TUAC urges OECD to press for release of jailed Korean trade unionists 

(February 1999)

 Concerned at the continuing current imprisonment of  200 Korean trade unionists, TUAC has called on OECD to press the Seoul government for their immediate release. 

 In a note to the  OECD,  TUAC records satisfaction at the legal recognition by the Korean authorities of the teachers' union Chunkyojo, through the passage of appropriate legislation on 6 January. But, recalling a recent  Korean Federation of Trade Unions (FKTU) statement reporting that 200 trade unionists are currently imprisoned, TUAC comments "This  flies in the face of the repeated concerns expressed by the ELSA Committee and the OECD Council on the imprisonment of trade unionists.   It is not only a clear violation of fundamental labour rights by an OECD Member country, but it is a major setback for the tripartite process, which is so important to Korea's economic recovery and social stability".   It calls on the OECD to "insist that the trade unionists held in prison in Korea for trade union activities be released immediately".