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20,000 Workers Rally in Downtown Seoul, Demands Suspension of Restructuring
Some 20,000 workers of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) demanded that the government discontinue what they termed ˇ°new liberalˇ± restructuring and its attempt to revise the labor laws for the worse in a massive rally at Taehangno Street in downtown Seoul, Sunday.
The rally of the progressive KCTU or ˇ°Minnochongˇ± resulted in some 10 workers and policemen injured in a clash between unionized laborers attempting to bring in wooden clubs and steel pipes and police troops.
After the assembly, participating workers marched through the downtown streets to Myongdong Cathedral, sporadically clashing with police and causing tremendous traffic confusion in the heart of Seoul.
During the rally, labor unions from all industries under the wing of the KCTU resolved to compete voting by Nov. 29 to determine whether to stage a general strike, heralding a full-scale walkout toward the end of the year.
KCTU Chairman Dan Byung-Ho claimed in a speech that scandalous collusion between politicians and businessmen and corruption ruined the economy, but the government was attempting to shift all responsibility onto workers.
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