This morning, at 2:30am in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, men who have been hired by the Ssangyong Motors company began attacking the families of union workers who had gathered in solidarity outside of the Ssangyong Motors assembly plant.  Reporters who attempted to document the sudden attack also became victims themselves. (see pic #2 on the right hand side)  When the situation became too much, riot police came in and provided cover to the company men as they retreated for cover.  Reporters and family members who were attacked received no assistance from the police.  

As the day continued on, the Korean police began dropping tear gas mixed with paint thinners on the union workers inside the plant and using water cannon trucks to shoot powerful sprays of water mixed with tear gas in an attempt to get the union workers to leave the assembly plant (see pic #3).  Men hired by the company also began to shoot heavy metal bolts at the union workers in a blatant attempt to cause injuries.  

Regardless of whether you believe union workers have the right to strike (they do – it is legally protected by Korean law and a number of international conventions, such as the UN Declaration of Human Rights), no worker should be subjected to such brutal tactics.  The Korean union workers went on strike because they were asked to “voluntarily retire,” under which circumstance, they would received not only a reduced level of retirement benefits, but they would also not qualify for unemployment benefits.  Essentially, because of Ssangyong Motors inability to run a profitable company, the workers are forced to suffer and accept less benefits from which they are entitled. 

If this is how the Korean police reacts to peaceful protests, is South Korea really a country with whom we want to sign a free trade agreement (FTA)?  If signing a FTA means accepting such atrocious conduct by the police and accepting the use of muscle men by companies, then stronger protection for workers must be included in a potential US-Korea FTA to ensure that the US is not complicit in such future brutality.