, General Secretary (3 persons)

* Regional Branch Level: Chairs of all 14 KMWU Regional Branches (14 persons)

* Enterprise Branch Level: All six officers of the KMWU Hyundai Motors Branch and 4
officers of the KMWU Kia Motors Branch (10 persons)

– 67 Summons for
Police Intelligence
Unit Investigation
(criminal obstruction
of business by
holding a strike)

* National Level: All KMWU National Elected Officers (9 persons)

* Regional Branch Level: All 14 KMWU Regional Branch Chairs and 10 officers from
the Ulsan Regional Branch (24 persons)

* Enterprise Branch Level: 23 KMWU Hyundai Motors Branch officers and 8 KMWU
Kia Motors Branch officers (31 persons)

* Local Level: 3 officers of KMWU Kyeongnam Branch, Rothem Local (3 persons)

This also makes it difficult for the elected union representatives to promote national and regional industrial
bargaining since they are all “on the run” so to speak, wanted for arrest in relations to FTA strike activity.

But at the metal workers’ 12:30 strike rally on 29 June, KMWU President JUNG, Gab-Deuk made it clear that
workers would not be intimidated into silence on the FTA because of the government’s retaliatory steps: “Even
if the two presidents [US President George BUSH and South Korean President ROH, Moo Hyun] sign the deal,
there remains the issue of ratification by the legislative branch. This is only the beginning of the struggle!”

Referring to the large number of arrest warrants rapidly issued by the South Korean government against all
levels of the national and regional leadership of the KMWU as well as the harsh and distorting press reports
defaming the union, he went on to say, “The more they try to trample us, the stronger our resistance will
grow.”

Representing the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), IMF Southeast Asia and Pacific Regional
Representative P. Arunasalam gave a solidarity speech at the rally, expressing the solidarity of 25 million metal
workers around the globe in fighting unjust free trade agreements.

[Picture not reproduced here: Solidarity from workers around the
globe, who understand that Free Trade
Agreements mean capital mobility,
financial speculation and the conditions
for loss of employment, wages, and a
race to the bottom on working
conditions.
IMF Southeast Asia and Pacific Regional
Representative P. Arunasalam speaks
to the strikers, 29 June 2007]

International Solidarity

Solidarity messages poured in from all over the world from workers and organizations who had heard about
the strike against the FTA, a crucial reminder that South Korean unionists are not alone in the struggle against
neoliberal Free Trade Agreements such as the Kor-US FTA. In the face of strong government pressure and
actions together with distorting media depictions of the strike, the presence of the International Metalworkers’
Federation and the solidarity messages from the four corners of the globe were a visible sign that workers
understand we all need to resist being pit against one another in an all-out competition and race to the bottom.
The names of the organizations sending solidarity messages (box above) were also announced at the 29 June
rally and printed in the KMWU newspaper.

KCTU National Workers’ Rally

Following the KMWU rally, the KCTU sponsored a KCTU National Workers’ Rally at the Daehakro Street site.
KCTU President LEE, Suk-haeng called on workers to defeat the FTA through a KCTU all-out struggle in solidarity
with small farmers, who would be devastated by the FTA if it came into force. He also spoke about the plight of
irregular workers in relation to the Irregular Workers Law Enforcement Ordinance that comes into force as of
July 1; the laws have had the perverse effect of leading to mass dismissals of irregular workers all over the
country because glaring loopholes in the law allow employers to fire irregular workers to avoid regularizing
them. LEE spoke of JEONG, Su-un, an irregular worker and union member who worked at the same high school
for 12 years, but was kicked out of the workplace because of the Irregular Workers’ Law. As an irregular
worker with no recourse, JEONG tried to commit suicide by drinking poison, but survived and is currently
hospitalized. Irregular workers in both public and private sectors are being fired with retail store occupations
by dismissed irregular workers and other fightbacks, but JEONG’s poignant case serves as a stark reminder of
the harsh realities and obstacles irregular workers face in trying to attain decent, secure work.

[Picture not reproduced: KCTU President LEE, Suk-haeng (below, center in navy coat) spoke about the plight of irregular workers
and the Free Trade Agreement at the National Workers’ Rally that followed at Daehakro Street on 29 June]

KCTU President LEE also condemned the witchhunt atmosphere fomented by the mainstream media,
employers and government to isolate the KMWU for opposing the FTA, saying, “Over the course of 20 years
there have been plenty of strikes, but I have never seen the press gouge out workers as much as they have the
metal workers for this anti-FTA strike.” LEE went on to say that the KCTU is proud that metal workers have
stood at the forefront of the difficult struggle against the Kor-US FTA and affirm that the struggle to safeguard
the people’s livelihoods is indeed a just and legitimate struggle.

The 20,000 workers gathered at Daehakro then began a march to downtown Seoul for a closing rally to be
sponsored by the Korean Alliance against the Kor-US FTA (KoA).

Closing Rally Sponsored by KoA

During the march, workers were joined by peasants, women’s groups, students and other sectors. The
marchers gradually broadened the number of lanes of the street occupied by the march. By the time the
demonstrators arrived at Jongro-1-ga, all 8 lanes of the thoroughfare were occupied by about 25,000
protestors. At the KoA rally, KoA once again pointed out that the Kor-US FTA is a politically-driven, hastilybargained
agreement, “concluded only for the sake of concluding an FTA,” without any principles, without any
goals and without any consideration for the livelihoods of the ordinary people. In the course of the
demonstration, enlarged letters spelling “FTA” were set on fire (photo below) as a symbol of the destructive
impacts such an agreement would have and our will to stop this agreement, the biggest FTA for Korea and the
commercially significant for the United States since NAFTA.

By 20:00 , the riot police forces attempted to physically remove the demonstrators, creating small clashes here
and there. A police spy disguised as a demonstrator was discovered to have been recording random
conversations among the Eland Workers’ Union (irregular and regular workers at a large retail store)
participants in the demonstration, and this caused some outcry and outrage. In the course ensuing scuffles,
the police began beating protestors as well as workers unrelated to the demonstrations but were going home
from work in the area as well as reporters. Some arrests were made, but the arrestees were later released.

Some demonstrators from Seoul area regrouped and held another closing rally in Chongro.

Besides the Seoul Rally, KCTU and KMWU held similar rallies in 8 other regions of South Korea on the same day.

What’s Next for the FTA?

While George BUSH and ROH, Moo Hyun did sign the agreement on June 30 (US time) in Washington DC after
including a labor clause, the KMWU and the UAW do not support the agreement. The Kor-US FTA is a 253 page
agreement (Korean version) without the tariff tables, and the inclusion of a labor clause and environment
clause does not transform this essentially neoliberal free trade agreement into a “fair” one that will benefit
workers and farmers of both countries. That is, the inclusion of a labor and environment clause cannot
outweigh the other 253 pages of text full of rules, such as Investor to State Dispute, that serve to destroy the
environment, pressure workers’ wages and working conditions downward, and create the conditions that
would tend to restrict the actual exercise of labor rights (ie conditions such as increased social inequity and
polarization between rich and poor, massive augmentation of casualization, restructuring away of good jobs).

Further, KMWU believes that fundamental labor rights are universal, inborn rights inherent to being a worker
and should be guaranteed regardless of whether or not an FTA is concluded between the US and Korea. Thus,
we do not see it as appropriate to link respect for labor rights with free trade deals. We also have reservations
about implementation of labor rights through free trade, that is, we do not really expect the George Bush
administration to implement the FTA in such a way as to genuinely strengthen labor rights. For example,
important labor rights issues such as the brazen repression of the Korean Government Employees Union would
not even come into question because the FTA requires that we prove that the suppression of labor rights
affects trade and government employees may have difficulty proving a “trade link.”

We believe the important role of supervising, safeguarding and promoting labor rights should not be in the
hands of Free Trade Agreement implementers, but rather be placed in the hands of a group such as the ILO,
which we believe may be somewhat more invested in neutrally protecting labor rights than the Bush
administration.

Second, we do not believe that the inclusion of a labor rights and environment clause changes the fundamental
procedural illegitimacy and anti-democratic way this Free Trade Agreement was negotiated. The government
has not undergone any kind of meaningful consultation with civil society and the public on the terms of the
agreement. Responding to the US Congress’s concerns does not mean that the Korean negotiators have “dealt
with” this lack of consultation. Thus, we do not see this Free Trade Agreement as a legitimate, valid trade
agreement and we shall continue to the oppose the Kor-US FTA.

Although the FTA was signed, the cause is not lost as the FTA must pass a ratification vote in the US Congress
and Senate as well as in the Korean unicameral National Assembly in order to be finalized. South Korea has a
presidential election coming up this December, and the US is also looking at a presidential election for next
year. You can be sure we will continue to be pressuring the Korean representatives to vote against ratification.

Urgent Action

On 3 July 2007, KoA Co-Chairs JUNG, Gwang-hoon and OH, Jong-ryul were arrested. KoA is holding an
international campaign for their release. As almost all the KMWU officers, with the exception of the national
Vice Presidents, have arrest warrants on their heads and are currently “fugitive,” so we still have some
challenges and hurdles ahead of us. We ask for your continued interest and support.

Workers and Organizations who Sent Solidarity Messages to the KMWU

International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF)

Public Services International (PSI)

ITUC and OECD-TUAC (*statement)

AFL-CIO US

United Auto Workers (UAW) US

United Steel Workers (USW) US

United Electrical workers (UE) US

Labor Notes US

Korean Americans against War and Neoliberalism (KAWAN) US

I.G. Metall (IGM) Germany

Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) Australia

AMWU Chapel Australia

SEARCH Foundation and the Philippines Australia Union Link Australia, Philippines

GM European Employees Forum (EEF) Europe

European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) Europe

Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (ESSF) Europe

NSZZ Solidarno?? (message from GM Plant level union) Poland

TGWU Vauxhall Motors Convenor UK

Confederação Nacional dos Metalúrgicos (CNM-CUT) Brazil

Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Canada

Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) India

Fédération des travailleurs de la métallurgie CGT (FTM-CGT) France

FSIMEQ Angola

FENASIMECAM Cameroon

ICU Ghana

KEWU Kenya

AUKMW Kenya

AGWU Mauritius

EMWU Mauritius

MANWU Namibia

SATU Swaziland

NEWU Zimbabwe

TUICO Tanzania

SINTIME Mozambique

NUBEGW Zambia
UMMAWU Uganda

NUMSA South Africa

Faces of Struggle [Pictures not reproduced]:

1. Seoul Regional Rally on 29 June 2007: Rallies at Daehakro Street and march to Chongro-1-ga
NO to the FTA!
Regional Strike
Rally in Seoul, 29
June 2007
Braving pelting
rain and heavy
government
pressure, workers
voice opposition
to Korea-US FTA.
 We haven’t included photos of all the actions, but here, we share some of the faces and some of the places 
2. Seoul Regional Branch Rally the previous day (28 June 2007):
KMWU Seoul Regional Branch strikers gather in front of Hitech RCD Headquarters to support a local (Hitech
RCD local) that has been calling for negotiations with the company. After an effort to meet with Hitech RCD
management on 28 June 2007 was repelled with riot police setting off fire extinguishers on the workers, the
workers who had been dispersed by the fire extinguishers gathered for a closing rally.
However, when they began to gather, the riot police suddenly charged at the workers, scattering people and
chasing them down.
Rally
Riot police suppression (2 workers injured)
Riot police hitting workers with their riot shields Protest rally in front of the detention center where 12
protestors were incarcerated (released on 29 June)
3. Ulsan Regional Branch Rally, 28 June 2007
KMWU Hyundai Motors Branch Ulsan plant strike and rally (in the plant at each building), 28 July 2007
– keeping production lines down (both pictures) so management cannot try to revive the line
– Strike rallies (on 28 June, held in all the different buildings of the plant)
4. Daejeon-Chungbuk Region Rally, 28 June 2007
Although the police issued an emergency arrest warrant for KMWU Daejeon-Chungbuk Regional
Branch Chair the previous night (27 June 2007) at 23:00 and investigators thronged to Branch Chair
JUNG, Keun-won’s home the next morning, the union members in Daejeon-Chungbuk region carried
through with the strike on 28 June 2007. The strikers gathered in a rally to protest Call-tech (Cort
guitars and accessories) redundancy dismissals and call for bargaining with the union local.
5. Daegu Region Rally and March (28 June 2007)
6. Pohang Region Rally and March (28 June 2007)
7. Changwon Region Rally and March
28 June 2007
Rally stage in Changwon (above) Workers from Volvo Construction Equipment local
(above)
Changwon, 29 June 2007
8. Rally at Modine and Dimche, 29 June
9. Regional strike in Doowon Industries (Bosch) local , 26 June 2007
Strike at Doowon Industries (Bosch) (left)
Lines halted (above)