Hankyoreh and KCTU draw attention to ILO report

The International Labor Organization (ILO) cited South Korea, along with Cambodia, Colombia, Philippines and Iran, as a country in which workers' right to assembly is not well guaranteed.

Great company that, countries where labour activists are daily threatened, beaten, tortured and disappeared. I wonder how many workers will be imprisoned, or killed on the streets of Seoul this summer.

Park Geun-hye vows to save public education - by killing it

It seems Park Geun-hye plans to dismantle public education in the country, so that "quality human capital" might be better produced - oh wait, she won't have to, since apparently it has already "collapsed."

She also says "deregulation" and the "rule of law" will allow Korea to prosper. Quite comfortable expressing nonsensical contradiction, is Park Geun-hye.

And about those tax cuts, Ms Park ...


The Korea Times won't provide an URL for the story, so here's most of it:

"Failed Public Education Undermines Economy"

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) has diagnosed that failed educational policy has undermined the economy.

Among others, she stressed that the next government should put top priority on public education.

``The collapse of public education and soaring household spending on private education are two core problems which should be addressed during the next administration,’’ the former GNP chairperson said.

Park claimed the poorly managed public education system has generated many social ills including a growing number of broken families.

Therefore effective programs for training quality human capital should be given primary importance as a key item on the national agenda.

Successful educational reform will pave the way for the prosperous economy and consequently job creation will follow, she said.

She pointed out that Koreans are estimated to spend some 31 trillion won per year on private education. English education takes the lion’s share of the spending.

Park, the eldest daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, said her camp is reviewing various policy options to enable the government to support families to take free foreign language programs.

Park singled out tax cuts, deregulation and the rule of law as the three core elements that can revitalize the Korean economy.

She added these three elements will create jobs and improve welfare for low-income families.

Regulations hold the economy back, she said.

According to her, about 500 more regulations have been introduced during the incumbent Roh Moo-hyun administration.

Park promised to ease regulations, if elected president.

Korean teachers lodge complaint with the ILO

The KTU has submitted a complaint to the ILO. The ILO will ask the government to respond this month, but there will be no formal discussion of teachers' charges before November.

Calling on the KTU to support the academic and cultural boycott of Israel

Inspired by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Britain's National Union of Journalists and now the UCU, I am going to submit a motion to the KTU executive, that the union join the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. I realize it's a longshot ...