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11 February, 2002
I have a message for everybody from Dan Byung-ho and Mun Sung-hyun. They thank all those who contributed to making January 22nd THE day in the fight for trade union rights in South Korea. They were very impressed with all the activities the world over.
I visited both of them in jail last week. They are in good health and high spirits and are prepared to continue fighting for their rights.
The first thing that struck me was that both Dan and Mun said they would never have believed that international solidarity could mobilise so many people. They asked me what they can do now to help other people. But before that, we must get them all out of jail.
If the organisation of such a forceful demonstration of solidarity was a great success, the outcome has not been so great thus far. Publicity is good, especially if it is connected with a big event like the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, but it is not enough if it does not get the expected result.
Not only are the 47 trade unionists in Korea still in prison, but while we were there to visit them, four more were put in jail without any good reason. At the same time as we were having discussions with the newly appointed South Korean minister of labour, the police were arresting four Daewoo trade union leaders because they had organised a strike against the restructuring of the company a year ago.
Organising a strike in the Republic of Korea is still a crime for which one can be convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, so now there are 51 jailed trade unionists.
This is the way the Nobel Prize for Peace laureate, Kim Dae-jung, president of the ROK, responds to international pressure. But, the IMF is not going to let up.
The day before my prison visits to Dan Byung-ho and Mun Sung-hyun, I had the honour and pleasure of meeting Mun's wife and their eight-year-old daughter. I told the young girl that I was going to visit her father and asked if there was something she wanted me to tell him, and she said: "Tell him to come back home."
Mr. President, Kim Dae Jung, can you look in the eyes of that small girl and tell her why you are still keeping her father in jail?
She has the right to know. We all have the right to know.
The entire world is waiting for your answer.
I visited both of them in jail last week. They are in good health and high spirits and are prepared to continue fighting for their rights.
The first thing that struck me was that both Dan and Mun said they would never have believed that international solidarity could mobilise so many people. They asked me what they can do now to help other people. But before that, we must get them all out of jail.
If the organisation of such a forceful demonstration of solidarity was a great success, the outcome has not been so great thus far. Publicity is good, especially if it is connected with a big event like the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, but it is not enough if it does not get the expected result.
Not only are the 47 trade unionists in Korea still in prison, but while we were there to visit them, four more were put in jail without any good reason. At the same time as we were having discussions with the newly appointed South Korean minister of labour, the police were arresting four Daewoo trade union leaders because they had organised a strike against the restructuring of the company a year ago.
Organising a strike in the Republic of Korea is still a crime for which one can be convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, so now there are 51 jailed trade unionists.
This is the way the Nobel Prize for Peace laureate, Kim Dae-jung, president of the ROK, responds to international pressure. But, the IMF is not going to let up.
The day before my prison visits to Dan Byung-ho and Mun Sung-hyun, I had the honour and pleasure of meeting Mun's wife and their eight-year-old daughter. I told the young girl that I was going to visit her father and asked if there was something she wanted me to tell him, and she said: "Tell him to come back home."
Mr. President, Kim Dae Jung, can you look in the eyes of that small girl and tell her why you are still keeping her father in jail?
She has the right to know. We all have the right to know.
The entire world is waiting for your answer.