Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Opening rally in DC: February 11

Join us for a Week of Protest Against
the 7th Round of Korea-US FTA Negotiations


Sunday, Feb. 11 – 14, 2007, Washington, DC

(to coincide with the talks)

Gather for an Opening March and Rally

1 PM, Sunday, February 11

Malcolm X Park, Washington, DC

(at 16th and Euclid Streets, NW)

New York Folks: Ride the Down Down FTA Bus to DC for the Opening March and Rally

Meet on the east side of Union Square
btw. 15th and 16th Streets at
7:30 am, Sun. 02-11-07
Return time: about 10:30 pm
Suggested donation $25
(We won’t turn folks away)
To reserve a seat email
imanihenry@yahoo.com
or call 646.342.9673


PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY.

For more info call (718) 335-0419 or email yul-san@nodutdol.org

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Free Trade = Injustice: Event in DC on Feb. 3

Please circulate widely

For more info call (718) 335-0419, email yul-san@nodutdol.org or go to
kawanlist.blogspot.com

DOWN with all Free Trade Deals!

Free Trade = Injustice:
a Film and Forum on the Struggle to Oppose the Colombia and Korea-US FTAs


WHEN: SATURDAY, Feb 3 at 6 PM

WHERE: The Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd. NW (Green to Columbia Heights. Exit near intersection of Irving St NW and 14th St NW and go south on 14th St towards Columbia Rd.)

WHAT: Film screening of "Down Down FTA!" (about the anti-KorUS FTA struggle in Seattle) and teach-in on the US' Free Trade agenda with South Korea and Colombia. What will their impact be on the people of all three countries? What are the status' of the negotiations? What are we doing to resist?

With speakers from Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism and Polo Democratico Alternativo (progressive political party of Colombia.)

Also learned about the up-coming week of protest against the KorUS FTA. Feb. 11 -14, and how you can join.

WHY: Free trade policies such as these have had devastating effects on the lives of Americans as well as workers in the partner countries. Politicians and big corporations claim Free Trade Agreements will encourage foreign direct investment, create jobs and jump-start economies, but in fact they only support elite classes and the governments they back. NAFTA sent formerly high paying manufacturing jobs to Mexico, forced Mexican subsistence farmers to the cities, drove wages and working conditions, leading many to risk their lives immigrating to the U.S. South Korean, Colombian and U.S. farmers and workers will suffer the same results it the KorUS and Colombia-US FTAs pass.


Sponsored by Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism (KAWAN), a U.S. coalition of progressive U.S.-based Korean organizations endorsed by over 100 immigrant, people of color, LGBT, farmers', workers', women's, national liberation, anti-war and anti-globalization groups from around the country.

Foreign Policy in Focus, January 24, 2007: Postcard from...Seoul

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

KorUS FTA 7th Round



Down with the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement
(KorUS FTA)

Down with Fast Track and all Free Trade Deals

Protect Workers, Farmers, the Environment and Peoples’ Right to Sovereignty and Democracy

The 7th and Final Round of KorUS FTA Negotiations is almost upon us!!

JOIN US FOR A WEEK OF PROTEST

When: Sunday, Feb. 11 – 14, 2007 (to coincide with the talks)
Where: Washington, DC and Virginia

PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY. For more info call (718) 335-0419 or email yul-san@nodutdol.org

The U.S. and South Korean governments began FTA negotiations in June, 2006. Now they are in a race to finish at the expense of democratic process and the lives of millions.

Join peasant, labor, and community leaders from South Korea to protest neoliberal globalization.

WHAT: During the 7th and final week of negotiations, delegations of U.S. and Korean protesters will join forces to oppose the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. The week will include rallies, vigils, marches, direct actions and solidarity events. Give us a call NOW to find out how you can get involved and look out for updates with specific times and places in the coming weeks (kawanlist.blogspot.com).

WHO: This week of protest is sponsored by;
The Korean Alliance Against Korea-US FTA (KoA), a South Korean coalition of 280 organizations
AND
Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism (KAWAN), a U.S. coalition of progressive U.S.-based Korean organizations endorsed by close to 100 immigrant, people of color, LGBT, farmers’, workers’, women’s, national liberation, anti-war and anti-globalization groups from around the country.

WHY: Free trade policies such as this have had devastating effects on the lives of Americans as well as workers in the partner countries. Politicians and big corporations claim Free Trade Agreements will encourage foreign direct investment, create jobs and jump-start economies, but in fact they only support elite classes and the governments they back. NAFTA sent formerly high paying manufacturing jobs to Mexico, forced Mexican subsistence farmers to the cities, drove wages and working conditions, leading many to risk their lives immigrating to the U.S. South Koreans and U.S. farmers and workers will suffer the same results it the KorUS FTA passes.

KoA and KAWAN’s joint protests began during the first round of talks in Washington, DC, June 2006. In July we followed the negotiators to the second round in Seoul, where over a hundred thousand people protested in the streets. The struggle then went to Seattle for the 3rd round, then Jae Ju Island at the southern tip of Korea and then a ski resort in Montana. This week protesters are taking the streets in Seoul to protest the talks for the 6th time. The South Korean and US governments have announced that the 7th will be the final round. It’s time to go all out. So get ready.

Resources
· KoA’s English website
· KAWAN's blog
· Bilateral.org, a progressive website about bilateral trade and investment agreements
· News article on protests in Seattle in September

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Pyeongtaek Solidarity Statement: Signed by Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky was the first to sign this recently written statement of solidarity with Pyeongtaek farmers:

We stand in solidarity with Pyeongtaek farmers

We stand in solidarity with the people of Daechuri and Doduri, South Korea who are protecting their homes, land, and livelihood from the U.S. military. We believe that the U.S. military must cease and desist its forced eviction of Pyeongtaek farmers. We demand that the governments of South Korea and the U.S. review and re-negotiate the planned expansion of the U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek.
The South Korean government should immediately withdraw all military troops from Daechuri and Doduri, allow the villagers to enter their fields, and retract its plan for the destruction of houses and villages. The government must also make a public apology to the public for committing violence against its people and immediately release all prisoners. In addition, the South Korean government should reverse its agreement to the U.S. military “strategic flexibility” plan, of which the Pyeongtaek base expansion is a result. This shift toward “strategic flexibility” in U.S. military policy will only strengthen U.S. imperial ambitions in East Asia and threaten to unleash a crisis of war in the region.
The forcible displacement of Pyeongtaek farmers violates the housing rights specified in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Culture Rights, and the freedoms of body, of residence and transfer, of expression and of association as specified in the International Covenant on Civil and Politic Rights. The Korean government is party to both of these agreements. Already hundreds of people have been injured by South Korean riot police and hired thugs, simply for protecting themselves and their land from the impending social, cultural, economic, and environmental destruction caused by yet another U.S. military base.

Signed:

Noam Chomsky