Anti-FTA unionists attack White House web site
Korea Times | Seoul | 12 April 2006
Anti-FTA Unionists Attack White House Web Site
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
An estimated 3,000 Korean unionists in the information and technology sector have tried to flood the e-mail box of U.S. President George W. Bush with bulk messages in protest of the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks.
The Korea Federation of Information Technology Workers’ Union (KITU) headed the effort targeted at Internet sites of the White House and Pentagon as well as Bush’s e-mail account Tuesday night.
The organization, which boasts approximately 35,000 members, prepared an English-language draft for the e-mail in advance and about 10 percent joined the campaign.
We instructed unionists to send e-mail to Bush and managers of major U.S. government Web sites at 6 p.m. Tuesday to protest the unilateral FTA negotiation,'' KITU president Park Heung-sik said.We estimate roughly 3,000 followed our directive. We hope U.S. leaders will recognize Korean people’s opposition to the FTA, spearheaded by the United States in favor of its own interests,’’ he added.
The mail expressed strong opposition to the opening of Korean markets to the U.S., raising the example of the screen quota system that will be eased midway through this year on requests of the U.S.
During (talks on) Korea and America FTA agreement, your country's demand by your unilateral guideline has been unbelievably unreasonable,'' the e-mail to Bush read.Moreover, Agriculture, finance, medical service, education, telecommunications and various kinds of service fields have been threatened to the abolition of the foreign control limit, which have been considered as the least way for protecting domestic industry,’’ it added.
Park said the KITU would continue such e-mail attacks on Bush over the FTA negotiations.
``In the future, we are thinking of making alliances with such progressive organizations as the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions with its 800,000 unionists on sending anti-FTA e-mail,’’ Park said.
On Feb. 3, South Korea and the U.S. revealed that FTA negotiations would be launched between the two countries _ a highly controversial issue.
Critics feared the envisioned FTA would seriously damage some local industries, especially agricultural and service fields, while proponents argue it would boost the economy overall.
The KITU is an umbrella union of the nation’s info-tech companies including most fixed-line telecom operators and mobile carriers.
