MSSC STRUGGLE REPORT (서울, 南朝鮮, 6.14/15/16)

It seems like the party time now is definitely over! And this is not a problem for us, because only by struggle and not by celebrating we might achieve something. First of all the latest news but its not clear, if it’s bad or good news. Yesterday in the early evening, around 6:30 pm the majority of MSSC already was on the way back from the demonstration on Yeoui-do to Yeongdungpo, Mamun and a Korean supporter left a shop near our struggle site in Myeong-dong. While they come out off the shop three persons approached them, identifying themselves as immigration officers, telling to Mamun: “You are Mamun, we will arrest you now!” While he refused and the Korean comrade defended him, five other immigration officers intervened and handcuffed Mamun. Fortunately exactly in this moment the chief of Gyeongi-do Construction Workers Union passed the site and immediately he called other comrades, already present on our struggle area. And several construction workers hurried to the spot, where meanwhile a crowd of citizens attacked verbally the action of the immigration officers. The power of the shouting citizens and threatening construction workers brought the immigration pigs to give up, opened the handcuffs and led Mamun free. After this Mamun, lightly injured, stood two hours under shock. The bad thing about this news: it is the first time since long time, that immigration is attacking us directly. The good about it: the incident showed us, but also our enemy, the power of solidarity, the strong support we get also by the “ordinary” people on the street. Just THANK YOU TO ALL WHO WERE HELPING OUR COMRADES! By the way, Mao Zedong (毛澤東), beside many really queer, said: “When your enemy is fighting you - is this good and not bad.” What we did in the last days? On Monday we joined the Asia Peoples Movement Assembly (APMA, as a kind of counter-summit of WEF) in Korea University. Members from different peoples organizations from nearly all East, South East and South Asian countries gathered there and discussed about strategies how to defend the poor, exploited and oppressed people against the results of daily expanding results of capitalism. There were events like “Socialism of the 21st Century”, or “Life After Capitalism”, where there were only theoretic lectures and discussions, mainly very abstract and with not really results, but also, like on Monday evening the forum about the situation of migrant workers in the different countries. Here, for example, the delegate from the Nepalese delegate from General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) told about the reason, why Nepalese people are forced to leave the country and to work abroad (because more than 42% of unemployment there), the comrade from LabourNet Japan told about the situation of migrant workers in his country and from the delegates from Hong Kong we’d to learn that there are more than 300,000 migrant workers there, in similar situations like here, but there is no resistance. On Tuesday we joined the 2nd General Assembly, where Anwar held a speech and on the Closing Event our ‘Yeon Tae-il’ “mime” team had a performance – many of the participants from abroad saw this kind of revolutionary dances the first time (because it is unique - no matter if it’s the hardcore militant or the cute student version – you can see this only in S. Korea) and got deep impressed. After the final event all perticipants had a nice getting-together. Here comrades from Taiwan, S. Korea, Hong Kong and Japan agreed to work hard to get a kind of effective network in the migrant workers issue at least for East Asia. This, if it works, might be the best result for us from APMA! And how we wrote initially: yesterday we joined the KCTU rally on Yeouido. According to Internet magazine Voice of the People, at least 10,000 workers, the majority striking hospital workers (now the 5th day in strike), unionized taxi drivers and members of the metal workers union protested against repression of union activities, for higher wages, changing the status for irregular workers to regular workers and last but not least for the 5-days-week (40 hours per week). After the powerful rally we marched – after we greeted the passing hospital workers (because they got the frontline) with struggle slogans (and we got a really great feedback!!!) – from Yeouido to the headquarter of the so called “Yeollin Uri" Dang ("Our Open" Party, but in fact it is Their Close Party), where a final rally was held. And of course yesterday evening we joined the weekly struggle rally from striking construction workers.

Here just some impressions from yesterday’s rally and demo, made by a Korean comrade (here you can see more)

RELEASE ALL MIGRANT WORKERS FROM DETENTION CENTERS!
FREEDOM FOR ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN S. KOREA!
LET’S FIGHT TOGETHER FOR A WORLD WITHOUT EXPLOITATION AND OPPRESSION!
ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE, ONLY IF YOU WANT AND FIGHT FOR IT!
WE’VE NOTHING TO LOSE EXCEPT OUR CHAINS!
굽타, 깨비, 헉 동지와 다른 잡혀간 이주 노동자들의 석방을 위해 투쟁!
한국의 모든 양심수들의 석방을 위해 투쟁
착취와 억압이 없는 그날을 위해 투쟁
다른 세상은 가능하다, 당신이 그걸 원하고 그것을 위해 투쟁한다면! 투쟁!
우리가 잃을 건 쇠사슬밖에 없다구!