Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
Youngsu Won is a socialist and coordinator of the International Forum in South Korea. Speaking to Federico Fuentes, from LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal, he discusses how rising tensions between the United States and China impact South Korean politics.
Federico Fuentes - (...)
In recent months, authorities have raided offices of press outlets publishing critical reports on President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Americans may not know much about the South Korean President, Yoon Suk-yeol, but some will have noticed that he’s not a bad singer. In April, when Joe and Jill Biden (...)
In the face of widespread repression, South Korean workers are rising up for fair pay and labor protections.
Within the past two years, South Korea has seen major labor actions. Hundreds of thousands of workers have mobilized in response to multiple calls for general strikes, and the (...)
The North Korean regime has faced a severely deteriorated economic situation due to international sanctions, floods, and the Covid-19 pandemic. In January 2020, the country blocked cross-border trade and expelled humanitarian workers and foreign diplomats facing the danger of the Covid-19 (...)
Can romance’s fantasy of wealth survive the labor rights movement? Let’s ask, uh, this frothy K-drama.
As the WGA/SAG-AFTRA double strike wears on, the constant flow of brand-new, original Hollywood content seems headed toward a dripping, dribbling end. With many shows and movies delayed, (...)
Among their demands include a nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:5 and the strengthening of public health care
Unionized health care and medical workers in Korea went on general strike on Thursday to demand better working conditions to allow them to better care for patients.
The Korean Health (...)
This epic political novel traces the country from Japanese occupation through partition, as experienced by a family of railway workers
A rusting, bullet-riddled locomotive in the demilitarised zone that slices through the Korean peninsula gives this marvellous epic novel its enigmatic (...)
After the self-immolation protest death of a union leader, South Korean construction workers have held daily candlelight vigils and mobilized in the tens of thousands against President Yoon’s war on labor.
On May 1, 2023, Yang Hoe-Dong, district leader of the Korean Construction Workers’ (...)
One hundred and thirty thousand South Korean workers rallied across 14 cities on May 1. Organisers estimate 80,000 took part In the country’s capital, Seoul. It was the largest turnout for a political rally in the country since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rally was endorsed by (...)
On May Day, a local union leader surnamed Yang, from the Korean Construction Workers Union (KCWU), set himself on fire outside of a court to protest the concerted prosecution against trade unionists like him for carrying out union organizing activities.
A number of construction workers’ (...)
The above was a front page headline for a story that appeared in the May 3 New York Times.
The “comfort women”, a euphemism for Korean women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese colonial government during the Second World War, are well known.
Now newly released South Korean (...)
The rendition of Don McLean’s classic pop song American Pie by Yoon Suk Yeol may have dominated the headlines as the South Korean president enjoyed dinner at the White House with Joe Biden – Yoon is, reportedly, a devotee of “noraebang”, Korean karaoke. But the frivolity of the moment was a (...)
In recent times, there is growing discussion around the crisis of social reproduction and care. South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world, while Japan is similarly wrestling with the same issue and a fast aging population. Even China has seen its population fall for the first time (...)
In December 2022, TruckSol, a trade union of South Korean truck drivers, waged a massive 16-day strike that cost employers over $2 billion. The union’s history and organizing strategy have lessons for precariously employed workers around the world.
In the 1970s, my grandfather bought a (...)
The Sixth Enlarged Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) was held from December 26 to 31 last year. December 26 was the day when the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of South and North Koreas crossed into each other’s countries.
At the beginning (...)
On January 24, women trade unionists in the Philippines held a silent protest in front of the Makati Diamond Hotel where the International Labour Organization (ILO) High Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) had meetings with government agencies.
They chanted, “Women workers united, will never be (...)
On 18 January, the National Intelligence Service raided the headquarters of Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). What happened, and why? Here is an Explainer.
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Editor’s Note:
On 18 January, the National Intelligence Service and police raided the headquarters of (...)
North Korea’s provocative regime of missile testing has prompted the South to designate it as an enemy.
North Korea began 2023 as it had ended 2022 – with some characteristic sabre-rattling in the form of missile tests. Having launched more missiles in 2022 than in any other year, on the (...)
In South Korea, there was a focus on hate and discrimination against transgender people in 2020 and 2021, when the Covid-19 backlash targeted LGBTIQ people.
Byun Hui-su, the first known transgender soldier in South Korea, wanted a transfer to the military’s female corps after undergoing (...)
Korea faces the same democratic deficits as other countries—polarized opinion, rising populism, pervasive fake news—just when it needs responsive democracy the most.
The German government recently arrested 25 members of a conspiratorial right-wing group plotting to overthrow the government. (...)
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