총 8페이지

PAGE4
OCTOBER1,2001
NATIONAL
http://maincc.hufs.ac.kr/~theargus
Clampdownonstreetvendors
THEEYESOFTHEARGUS
raiseshumanrightsissue
Terribletimefor
Koreanmedia
MeetingthevendorsinInsadonginthewakeofrecentcrackdown
T
he board members of the International Press Institute (IPI) has unanimously
T
decidedthatSouthKoreawillbeputontheIPIWatchList.TheWatchListisa
he graveled road of Insadong was
Strict regulating measures imposed on
scheme to keep an eye on countries that are oppressing the press mainly for political
strangelyempty.Itwasgrowingfairly
sidewalk stalls were always carried out
reasons,nomatterhowopentheymaylookonthesurface.WhentheIPIannounced
dark and about time that people got out of
duringthepastdecades;nowtheyarebeing
thatKoreawouldalsobeunderwatchas“itisaterribletimefortheKoreanmedia”,the
work and might as well stopped by at a
implanted more rigidly in anticipation of
three major daily newspapers, including Chosun Ilbo and Dong-a Ilbo ran heavy
traditional Korean teahouse in Insadong.
international slated event to be held in
headlinesabouttheannouncement.TheycontendedthattheIPI’sactionwasinevitable
Butmostofthestoreswereclosingupsince
Korea.DuringtheSeoulOlympicsin1988
sincetheKoreangovernmenthasbeensuppressingthefreedomofpressbyauditingthe
there were not too many visitors walking
and the ASEM in 2000, for example, the
taxrecordofeditorsandexecutivesofmediafirms.Theybecamemorereproachfulthan
downthesidewalk-perhapsitwastheother
Jongro-gu district officials said that streets
everwhentheownersofChosunIlbo,Dong-aIlboandKukminDailyweredetained.
wayaround.
oughttobefreeofvendorssellingalcoholic
Nowthelayreaderscouldnothelpbutbeconfusedwhenanotherinternationalpress
Anotheruncommonscenewasspottedin
beverages at night to prevent rowdy
organization,theInternationalFederationofJournalists(IFJ),alsocametoSeoulfora
the indigenous market street. Parked at the
behavior of people including vomiting,
fact-findingmissionanddeclaredthattheIPI’sdecisionwasregrettable.TheIFJteam
entrancetoInsadongwereadistricttruck,a
littering and noise. This time the city of
supported the legal actions the Kim administration has taken against the alleged tax
vanandapolicecar.Thetruckhadabanner
Seoul was getting prepared for the “Visit
evasionandembezzlementbymediafirms.PresentlytheIPI,WANandafewdomestic
thatsaid,SpecialVehicleforConsolidating
KoreaYear2001”andthe2002WorldCup,
press firms, representing the conservative views are claiming that the government is
Street Stalls. It was then that a squad of
and Insadong was just one of the many
tamingthepress.Meanwhile,theIFJplusseveralcivicorganizationsandsmallermedia
policemenwasseenwalkingdowntheroad
quarters around the capital witnessing a
firmslikeHankyorehsuggestedthatgovernmentactionsarenothingbutameasureto
when a snack vendor hurriedly moved his
disturbance between the vendors and the
reformthemediainKoreaandthatcorporateinterestsshouldnotbeconfusedwiththe
cartawayfromthepolice.
menhiredbythedistrictofficetogetridof
righttofreedomofexpression.Thiskindofsplitpublicopinionisbewilderingtothe
them.
Street stalls are likely to be pulled
publicbecauseitwasusuallytheconfrontationbetweenthegovernmentandthemedia,
or the civic organizations against the government that caused confusion. The entire
down
Racketeers would do more than
LeeMin-a/TheArgus
tearingthestandsdown
nation is watching intently, trying to determine the current situation whether this
The streets of Insadong after hours are
“HowamIgoingtolivewhenallunlicensedvendorsgounderregulationinOct.?”
circumstanceswasthepoliticallymotivatedtooppressthepressoraattempttoreform
usuallybustlingwithacrowd.Packedwith
“ItwasSeptember7whenthehiredmen
Park,asidewalkmerchantsighesashecloseshisshopfortheday.
thepressthathasbeencarryingoutunethicalbusinessactivities.
traditional stores selling native products
from the district office arrived,” started a
It is indeed a “terrible time for Korean media”. But this is not because the three
arranging from rice papers to celadons in
vendor in his 50’s, inhaling deeply to
owners of some major newspapers have been arrested or because the IPI is a global
the heart of Seoul, Insadong attracts
temper his anger from the memory. “They
district office also attempted to clear its
measures to address this problem. Th
networkofeditorsandexecutiveswithBangSang-hoon,theexecutiveofChosunIlbo,
foreigners as well as Koreans to this small
were not average men, but a bunch of
street of sidewalk merchants but no strong
district government weren’t thinking what
asitsvice-president,apositionthatpublicmightsuspectthathassomethingtodowith
region. The stores selling antiques are now
gangstershiredbythedistrictformorethan
actionhaveyetbeentaken.
would happen after 7,000 vendors in
IPI’s view concerning the arrest of the owners including Mr. Bang himself. Some
famous for their special articles, but the
100millionwontoteardownourcarts.And
“I started this business when I was 11,
Jongro-gu alone are out of work, stated
experts worry that such uncertain state of affairs may cause people to forget about a
sidewalk vendors and their booths are also
four who were trying to protect our
whenIranawayfromhome,”saidavendor
NASS. Before getting rid of these shops,
moreurgentissue,namely,thecurrenteconomyathomeorinternationalrelations.They
popular attraction among visitors to
possession from them were taken to a
selling traditional Korean candies in
NASS added, there should be a social
alsocalledforaunifiedpublicopinionforthebetter.
Insadong. But not so in the eyes of district
nearby hospital. I wonder why the district
Insadong.Hegaveonlyhislastname,Park,
networkthatcanhelpthesoon-to-be-jobless
One wonders for what “better” exactly means. It is regrettable, because of the
officials who think that regulating the
cannot spend their money to help the
andseemedsuspiciousthatthisreporterwas
vendors to go back on track with a viable
differentviewsexpressedbytheinternationalbodiesmentioned,peoplethinkthatthey
sidewalk stalls on cartwheels, small trucks
destituteinsteadofwastingitlikethat.”
probing into his privacy. “Actually, the
means of living. Another suggestion was
mustdecideeithertobecomeaconservativeoraliberal.However,either-orchoiceis
orportabletablesisaneffectivewaytokeep
Thereneverwasanyseriouscrackdown
district office is only watching the vendors
that, instead of disbanding these street
not the answer to problem facing the Korean media. The readers, or people who are
thecitycleanandinorderly.
on open-air stalls in Insadong before. One
who sell alcoholic beverages, so I did not
booths, the district government should
concernedwiththepresentconditionofthepressinKorea,shouldbeabletodetermine
couldarguethatInsadongwasdevelopedto
suffer anything tangible. But I hear these
implant a measure that can help build a
whatismostimportantwhenitcomestothefreedomofpress.
become what it is today because more and
stories that restrictable measures will be
“street of culture” in Insadong, as the
Tobeabletowriteorspeakfreelyalsomeanstothinkfreely.Thereisstillalawin
more vendors created a market place. That
extended to all unlicensed street vendors
Jongro-gu district office had planned,
Koreathatishinderingpeopletothinkfreely.NationalSecurityLaw(NSL)isthename
slowly began to attract sightseers. Back in
beginninginOctober.”
creatingauniquequarterofstreetstalls.
ofsuchalaw,whichwascreatedforthepastgovernmentofthepasttocontrolthemass,
1988, the city of Seoul announced that
Park was a man in his early thirties but
Because the district officials do not deal
sendingafewwith“leftistmind”tojailcellsandsuppressingactivistswithconstructive
Insadong would be the “street of culture”
looked much older. He has been selling
with the vendors as decent citizens, their
ideas conducive to social progress.. This law has been chief culprit behind the
but not much has changed until 7 billion
goodsinInsadongforthreeyearsandsohe
plightgrowsworse.
infringementontherighttospeak,thinkandwriteintherecenthistoryofKorea.Itis
wonwaspouredtopaveonpavingtheroad
issavvyofwhatishappeningaroundhim.
“Idonotwanttotalkaboutthismatter,”
also a shame that the press which IPI and WAN are defending was actually the
last year. And recently, some one hundred
“Iamangryatthedistrictofficebecause
saida60-year-oldmaninragswhenasked
accomplices accusing the progressive camps of espionages taking advantage of the
gang men were dispatched to disband
theyaretreatingusnotashumanbeingsbut
to talk about his life working on streets. “I
NSL.Andthesamepressranexaggeratedstoriesanddistortedarticles.
sidewalk vendors so that street cleaning
somekindoftrashandwhatisworse,they
know that I have nothing to lose, since
The IPI and the WAN represent most of the newspapers worldwide. And they are
couldcontinueforthevisitorstoKorea.
hired gangsters wielding weapons,” Park
peopletreatmelikeabum.AllIwantisto
sayingthattheyarethevanguardstoprotectthefreedomofexpressionandthatthistime
There are, however, other reasons why
said, finally laying down the facts. “Even
be able to keep on working without
theyaregoingtosavetheKoreanmediatosurvivefrompoliticaloppression.However,
thedistrictofficesofSeoularecarryingout
though I participate in protests, I am not
worrying about where to run away when
itwillbemuchwiserforthemtolookattheparticularsituationoftheKoreansociety
such activities. According to the public
fond of violence. But this time I have no
another policeman rushes in to deprive me
insteadofhinderingtheongoingeffortstoreformthemassmediainthiscountry.
notice issued by the Yeongdeungpo-gu
choicebuttofighttolive!”
of my livlihood. How could I live if I lose
district states, “First of all the vendors
mywork?”
Alternative plan, needed for those
infringe upon the citizens’ right to walk
freelybyenlargingtheirstandsonsidewalk.
whocanonlywait
ByLeeMin-a
LeeMin-a/TheArgus
Secondly, the vendors pay no income tax.
The National Association of Street Stalls
A vendor joins the rally on September
ByLeeMin-a
EditorofNationalSection
Lastly, it is illegal for the vendors to do
(NASS),anorganizationthatisontheside
15tofightforhislivelihood.
EditorofNationalSection
business on street.” Yeongdeungpo-gu
of these vendors, calling for counter
E-mailinghelpstodeliveranti-war
NationalSolidaritytoAbolishtheNSL
protestagainstAmericanattack
Nationalcoalitionaims“waragainstNSL”
E
-mails has become another way to
Democracy (PSPD) issued a statement in a
the e-mail written by Youngmi Yang,
K
protest. Since it is especially effective
form of a remonstrating letter to President
InternationalCoordinatorofPSPD.
im Gun-su was arrested 10 days
NSANSL
when the target of criticism is not in the
Bush and encouraged the netizens of Korea
Unions of migrant workers have also
before his wedding. Kim was an
domestic land, and persuasive in gathering
tosendthisletterbye-mail.PSPD,oneofthe
declared a statement on the internet saying,
average young man but taken away for
thousands of people all at once, e-mailing is
largest civic groups in scale in Korea, urged
“U.S. should stop discriminating the
violating the National Security Law
now a big part of helping people to deliver
that this letter should be delivered to
Muslims.” Other organizations have issued
(NSL) because he participated in the
theirstandpointsthroughtheinternet.
President Bush, Vice-President Cheny,
protesting letters according to their policy
activities planned by Hanchongryon, the
VariouscivicgroupsinKoreahaveagreed
SecretaryofStateColinPowell,Secretaryof
lines.StudentactivistssuchasHanchonryon
Korean Federation of University Student
thattheU.S.’sfuryandshockovertheseries
Defense Donald Rumsfeld and National
criticizedtheKoreanconservativepartiesfor
Councils that leads student activism. The
ofterroristattackonSeptember11shouldnot
SecurityAdvisorCondoleezaRice,hopingto
usingthisoccasionasachancetofortifythe
wedding took place anyway, without the
lead to military punishment. Even though
affecttheU.S.cabinetanditsdecisionbased
National Security Law and reminding the
groom while the bride shed her tears
theseorganizationsworkfordifferentsectors
onthepublicemotionofangeredAmericans
citizens that North Korea is also a country
quietly.
ofthesociety,theystoodfirmtotheviewthat
forlosingtheirlovedonesinthedisaster.
classified as a terrorist nation. National
There are many victims like Kim that
it will be hard to avoid civilian casualties
“I absolutely reject the logic that further
CouncilofStudentAllianceemphasizedthat,
areseparatedfromtheirfamilyandfriends
whentheUnitedStatesstrikesback.
violence and destruction, retaliation and
“the meaning of world peace for U.S. is the
becausetheyarewantedbythepolicefor
After foreign newspapers reported about
revengearethewaystocreateasaferworld.
peace that goes only for the nation that is
allegedly violating the NSL. Civic
the impending U.S. military attacks to
As our nation begins to respond, I believe
makingagreatprofitoutofcapitalism.”
organizations working for human rights
retaliateagainsttheblood-curdlingcasualties,
more deeply than ever that peace and
have continued to insist on abolishing or
People’s Solidarity for Participatory
democraticprocessisthewayforward,”said
ByLeeMin-a/TheArgus
revising this law while moving forward
withtheirownwork,buttheyrealizedthat
NSANSLvowstoabolishtheNSLatitsinauguralmeetingonJuly21.
a single group that treats the abolishment
Workersstressnecessityofbecomingregularemployees
oftheNSLwasurgentlyneeded.
National Solidarity to Abolish the
atfirst,”saidHongSoon-seug,Secretary-
NSL, it will take lots of effort and a
rallywastodemandthatallcontractworkers
days.Westruggledinthesnowandunderthe
National Security Law (NSANSL) is the
General of NSANSL. “Since all the
unifiedactionamongthemembersofthe
LeeMin-a/TheArgus
should become regular employees and to
burning sun. But none of our demands have
name of such an organization which was
participants of NSANSL are already a
group.”
encourage the strike that the KTTU was
beenheard,”saidPark.“Ithinkitistimethat
founded on July 21 by combining over
memberofsomeotherNGOsanditisstill
NSANSL is currently planning to
carrying out. This rally was scheduled to be
we change our strategy in struggling. This
200 civic groups to do research, lead
toodifficulttogatherthemallinonespot
protest that is against Lee Hoi-chang, the
heldonthe7thonlyforthematterconcerning
does not mean that we will give up, we are
discussions and hold rallies to assert the
to fight against the far-right wings. Not
president of the Grand National Party.
the KTTU, but was rescheduled when other
thinking of a stronger measure to get our
necessityinopposingtheNSL.
onlythat,oursocietyisstillveryharshon
President Lee stands as the major figure
tradeunionsfromtheRinnaiKoreaandHotel
demandsthrough.”
NSANSL is significant in that two
progressive groups. But I guess that goes
for supporting the NSL and the protest
Sheraton Walker Korea agreed on the
These workers weren’t alone fighting that
majorcivicgroups,oneforabolishingthe
forallliberalgroupsinKorea.
willgoonregularlyuntilNovember.
importance of providing all workers a better
day. A student from Bremen University in
NSL and the other wanting to revise it,
Hong pointed out that it was not only
workingenvironment.
Germanydonatedsomemoneytosupportthe
have finally came together as one big
crucial for all organizations to work in
Tel:02-773-9578
Trade unionists march to eradicate the
About 300 participants sat in front of the
unionworkers.Hehasbeensavingupmoney
organization.Itwillcontinuetheworkthat
unison,butgivinganencouragingwordor
Homepage:http://freedom.jinbo.net
system of contract workers during the
KTTUbuilding,singingandchantingslogans
by working part-time and understood the
the two previous groups have done, such
twotooneanotherisalsoimportantwhen
people’srallyonSeptember15.
like,“wewillfightuntilthedaythatthereare
hardship that contract workers might go
asplanningseminarsandprintingbooklets
working together. “It’s surprising how
nomorecontractworkersonthisearth.”
through. “There are people who support us
toinformthepublic.Andhaveaprogram
harditistosupportyourcolleagueswhen
K
orea Telecom Trade Union (KTTU)
Oneoftheprotesterswhorevealedhislast
even from abroad like this student. I am
of their own by participating in more
you are having a hard time yourself
ByLeeMin-a
heldarallyinfrontofitsheadquarters
name as Park was sitting in the first row
hopeful that we will win this fight before
fightsagainsttheNSL.
working according to the organization’s
EditorofNationalSection
in Bundang, a city just outside of Seoul, on
cheering loudly to the speeches given from
long,”Parksaid.
“Itwashardorganizingaunitarysystem
programs,” added Park. “To abolish the
September 14. The purpose of holding this
thefront.“Wecontinuedourstrugglefor276
ByKimSang-min/TheArgus

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