Rallies held nationwide to oppose railway privatization

Protestors from the 1st General Strike Resolution Assembly for Blocking Privatization, Crushing Labor Oppression, and Achieving Victory in the Railroad Strike, block the road in front of Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul in subzero temperatures, Dec. 28. (by Kim Bong-gyu, staff photographer)

Striking railway workers are getting support from students and regular people tired of the government’s uncommunicative style 

By Song Ho-kyun, Bong Jun-ho and Lee Jae-uk, staff reporters

“Do you hear the people sing? / Singing a song of angry men? / It is the music of a people / Who will not be slaves again! / When the beating of your heart / Echoes the beating of the drums / There is a life about to start / When tomorrow comes!”

At 3 pm on Dec. 28, about 300 students gathered in front of Hyundai Department Store in Sinchon, Seoul, and began singing in unison. Most of them were university students, but there were also some younger faces that might have belonged to high school students. Members of the group were wearing similar outfits - red gloves and scarves over black clothing.

As red flags flapped in the breeze, the students sang the song “Do You Hear the People Sing?” in Korean. The song, which is featured in the musical Les Miserables, is about the French revolution.

The idea for the flash mob came to Lee Ji-eun, 17, a student at Balgok High School in Uijeongbu. She wanted to support the general strike by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). The event took place simultaneously in five cities around the country: Seoul, Busan, Daejeon, Daegu, and Gwangju.

At the event that took place in front of the Daegu Department Store in Daegu, someone even held a placard that said, “This song is dedicated to Marie Antoinette, who is from Daegu but lives in Seoul.” Marie Antoinette (the French queen who was killed during the French Revolution) is a nickname that netizens have given Korean President Park Geun-hye. It is a play on words, as the queen’s name sounds similar to a Korean expression meaning a failure to communicate.

“We are told that between 700 and 800 netizens took part in the event altogether. In addition to Seoul there were about 150 people in Busan and 100 people in Daegu,” Lee said. After singing the song for about three minutes with joyful expressions on their faces, the participants in the Seoul event headed to Seoul Plaza outside City Hall.

According to KCTU estimates, around 100,000 people took part in the 1st General Strike Resolution Assembly for Blocking Privatization, Crushing Labor Oppression, and Achieving Victory in the Railroad Strike, which was held at Seoul Plaza. What made it possible for the union to mobilize so many people was the wide base of popular support, which included students and regular citizens, as the flash mob showed.

“While we are not able to provide an official estimate, our understanding is that approximately half of the people attending the rally were not union members but ordinary people,” said KTCU spokesperson Jeong Ho-hee.

Korean citizens from various segments of society including lawyers and students held pre-rallies and chanted slogans expressing their support for the railroad strike and their desire for democracy to be restored.

At about 2 in the afternoon, around 120 lawyers who are members of MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society gathered in front of the Bosingak belfry in Seoul’s Jongno district, and held up a banner that said, “There is no injustice that can defeat justice.” They also had placards that said, “From the Courtroom to the Street.”

“I believe that MINBYUN’s activity - advocating the basic human rights in the constitution and calling for the restoration of democracy - is the way to carry out the mission of a lawyer, which is to bring about social justice,” said MINBYUN Chairman Jang Ju-young. “We have come to this meeting in order to connect with people who want democracy to be restored.”

Pre-rallies were held by about 300 university students - the leading players in the “How are you nowadays?” craze - in front of the Korea Development Bank at Cheonggye 2-ga Street and by around 500 members of the Korea Teachers’ and Education Workers’ Union (KTU) at Tapgol Park. Next, the groups converged on Seoul Plaza.

“The Park Geun-hye administration is treating a legal railway workers’ strike as illegal and rashly issuing arrest warrants for the leaders of the labor union,” said KTU General Secretary Byeon Seong-ho. “If the administration does not take its knife from the necks of the workers and the people, we will have to become knives and bring this administration down.”

Holding placards saying “Teachers Aren’t Okay Either,” “Stop the Disaster of Privatization,” and “Down with the Uncommunicative President,” teachers shouted the slogan, “Stop repressing the KTU! Victory for the railroad strike!”

The ordinary citizens that the Hankyoreh reporter met at the rally at Seoul Plaza were unanimous in their criticism of President Park’s my-way-or-the-highway management style. “Before, I wasn’t very interested when labor unions went on strike, but this time I think the union has a valid reason for the strike. It wants to provide the Korean people with safe, cheap railroad service,” said homemaker Jeong Seong-mi, 47. “I don’t understand why the Park administration keeps trying to privatize the railroads even though the Korean people don’t want this to happen.”