By Lee Hyo-sik
Hundreds of civic group members and labor activists, inspired by anti-Wall Street demonstrations, held rallies across Seoul for a second time Saturday to protest what they call the greed of financial firms and a widening income gap.
Under the slogan of “99 percent of ordinary Koreans who stand up against the super-wealthy 1 percent,” organizers staged the “Occupy Seoul” rally at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall. There were no violent clashes with police.
A week earlier, members of civic organizations and labor groups held similar protests throughout the capital city, protesting against financial companies and foreign investment capital.
Organizers demanded the government and the governing Grand National Party improve the livelihoods of middle- and low-income families by stabilizing housing prices and expanding welfare-related expenditure.
They also urged policymakers to crack down on what they called “greedy” financial firms and scrap the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA).
“The Korea-U.S. FTA is aimed at removing regulations that have kept business owners and the super-rich from raking in undue profits. The accord will only benefit the top 1 percent of the Korean population. It will burden Korean workers with the economic crisis taking place in the United States,” organizers said in a joint statement.
Earlier on the day, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a radical labor umbrella group, held a rally at the plaza, calling for an end to discrimination between regular and non-regular workers, and more welfare benefits
According to police estimates, about 3,000 construction workers and non-permanent employees from all industries took part in a laborers’ rally at the plaza, demanding the government guarantee all workers a minimum living standard, labor rights and job security.
They also asked policymakers to scrap the FTA with the United States.
Unions of construction and train workers also organized a separate protest in front of Seoul Station, with temporary school workers holding a rally before the Government Complex in downtown Seoul. After the rallies, the groups joined forces and together marched for 1.1 kilometers on streets downtown.
