Dr. Ken Roh and Mr. John Kim delivered speeches about The Situation of Korean Peninsula and DPR Korea & S Korea at the meeting sponsored by Los Angeles PSL of A.N.S.W.E.R member on 19 September, 2014. Minjok.com introduces a text of  Mr.John Kim' Speech.(Speaker is a Senior Student of  UC Irvine) 

By John Kim

I am going to talk about the struggle in southern Korea but want to begin by honoring the struggle in the north. September 5 is the anniversary of the first time that the US Navy was defeated in Korea and it happened in the northern part of the country in 1866. That was the date that the heavily armed USS General Sherman was burned to the water because it had invaded Korean waters and murdered 243 people.

 

For the resistance to US domination in 1871 the US sent another set of ships with over a 1000 troops to teach Korea a lesson. On June 11 the US massacred 350 Koreans and then tried to use the wounded as bargaining chips to get a meeting with Korean leaders. The Koreans refused and brought in more troops to fight the US. Sensing that they would lose, the US retreated and left. The official account of that interaction said that the US troops faced “savages” who “well armed and equal in courage to the American Indians”.

 

In the wake of this there was a debate about whether to go to war with Korea or not. There was a substantial anti-war feeling at the time with the Civil War just over. In 1882 the US and Korea signed a treaty on the deck of a US warship. The treaty said that Corea and the United States “hereby establish everlasting amity and friendship between 2 peoples.”  Like every US treaty with Korea, the US broke it quickly and often.

 

Over the years the US has invaded many times on the excuse of protecting its interests.

 

What did the US see in Korea? Why was it important to them for example in the 1890s? Certainly US capitalists saw profit in trade and wanted to batter down any barriers to that. But they also saw profits from recruitment of Korean workers to work on US owned plantations in Hawaii and profits from investments in Korea.

 

From 1886 through 1925 Hawaii plantation owners imported 180,000 Japanese workers to replace Chinese workers who had begun to organize resistance to exploitation. Then the Japanese workers started to organize. Between 1903 and 1904, over 7000 Koreans were recruited by the plantation owners to break the strikes of the Japanese workers in the sugar cane & pineapple fields. Later Filipinos and Puerto Ricans were brought in to replace Korea workers striking for justice. By 1931 there were 115,000 Filipinos working on the plantations in Hawaii. Over time, multinational unity was created by the workers but it took time.

 

Importing labor to work on plantations elsewhere is one thing but investment into Korea for profit is another and a marker of imperialism.

 

Mining engineers in the beginning of the 1900s were often “men of the world” whose skills were sought across the globe by companies trying to take the resources from around the world. In the US they became accustomed to the racist division of labor –as the Tohono O'odharn Indians in Arizona were assigned the hardest and most dangerous work in the Ajo mines and the Swedes in Minnesota were called “jackpine savages” and assigned similar work. Frequently one group of immigrants were used against another – in addition to using Black labor in the worst ways.

 

One mining engineer quick to pick up skills and international experience was Herbert Hoover. He was in China working for a British finance capital company which wanted to control the valuable Kaiping mines. In the midst the Boxer Rebellion against foreign domination and as British troops and US mercenaries were leading the fight against them, he secured the rights to the mine. He was soon made a partner in the firm. Later he suggested using Chinese labor in the mines in South Africa. Important for our purposes here though is that he also visited Korean mines whose principle investors at the time were the Coors, Hearst, and Mills families. Ties with them would later be important for his political career and his rise to be the US president. He noted that the Korean miners were some of the best trained in Asia and among the lowest paid- meaning high profits.   Hoover’s racism and anti-labor role in the US is another subject but should be seen as just the other side of the coin from his international experience.

 

As one commentator pointed out, “After 1910, Japan added to the transnational mix in Korea, as a colonial occupier that continued to give mining concessions to U.S. investors. Interlocking directorships united those running the four major companies, whose investors also controlled enterprises in Peru, the Philippines, and Nevada, and whose managers drew on practices used in Mexico to run Korean mines.

 

Students and workers rose against this occupation. On March 1, 1919 about 2 million workers gathered in locations throughout Korea to hear a Declaration of Independence crafted by Korean activists in Japan. Japan tried to crush this by killing 7500 of the protestors, injuring 15,000, arresting 45,000. They burned churches and beheaded children. Yet the people’s will was not crushed. In fact this event inspired India's National Congress in a new phase of resistance there.

 

The battle was on and within two years thousands of Japanese occupation troops were being killed. Dock workers went on strike in Pusan which then spread to Seoul, Pyongyang and Inchon. These were strikes with economic and political demands. By the end of the 1920s, Japan had killed 10,000 in revenge.

 

It was in this context that Kim Il Sung founded the Down-with-Imperialism Union in 1926. Three years later there was a general strike in Wonsan and a nationwide anti-Japanese occupation movement was in high gear.

 

The struggle intensified throughout the 1930s and of course through the end of WWII. By that time the resistance forces led by Kim Il Sung had created a reputation as organizers and successful skilled fighters. The population recognized them as the legitimate leaders who in 1941 created a provisional government.

 

In 1943 Los Angeles Koreans affiliated with the National Revolutionary Party began publishing material in support of the liberation of Korea. For this they were persecuted by the Dept of Justice and many staff were threatened with deportation.

 

Two years later Soviet troops swept through Manchuria and on to Korea, liberating people as they went. To counter this, on August 10, 1945 two US Army planning officers in DC drew a line across Korea at 38th parallel for the purpose of dividing the Japanese colony. Days later Japan surrendered. Following that the US placed former Japanese collaborators in power in southern Korea

 

After the war the Korean People's Republic was proclaimed peoples committees from all over the country set up the structures of governing based on a program of workers power- with a minimum wage, rent control, nationalization of industry, and defeating imperialism. A Workers Party was founded to consolidate the gains of the struggle. Women’s organizations and Youth organizations and Unions were founded and became effective political voices.

 

The US occupation forces tried to crush this. In 1946 they used tanks, chemical weapons, troops and police to kill 25,000 protesters. Arrest warrants were issued for communist leaders. Orders were given in the south establishing a US dictatorship. In 1946 a rebellion in Taegu demanded power to the Peoples Committees and better living conditions. US troops killed 1000. In 1948 an uprising in Cheju resulted in a massacre of 14,000 to 60,000 on Cheju island or one fifth population.

 

 

On May 10, 1948 during an election to show popular support for the left, the US arrested, jailed or killed 50,000. This did not stop the proclamation to create the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

 

The years between 1945 and 1950 saw thousands of incursions by the US and its allies against the north- as well as thousands of acts of resistance to the US by people living in the south. Finally war officially broke out in 1950. The US press tried to make it seem as if the north started the war by invading the south.

 

(bodo league massacre)

 

That is sort of like saying that President Lincoln was guilty of starting the Civil War by invading the slave south. When in fact there were countless acts of terror and incursions by the south prior to the war. And invading the slave south to end the system of slavery was right.

 

Many massacres were carried out by the US during the war, the most famous being No Gun Ri but there were many. And the massacres were officially ordered. 

 

A number of US troops mutinied. 23 defected to the North including three African American soldiers later interviewed by the famous reporter William Worthy

 

Also resisting the war during that period were workers in the US. One of the founding members of Workers World was fired from his job in Bethlehem Steel due to his support for the Korean people. A wild cat strike by 17,000 tried to bring him back but to no avail. Malcolm X also resisted the war while he was working in the Gar Wood auto factory in Detroit. When the FBI went to the factory to ask him why he had not registered for the draft, he made it clear that he was against a war with the Korean people.

 

From the 1950s thru the 1960s the US effectively ran south Korea in every decisive way on all important international issues. In 1967 this relationship was put into writing as a Status of Forces Agreement that formalized who had power. It stipulated that the United States has operational control over its troops and the Korean Army during a time of crisis. This continues to today. President Bush had talked about ending this provision then in 2010 Obama announced that US control would last at least until 2015.

 

It is important to remember that when thinking about the May 1980 Kwangju massacre. At the same time that the African American community was rising in rebellion in Miami’s Liberty City, triggered by police brutality, the workers and students of Kwangju raided armories and took up arms against the US puppet regime there. While police were putting down the Miami rebellion, US backed, armed and guided Korean troops were killing 3000 in Kwangju.

 

National Security laws were passed in southern Korean patterned after anti-communist laws in the US and making it illegal to talk about the north in any positive way or to do anything to challenge the existing order (including forming effective unions)

 

The struggle in the south against US occupation and capitalist exploitation took on many forms.  Mass demonstrations unseated US puppet president Rhee in 1960. But less than a year later the US introduced the nuclear weapons into South Korea as another example of US control.

 

In 1970 Chun Tae-il set himself on fire and died to protest factory conditions for women workers, This helped spark a labor upsurge. In 1973 women union activists were beaten for trying to set up a union. They staged a sit in that lasted until the factory owner was jailed.

 

In 1975 US Secretary of Defense Schlesinger said that the U.S. had deployed nuclear bombs and missiles Korea and that those nuclear weapons were available for use. The following year the US began Team Spirit military exercises aimed at waging nuclear war on DPRK.

 

In 1979 the US dropped 11 life-size dummy nuclear bombs in a practice run near DPRK.

 

The 1990s brought on another wave of struggle in the south. In August 1996, 3000 Yonsei University students fought through military police lines to get to a 7000 person rally for reunification. The police line consisted of 21,000 police, 5,000 special police, 12 helicopters and 1,000 tear gas bombs

 

Workers rose as never before in 1996 especially after a secret December 26, 1996 legislative session to change a labor law to make it easier to fire workers. Mass strikes rocked the country. General strikes and rallies of 150,000 then later 750,000 sent a signal that the workers had had enough. This occurred as the financial crisis of the century was rocking Asia—triggered by manipulation of currency rates by imperialist entities.

 

 

 

On January 11, 1997 a 34 year old Hyundai auto worker in Ulsan set himself on fire to protest conditions and the new law. This occurred as three million workers were on strike in auto factories, ship building centers, hospitals and subways.

 

The next year 100 Buddhist monks resisted a police attack and threaten suicide. Police stormed the temple using ladders but failed.

 

In the year 2000, over 65,000 bank workers went on strike (almost none are organized in the US). They stopped a merger and layoffs. Daewoo workers fought against GM – with the survivors of battles coming to the US on a speaking tour in 2001.

 

2002, the same year that Bush declared the DPRK to be a part of the axis of evil, students in southern Korea occupied the American Chamber of Commerce as 100,000 went on a general strike. Power workers struck against privatization and sales to a US company.

 

Later in 2002 mass demonstrations protested against US military occupation in the wake of an incident where US troops ran over two 14 year old girls with a tank. The demonstrations forced the US government to turn over the troops to Korea for trial.

 

US bases still occupy south Korea, with base expansions throwing people out of their homes to make way for golf courses and luxurious mini-cities for the US imperialists to enjoy, at the expense of the south Koreans. US troops are constantly robbing, beating, murdering Korean workers around the bases, as well as treating the young women as nothing more than their personal “comfort women”.

 

In 2002 over 10,000 protested against Special Economic Zones in Korea that allowed foreign companies almost unlimited exploitation. Farmers protested against trade agreement give aways that would destroy their lives.

 

Similar actions occurred throughout the decade. In November 2005, 30,000 Koreans protested against Bush at an APEC conference. At the same time, 150,000 farmers were protesting a trade deal, demanding protecting for rice. The KCTU labor federation called for a general strike and there were major protests at US bases.

 

Back in the US on September 11, 2006 Korean immigrant Young Sook Kim died while in ICE custody, after having demanded medical care for weeks and being refused. Later Young Sook Kim was found to have had untreated pancreatic cancer.

 

Back in southern Korea in January 2009 police killed 5 protestors and many were arrested by authorities using the fascist national security laws. Four months later Ssangyong Auto workers occupied their factory to stop 1000 layoffs, or one third of all workers. Over 9000 police were brought in to smash the 600 workers occupying the factory. They held off the police for nearly three months and in the end won an agreement with fewer layoffs.

 

In November 2010 the KCTU labor federation held a rally of 40,000 at a G-20 meeting of imperialist countries. Also “irregular” workers at Hyundai began a sit in demanding permanent jobs and rights. 1000 occupied the Accent assembly plant. In December the Korean Metal Workers union voted to have a national strike against all Hyundai plants if the temp workers were not made permanent.

 

In 2011 there were continuing protests against trade agreements with the US that favored US imperialism. But on October 21, 2011 Obama signed the US Korea Trade Agreement

 

South Korea is a capitalist country and fairly highly developed and modern.  And the struggle there is against both US occupation (for unification) as well as against exploitation.

 

When you hear the names of major Korean companies though, it is important to keep in mind who owns and controls these companies. One of the more important aspects of imperialism is the role of banks and finance capital controlling industrial companies. Another aspect is foreign direct investment.

 

When you hear the name of Kia, remember that among the major owners of concentrated stock are J P Morgan, BlackRock Vanguard and MetLife, in other words US based corporations. Similarly Hyundai’s major investors include JPMorgan and BlackRock.

 

When you hear the name of POSCO steel, remember that among the major owners of concentrated stock are State Street Corp, Boston Co Asset, DuPont Capital, GEICO, Franklin Templeton and Schwab

 

When you hear the name of the telecom giant in south Korea SK Telecom, remember that J P Morgan, Black Rock and Fidelity Management are key investors

 

When you hear the name of the phone producer Samsung, remember that BlackRock, Capital Research and Management, Fidelity Management and Lazard Asset Management are major investors

 

When you hear the name of the electronics manufacturer LG, remember that the major investors include BNY Mellon Fund, JP Morgan, BlackRock, etc

 

The huge shipbuilder Hanjin has Vanguard among its major investors

 

So when the Korean workers in southern Korea are fighting against the major corporations they are up against imperialist interests both in the form of direct investment like GM’s car assembly plants and in the form of investments in Korea based companies.

 

In the last 10 years the number of strikes by workers in southern Korea has gone way down, just as it has in most other countries. But while there is a lull in strikes at the moment there is a determination to challenge capital in other ways.

 

So much so that the repressive apparatus of the state has sent riot police to raid the headquarters of the KCTU on December 22, 2013. Over 4600 police surrounded the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions while another 500 heavily-armed special police raided the building in order to arrest those leading a strike of railroad workers. 6500 rail workers had been striking since Dec 9 to protest plans to privatize the Korea Railroad Corp.

 

This repression backfired to some degree because in the weeks that followed it helped create the conditions for a progressive candidates to win the leadership of the more conservative Federation of Korean Trade Unions.

 

In October 2013, the Labor Ministry issued an order declaring that the Teachers Union was not a legitimate trade union and that all staff had to return to their schools. The Labor Ministry claimed that the Teachers Union could not have fired teachers on its staff. On June 19, 2014 an appeals Court upheld the Labor Ministry decision despite worldwide condemnation. The union responded with a national half day strike on June 27 and mass rallies on July 12. However in the end they were compelled to return 39 of the full-time staff back to their teaching posts.

 

The raid on the KCTU headquarters and the repression of the Teachers Union (really continuing repression for many years) is evidence of the repressive role of the capitalist state.

 

The issues at the top of the agenda for the labor movement include many that workers here would be familiar with. This year there are new mandates on a pay system with government regulations that favor business and this is a subject of many union demands. Converting non-regular work to regular work is another. Shortening working hours with no reduction in pay; increasing the minimum wage; ending the attacks on pension rights and other issues are at the top of labor’s agenda.

 

Korean workers have also expressed solidarity with the struggles of the McDonalds workers in the US for $15 per hr.

 

Those labor efforts are a part of the broad movement in southern Korea that also includes stopping the constant US war games. Each year there is another “exercise” and each year there is another important people’s protest.

 

This review of struggles in southern Korea can be summed up in this way

 

Every step that the Korean people take against the occupation of Korea by US troops,

Every step that the Korean people take for reunification

Every step that the Korean workers take against capitalist corporations, many of them controlled by US financial institutions

 

Is a step for freedom and justice and a step that helps our struggle in the US.

 

When the Korean people achieve victories in these areas, it weakens imperialism and that in term strengthens the hand of workers here and around the world.

 

So let’s pledge to support the Korean peoples struggle.