Progressive party planned in South Korea
In the face of escalating attacks against jobs and workers' rights following the International Monetary Fund bail-out last November, progressive forces in South Korea have come together to plan the creation of a people's party.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is at the heart of this initiative. The confederation's international secretary YOONG YOUNG-MO participated in the held in Sydney at easter. He spoke to Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly's EVA CHENG about political developments in South Korea.
Yoong explained that discussion about the need for a party began soon after the 1996-97 general strike, led by the forces, including the KCTU, behind the progressive election ticket, People's Victory 21 (PV21). PV21 fielded KCTU president Kwon Yong-kil as its presidential candidate in December's election.
Although PV21 gained only 1.2% of the total votes, the party plan remains firmly on course. Yoong conceded that the process will probably take another two to three years to materialise.
The main groups supporting the party project are the KCTU, the National Alliance for Democracy and Reunification in Korea (NADRK), the Alliance for Progressive Politics (APP), and a loose grouping of small left organisations.
NADRK — an alliance of peasants', women's, youth, teachers' and students' mass organisations — has less political influence than it used to, said Young, but its social base remains very broad. NADRK's student affiliate, the Korean Federation of Student Unions, is often attacked by the establishment as pro-North Korea, and is itself an alliance of student councils and unions with a membership of 1 million.
NADRK's youth affiliate is an alliance of around 100 groups with memberships of 50 to a few hundred each, plus political orientations that range "from mild pro-North Korea, socialist, to national democratic and social democratic", said Yoong.
NADRK's women's affiliate is a front for 20-30 organisations with memberships of a few hundred to a few thousand each, some based in the working class and others in the middle class. NADRK also includes a peasant affiliate with more than 30,000 members and a 15,000-strong teachers' union.
APP — comprising small groups with a total membership of a few thousand — aspires to democratise South Korea through parliament. "[They are] based on the awareness that any meaningful achievement in the progressive movement must be translated into political change — in legislation — and a presence in those mechanisms and institutions that bring about those changes ... If there's no presence in parliament, gains from struggle on the streets may fizzle out", Yoong said. Core groups of the APP have fielded progressive candidates in presidential and national assembly elections since the mid-1980s.
A concrete political program for the planned party has yet to be spelled out. The consensus reached so far among the component groups is that the party must establish a political presence in the law-making and policy-making processes, and aim to be in government in 10 to 15 years. Yoong likened this process to the trade union movements in Britain and Australia forming labour parties 100 years ago.
The "pre-party formation" plans to test its strength in local elections in June, but has not yet finalised how widely it will field candidates.
KCTU's internal split
The KCTU's leadership was replaced dramatically at an emergency congress in February following widespread disapproval by the rank and file of a deal with employers and the government to restrain workers' resistance to attacks on their jobs and conditions.
The new leadership under Dan Byong-ho, which replaced that of Kwon Yong-kil, called off a general strike set for February 12 just days after it was announced. The new leadership was, in turn, was replaced at a March 31 election, amidst intense debate over fight-back strategies.
According to Yoong, the March 31 election was the KCTU's regular triennial leadership election, delayed by the February events. It was not an expression of dissatisfaction with the emergency leadership.
Yoong rejected suggestions that the February general strike was hastily called, stressing that the emergency leadership was mandated to make the call by the emergency congress. The strike "had to be called off", said Yoong, because the "KCTU would have been destroyed by the state, public opinion and its own members".
Yoong confirmed there had been intense internal debate over strategic questions in the lead up to the March 31 elections, contributing to the "turmoil" which the KCTU is going through. "But it's not a catastrophe. It's a very important process. We have no choice but to go through that process, and come to terms with it and whatever aspirations our members have", he told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly.
Merger with FKTU?
Yoong said a possible merger with the pro-government Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) has been pursued because it is the KCTU's aspiration to build a unified workers' movement in South Korea. Conceding the FKTU is plagued by a "bureaucratised leadership which has become an instrument of the state", Yoong said the KCTU would ensure any merger was carried out on the KCTU's terms. He expects the merger to take up to 10 years to materialise.
Probable hurdles include the KCTU's strong rank and file militancy, compared to the FKTU's "mild approach", and the reduced number of leadership positions in the unified body which may undermine the enthusiasm of some current leaders.
Yoong told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly that although the FKTU has a nominal membership of 1.2 million, only 300,000 pay their dues, whereas 400,000 of the KCTU's 550,000 members are financial. The bulk of the KCTU's membership come from heavy industry — big conglomerates with large union memberships. Only 25% of the KCTU's members are women.
The FKTU, on the other hand, is composed of smaller unions which are strong in the banking, chemical and public sectors, among train and bus drivers, and on the waterfront.
In response to the offensive against workers under the IMF-prescribed austerity program, the KCTU advocates more public works, greater social expenditure and increased workers' control of firms and industries. Yoong said any attacks on wages will be strongly resisted, but he did not rule out the KCTU accepting some wage cuts in exchange for greater workers' control of the production process.
The KCTU is preparing for a general strike in May to resist rampant dismissals and unemployment. A promise to take action on these issues was one basis upon which the new leadership was elected.