SMASH THE G20!

SMASH THE G20!


MASS PROTEST FRIDAY 12th NOVEMBER, SOUTH KOREAN EMBASSY. G20 SOLIDARITY
STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH SOUTH KOREAN WORKERS, G20 PROTESTORS, PRISONERS AND ALL ANTI-G20 ACTIVISTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE WHO ARE TAKING PART IN THE G20-PROTESTS IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA ON 11-12 NOVEMBER

TIME: 2pm – 6pm

DATE: FRIDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2010

PLACE: EMBASSY OF SOUTH KOREA, 60 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AJ, if coming from Victoria station, 10 min walk down Victoria Street, Buckingham Gate is on left, or if coming from Parliament Sq (Westminster Tube St) 10 min walk down Victoria Street, Buckingham Gate on the right.

smashg20.blogspot.com

tel. 07913765074

sov_rus@yahoo.co.uk

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People’s G20 Response Preparation Committee, South Korea Newsletter July, 2010
Original Publication Date:
1 July, 2010
Source:
People's G-20 Preparation Committee
Attachment Size
Newletter_People's_G20_preparationCommittee_July_FINAL.pdf 43.29 KB

Dear Colleagues,

The fifth G20 Summit will be held in Seoul on November 11th to 12th. This meeting has grave consequences for the people of Korea and the entire world. The G20 has appointed itself the principal body responsible for finding a solution to the global economic crisis and managing the world economy. Yet it excludes the majority of poor and developing nations from decision-making. It also seeks to make common people shoulder the burden of the crisis and to promote neoliberal policies, which have already created vast poverty and increased inequality. In addition, the South Korean government is using the upcoming summit as an excuse to severely restrict democratic rights and carry out a crackdown on migrants, street vendors and homeless people.

Recognizing the huge impacts posed by the G20 on the rights of people in Korea and around the world, labor unions, social movement organizations and progressive NGOs in South Korea formed a People’s G20 Response Preparation Committee (hereafter People’s Preparation Committee) on June 18th in order to respond to the G20 Seoul Summit. The People’s Preparation Committee will take full responsibility for organising various activities and actions protesting the G20 summit as the representative of South Korean people’s, social and civil movements.

We would like to share with you developments in our preparation for the G20 Summit.

Four Main Action Principles of People’s Preparation Committee

The People’s Preparation Committee agreed to the following four main principles:

1) We are committed to organising various activities and actions to denounce the G20 Summit for making people and developing countries pay for the crisis and criticise the structural problems of neo-liberal financial globalization.

2) We are committed to organise various activities to denounce the South Korean government for using the G20 Summit as an excuse to repress democracy and human rights and ignoring internationally-recognised labour and human rights standards.

3) We are to maintain political, organisational and financial independence from the South Korean government and capital, so that we can truly represent the alternative voices of labour, people’s and civil society movements about/against the G20.

4) We will contribute to strengthening solidarity with local and international labour, social and civil society movements to build a labour-and-environment-friendly alternative economy, and to introduce capital controls and contribute to strengthening the capacity of international movements against neo-liberal globlaisation.

Points of Action (provisional)

Agenda 1. Financial regulation and taxation on speculative capital
Agenda 2. Decent work
Agenda 3. Basic Labour rights
Agenda 4. Environment and climate change
Agenda 5. Alternative trade agreement to FTAs and TNCs
Agenda 6. Food security and agriculture
Agenda 7. Democracy and human rights
Agenda 8. Poverty and development
Agenda.9. Forced migration
Agenda 10. Peace and security
Agenda 11. Gender and G20
Agenda 12. Cultural diversity and IPRs
Agenda 13. Public services


Main Role of People’s Preparation Committee

People’s Preparation Committee will take full responsibility to organise the following activities and actions.

1) We are committed to organising a People’s Week of Collective Action from November 6th to 12th including:

* A rally and march on November 11th.
* A People’s Summit
* Opening and closing ceremonies for the People’s Joint Action Week

2) We will organise all possible activities and actions concerning current, future and emerging issues related to the G20 Summit based on general consensus among participating organizations, including:

* Protesting the crackdown against migrant workers, homeless people and street vendors in the name of a successful G20 Summit.
* Responding to the G20 Finance (Vice) Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meetings
* Protesting the government’s repression of democracy and universal human rights under the excuse of successful G20 Summit.

3) We are encouraging and supporting thematic activities based on the proposed points of action so as to expand and strengthen our response to the G20.

4) We are committed to making every effort to encourage social forces to join the people’s G20 actions and strengthen their participation, as well as to create and build people’s alternative positions on the global economic crisis.

5) We are committed to organising various publicity and public consciousness-raising activities to expose the fundamental problems of G20 summit.


People’s Summit(provisional title), Seoul

South Korean people’s, social and civil society organisations are calling upon international social movements to jointly organise a People’s Summit protesting the G20 Summit. The Peoples’ Summit will be organised as part of the People’s Week of Collective Action programmes, and it will be based on equal participation of all people to develop people’s alternative solutions for responding to the global economic and social crisis.

Korean people’s, social and civil society organisations will host the Peoples’ Summit (provisional title) in solidarity with international social and civil movements to develop peoples’ alternatives. The main goal is to develop a solution to the current crisis and to shield poor people who are suffering from the impact of the crisis.

The format of the People’s Summit will be a forum consisting of several creative workshops held directly before the G20 Summit. During the People’s Summit people from G20 and non-G20 countries will assess the impact of current economic and social policies promoted by the G20, and demand alternative global economic reform and the social change necessary to create a better world.

Calendar for People’s Week of Collective Action


- Date: November 6th to 12th
- General Picture of People’s Week of Collective Action
* Opening (November 6th)
* National Workers Rally (November 7th)
* People’s Summit( November 7th to 9th )
* Press Conference – Seoul Declaration
* Mass Rally and March (November 11th)
* Closing v(November 12th)

Participating Organisations

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU)
National Association of Professors for Democratic Society(NAPDS)
Citizen’s Movement for Environmental Justice
Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights
Korean Women's Association United(KWAU)
Global Call to Action Against Poverty Korea(GCAP-Korea)
Korean Peasants’ League(KPL)
Civil Society Network for Financial regulation and taxation on speculative capital
Civil Society Organisation Network in Korea
People’s Solidarity for Social Progress(PSSP)
People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD)
Korean Progressive Solidarity
National Students March
Korean Women Peasant Association
Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea (JCMK)
All Together
Green Korea United
Korean Urban Poor Association
Alternative Forum of University Students
National Democratic Association of Street Vendors
Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice
Institute for Global Political Economy
Imagine Institute
Corea Institute for New Society
New Community Institute
Institute for New World
SpecWatch Korea
Korean Clerical and Financial Workers Association
NANUMMUNHWA_ Global Peace Activities
Solidarity for Ending Poverty
Energy Climate Policy Institute for Just Transition (ECPI)
Action for Energy Justice
Migrant Workers Rights Watch, Korea
Solidarity for Street Vendors and Informal Workers
Joint Preparation Committee for Building Socialist Workers Party
Korea Progressive Academy Council
Progressive Strategy Council
Center for Energy Politics(CEP)

Contacts for the People’s Preparation Committee

- Joint Secretariat Team will be established shortly.
- Official E-mail : peoplesg20action.Seoul@gmail.com

- Thematic working group and/or networks based on each point of action will also be established.

- Provisionally you can contact the People’s Preparation Committee through the following persons/organizations:

? Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
Contact : Mr. Lee Changgeun(bulnavi@gmail.com), / Ms. Ryu Mikyung(inter@kctu.org)

? CSO Network in Korea
Contact: Mr. Sungkyu Oh(ohskks@gmail.com), / Ms Youngmi Yang,( pspdint@hotmail.com)

? CS Network for Financial regulation and taxation on speculative capital
Contact: Mr. Lee Hanjin (hanjin444@hanmail.net )

? Regional Southeast-east Asia Office, La Via Campesina
Contact: Ms Kim, Haesook(rupina72@gmail.com )

? Energy Climate Policy Institute for Just Transition(ECPI)
Contact : Mr. Lee Jinwoo(purevil@naver.com)

http://ourworldisnotforsale.org/en/article/people-s-g20-response-preparation-committee-south-korea-newsletter-july-2010

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CALL FOR ACTION - The G20 Summit is NO EXCUSE for Repression!KCTU

The G20 Summit is NO EXCUSE for Repression!

October 1st, International Day of Action against the pre-Summit attack on Democratic and Human Rights in South Korea



Dear Friends and Allies,



You have already received an email urging you to join protests against the G20 Summit, which will be held in Seoul, South Korea from November 11 to 12. As you know, the G20, originally formed to respond to the global financial crisis, is attempting to set itself up as the authority responsible for directing the world economy and defining world governance. While completely excluding most nations from decision-making, the G20 is attempting to make the world ‘safe’ for neoliberal capitalism by forcing emerging economies to shoulder part of the burden of the crisis, promoting trade and investment liberalization dressed up 'in new robes', negotiating weak financial reforms that largely allow financial speculation to go on unchecked, and reviving the ailing IMF and other IFIs. This agenda is being pursued despite the fact that neoliberal capitalism is clearly a failed model, which only increases poverty and inequality around the globe.



As if this was not enough, the Lee Myeong-bak administration is using the upcoming Summit as an excuse to strengthen repression of common people and social movements in South Korea. To fight this attack we need your support, even before November.



On October 1st tell the South Korean government and the world that the G20 Summit is NO EXCUSE for Repression by participating in the International Day of Action against the pre-Summit attack on Democratic and Human Rights in South Korea.



Background

The government is carrying out its attack on democratic and human rights on many fronts.



Claiming they are “establishing public order to support the successful opening of the G20 Summit,” the Immigration Service and other government agencies have been conducting a massive crackdown on undocumented migrants, during which migrants are brutally arrested, imprisoned and then deported. Proclaiming to be “preemptively responding to foreigner crime,” the Seoul Metropolitan Police Department has been carrying out blatantly illegal and racist stop and search procedures, questioning anyone they think looks ‘suspicious’, which generally means anyone who looks foreign and dark-skinned.



The government has also formed a “special road maintenance crew” to “clean up the streets” before the G20 by cracking down on street vendors. The police have been patrolling areas where homeless people usually spend time, such as subway stations and neighborhoods where service organizations and temporary boarding houses are located. These measures are brutally destroying the livelihoods and wiping out the resting places of South Korea’s poor.



At the same time, the government has been carrying out a devastating attack against South Korean workers and labour unions, even going so far as to ignore commitments made at previous G20 meetings. At the 3rd G20 Summit held in Pittsburgh in September 2009, national leaders agreed that, "the current challenges [posed by the crisis] do not provide an excuse to disregard or weaken internationally recognized labour standards.” Despite this fact, the government has repeatedly defied ILO Committee of Freedom Association recommendations by repressing unionization by teachers and public employees, applying the Article 314(Obstruction of Business) of Penal Code to prosecute union officers, and attempting to control union activities through implementation of the ‘time-off’ system, which drastically limits the number of union staff that can paid on company salaries. The government is also violating the G20’s stated principle of putting the creation of ‘decent jobs’ at the center of economic recovery by pursuing labour flexiblisation policies including the weaken of restrictions on mass lay-offs and expansion of the industries in which agency workers can be legally employed.



To top all of this off, in May the ruling conservative Grand National Party forced the passage of a “Special Law on the Safe Escort of the G20 Summit,” which legalizes tools for the repression of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. This law, which goes into effect on October 1, allows the government to mobilize the army “if necessary” to maintain public order. It also established ‘Safe Escort Zones’ around the G20 meeting site, the hotels where representatives will stay, the routes they will travel to the Summit, and other G20 related areas. Public officials are authorized to stop people from entering these zones and to carry out indiscriminate stop and search procedures within them. What is more, they are not required to publically announce which areas during what times are designated ‘Safe Escort Zones’. This law is clearly meant to squash all forms of criticism and protest against the G20.



On October 1st tell the South Korean government that the G20 is NO Excuse for Repression!



If we do not resist these measures, repression in South Korea will only grow stronger. This will have a devastating effect on the lives of common people and the people’s movement’s ability to fight for more equitable alternatives to the G20’s neoliberal agenda. We need your support and solidarity now more than ever.



This is way we have proclaimed October 1st, the very day the “Special Law on the Safe Escort of the G20 Summit” goes into effect, an International Day of Action against the pre-Summit attack on Democratic and Human Rights in South Korea.



We are asking allies around the world to organize solidarity actions on this day and deliver the following demands to the South Korean government.



The G20 Summit is NO excuse! Stop the crackdown on migrants, street vendors and homeless people!
Honour international labour standards and ILO recommendations! Stop labour repression and labour flexibilisation policies!
Repeal the “Special Law on the Safe Escort of the G20 Summit” and end repression of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly!


Solidarity actions may take the following forms:



Rallies or other actions in front of South Korean consulates and embassies
Meetings with consulate and embassy representatives to deliver protest statements
Press conferences
Rallies or other actions in public areas
Any creative action you wish to organize


Attached is a sample protest statement, which can be used in meetings with embassy and consulate representatives and/or as the basis for press statements.



Please let us know about actions you have planned and send reports of completed actions.

News about solidarity actions, as well as any questions or requests for additional materials may be sent to: Peoplesg20action.seoul@gmail.com



Endorsed by



Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)

National Association of Professors for Democratic Society (NAPDS)

Citizen’s Movement for Environmental Justice

Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights

Korean Women's Association United (KWAU)

Global Call to Action against Poverty Korea (GCAP-Korea)

Korean Peasants’ League (KPL)

Civil Society Network for Financial regulation and taxation on speculative capital

Civil Society Organisation Network in Korea

People’s Solidarity for Social Progress (PSSP)

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD)

Korea Alliance of Progressive Movements

National Students March

Korean Women Peasant Association

Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea (JCMK)

All Together

Green Korea United

Korean Urban Poor Association

Alternative Forum of University Students

National Democratic Association of Street Vendors

Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice

Institute for Global Political Economy

Imagine Institute

Corea Institute for New Society

New Community Institute

Institute for New World

SpecWatch Korea

Korean Clerical and Financial Workers Association

NANUMMUNHWA_ Global Peace Activities

Korean People's Solidarity against Poverty

Energy Climate Policy Institute for Just Transition (ECPI)

Action for Energy Justice

Migrant Workers Rights Watch, Korea

Solidarity for Street Vendors and Informal Workers

Korea Progressive Academy Council

Progressive Strategy Council

Center for Energy Politics (CEP)

Korea Federation for Environment Movement (KFEM) / FOE Korea

The Committee for a Socialist Workers' party (CSWP)

Democratic Labor Party-Korea (DLP-Korea)

New Progressive Party-Korea (NPP-Korea)

Socialist Party-Korea (SP-Korea)

Transparency International_Korea

People not Profit

Workers Institute of Social Science, South Korea

Korea Labor&Social Network on Energy

Korea NGO's Energy Network

Revolutionary Workers' Front

Students' Alliance against G20


http://kctu.org/9842

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G20 Seoul: There Will Be a Storm
Thursday, August 12 2010 @ 04:01 PM UTC

Contributed by: AnnaKey

Views: 1,692

On August 3rd, the Korea Times reported that the National Police Agency will be mobilizing more than 400,000 police around the G-20 Summit in Seoul, November 11th 12th, 2010. Multinational CEO's and leaders of the worlds twenty richest nations will meet during the G-20 on three islands, which have a price-tag of around 83 million(USD) to build...That's right, build.

G20 Seoul: There Will Be a Storm
by Barb Dwyer
Chicago Indymedia

On August 3rd, the Korea Times reported that the National Police Agency will be mobilizing more than 400,000 police around the G-20 Summit in Seoul, November 11th 12th, 2010. Multinational CEO's and leaders of the worlds twenty richest nations will meet during the G-20 on three islands, which have a price-tag of around 83 million(USD) to build...That's right, build. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, a total of three manmade “floating islands” are being built on the Han River between the Banpo and Dongjak bridges, and will be secured by anchors.

While thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets during past G-20 Summits in North America and Europe, South Korean workers and activists have a long history of being even more militant in their struggle against the destructive policies of globalization than their counterparts in the Northwest hemisphere. In December of 1996, the South Korean parliament passed a new labor law which began a "structural adjustment" austerity program on behalf of the IMF and World Bank. These programs require countries to make debt repayment a priority, and as a consequence forces them to cut essential social services such as health, education, and development, thus lowering their standard of living. These programs also open the door to the privatization of natural resources, such as ancient forests and public water supplies, to be exploited by multinational corporations.

In the days that followed, 12 million South Korean workers went on strike to counter the new undemocratic labor law. In the years that followed, South Korean's continued to protest against the destructive policies of neoliberalism, most notably the WTO in 2003, World Economic Forum in 2004, APEC in 2005, and numerous other occasions. As the G20 approaches, the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has announced it is planning to hold a rally and march on November 11th, the first day of the Summit. According to their website, “...the KCTU will do everything in our power to stage a massive anti-neoliberalism struggle that will gain attention of people and workers around the globe. To this end, we will prepare to hold People’s Action and be a leader of a great transformation.”

South Korean workers have often utilized the direct action tactics of resistance, such as strikes and factory takeovers, to large street demonstrations. It is not uncommon that the workers are also armed with slingshots, molotov cocktails, and sticks. Often times, in an act of more desperate resistance, workers commit suicide outside of their factories, sometimes through self-immolation. South Korean police on the other hand, much like their counterparts around the globe, have also demonstrated their willingness to continually brutalize their own citizens to quell public dissent of these policies. It is a well documented and common tactic for South Korean police to scrape the bottom of their metal shields on the concrete in order to sharpen the edges into a blade before they thrust their shields into the throats of protesters. Over the years, this brutal police tactic has led to the horrific deaths of many South Korean workers.

All this comes at a time when the fallout from past G-20's are still fresh in the air. During the 2009 G-20 Summit in London, Ian Tomlinson was beaten to death by police. On July 21st, 2010, his wife and nine children learned that the London police would not investigate his death, despite video and photographic evidence. None of the officers went to the aid of Tomlinson, who stumbled 100 yards down the road before collapsing and dying in front of thousands of demonstrators. In Canada, the police have begun an old-fashion witch hunt for the people they suspect are responsible for the property damage that occurred during the G-20 in Toronto. Up to 17 people are being charged with conspiracy and at least 4 individuals still remain in jail. In the wake of the Pittsburgh Summit, many cases still remain in court regarding criminal charges against activists, as well as the excessive use of force by police.

Whenever, and wherever, these large summits take place they are always preempted by a heavy campaign of psychological operations (PSYOPS) to prepare the population for the inevitable urban warfare and heavy handed police tactics that ensue. Authorities, for months ahead of time, tell local residents propaganda, such as “the rioters will threaten your lives” and “burn your city like Seattle in 1999” and that the “police are here to protect YOU, from THEM.” However, our collective experiences globally show us who the real violent faction is...In the past, we've seen all too often the police instigate violence, only to have the embedded corporate media twist the facts in their reporting later on. Given who they are protecting, and who pays their salary, it should be no surprise that the goal of both the police and corporate media is to delegitimize demonstrators and create pretexts to silence them. It is commonplace now that peaceful citizens are rounded up like sheep in “mass arrests” in order to create and/or expand their intelligence database of dissidents. The people who choose to resist and/or practice self-defenses are often labeled “terrorists” and face a multitude of oppressive weapons such as live-round and less-lethal ammunition, chemical weapons, and even newer oppressive directed energy technologies such as the LRAD sound cannon. Not only are the policies of neoliberalism destructive to human lives, the environment, and future of humanity in general, it could not be made possible without the collaborating authorities that protect these elite criminals through violence and deception.

As we've seen in other locations where these summits were held, South Korean police have already began their crackdown on immigrants, homeless, unions, students, and activists. Authorities there have launched large-scale deportations and raids against migrant workers and street vendors are slowly being moved out to prepare the battlefield. According to the Korean Times, “During a recent rally in front of Myeongdong Cathedral in downtown Seoul, Michel from the Philippines, the chief of the Migrants’ Trade Union, condemned the ongoing crackdown, saying, '“The Korean government is using the G-20 Summit as an excuse to trouble minorities. We want the government to end their oppressive behavior. End the crackdown!”'

Amidst the growing state repression in the lead up to the G-20 in Seoul, the South Korean National Police Agency (NPA) has created a special police unit as part of its effort to enhance security around the summit. Police operations headquarters will be set up in Seoul September 1st and will bring in elite mobile field force units of "riot troops" from across the nation. All officers will continue to be on high alert until November when hundreds of finance/business CEO's and world leaders gather in Seoul, in an attempt to fix the crisis their policies created. This will undoubtedly become a milestone for the G-20 and within the anti-globalization movement, as South Korea becomes the first country in the Asian region, and from the "emerging world", to host a G-20 Summit.

Based on the outcome of previous G-20 Summits and the response of South Korean police to demonstrations in the past, it is almost guaranteed that the South Korean people can expect extreme police repression and increased erosion of their hard-won democracy, before, during, and after the summit. As in the past, the G-20 will almost certainly conclude in an undemocratic fashion, and will attempt to promote and solidify more of the same oppressive neoliberal policies the working people of the world struggle against every day. On the one side is neoliberalism, with all its repressive power and machinery of death; on the other side is humanity.

There will be a storm...

PARTICIPANTS OF G-20 SEOUL

***Please note this is an incomplete list of participants***

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:

IMF
World Bank
WTO
United Nations
NEPAD
OECD
Africa Union
ASEAN
Financial Stability Forum
International Labour Organization
MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS:

(Over 100 CEOs will attend the Seoul G20)

Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann HSBC British Holdings Group Chairman Stephen Green U.K. Standard Chartered CEO Peter Sands Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit U.S. Black-stone Group Chairman Stephen Schwarzman VISA Chairman Joseph Saunders Japan’s Nomura Holdings CEO Kenichi Watanabe China Merchants Bank CEO Ma Weihua Luxembourg’s Arcelor Mittal Chairman Lakshmi Mittal Switzerland’s Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe U.S. Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs French energy company Total CEO Christophe de Margerie Germany’s Bosch Group Chairman Franz Fehrenbach France’s AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon France’s Alstom Chairman Patrick Kron France’s Veolia CEO Antoine Frerot Spain’s Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau India’s Infosys Technologies CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan CEOs of Denmark’s Vesta Wind Systems CEO Ditlev Engel Brazil’s Vale CEO Roger Agnelli Italy’s Eni Chairman Roberto Poli China’s Li Fung Group Chairman Victor Fung Sweden’s SEB/SABB/AB Electrolux Chairman Marcus Wallenberg Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Company CEO Yaschika Hasegawa China Southern Power Grid Chairman Zhao Jianguo

COUNTRIES:

Oceania: Australia

Eurasia: Russia Turkey

East Asia: China Japan South Korea

Europe: EU France Germany Italy UK

North America: Canada Mexico USA

South America: Argentina Brazil

Africa: South Africa

South Asia: India

Southeast Asia: Indonesia

Western Asia: Saudi Arabia

http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20100812160125263

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Posted By -- to SMASH SEOUL on 11/04/2010 08:57:00 AM