On Sept. 14, workers, community activists, and laborers from South Korea and the United States joined together for a rally in Lafayette park. The protest was against the Korean-U.S. Free Trade Agreement negotiations that have been taking place since June. The third round of negotiations wrapped up earlier this month in Seattle, Wash. If implemented, the Korea U.S.-FTA will be the largest since NAFTA.
As summit “free trade” talks happened in Seattle, South Korea’s President Roh Moo-hyun came to Washington, D.C. to meet with president Bush. They discussed the Korea-U.S. FTA and the planned expansion of the U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. As the U.S. expels South Korean farmers from their land, the people’s resistance to U.S. intervention in Korea continues to grow.
Protesters converged directly across from the White House. There was singing, chanting, and solidarity speeches. Delegates from South Korea who attended the demonstration included Chung Kwang-hoon, chief representative of Korean Alliance Against KorUS FTA; Cho Joon-ho, chair of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and others. Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism was represented.
Brian Becker, the national coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and a leader of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, also spoke at the demonstration. The event culminated with a picket on the White House sidewalk.
After a week of demonstrations and events in Seattle, Korean and U.S. protesters have shown unity and common purpose. They all agree that the Korea-U.S. FTA is an attack on all workers.
More protests are planned for October in Seoul, South Korea, during the fourth round of negotiations, and in December during the fifth round in the United States.
