Labor unionists hold large rallies in downtown Seoul

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) hold a rally near Sejong-ro in downtown Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Thousands of members of a labor union held large-scale rallies in multiple locations in downtown Seoul on Wednesday as tensions between the union and the Yoon Suk Yeol government continue to escalate.

Some 20,000 union members joined the rallies to protest against the government's labor policies, paralyzing traffic and bringing some 5,000 riot police to control the protest sites.

Members of the Korean Construction Workers’ Union (KCWU), under the umbrella of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), gathered near the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, asking for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s resignation.

They also criticized the police for taking a strong stance against them.

“Police say they will use pepper spray against us if there are any illegal acts during the rally, and they even held a training session to break up protests,” Kim Eun-hyeong, an official at the KCTU said.

Riot police dispatched to the site carried pepper spray, with Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun of the National Police Agency warning multiple times that police might use it to disperse "illegal" protests. Around 80 riot officers were dispatched to the area to control the protest area.

“[Pepper spray] should be prepared so that it can be used if the director at the site believes it is needed,” Yoon said as he visited the Namdaemun Police Precinct to preside over a meeting Wednesday morning.

Another 5,000 members of the KCWU gathered near the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office in Jung District, central Seoul on Wednesday, shouting for President Yoon’s resignation.

They also commemorated the death of KCTU official Yang Hee-dong, who died after setting himself on fire on May 1 to protest the Yoon government’s crackdown on labor unions.

Yang was being investigated by prosecutors for allegedly extorting 80 million won ($60,300) from multiple construction projects between April last year and February this year through blackmail.

At the time of writing, the KCWU was saying it would hold its main rally from 7 p.m. Wednesday near the Seoul Finance Center building in Jung District, central Seoul. The police have warned they will take strong actions against the protest if more than 1,800 people — the number of people that the union had reported will participate — appear at the site.

Last week, President Yoon Suk Yeol slammed the KCTU’s large-scale rally for disrupting public order and violating people’s rights. Yoon has been taking a hardline stance against illegal union activities since last year, criticizing the former Moon Jae-in administration’s failure to enforce laws to manage “illegal” rallies.

The Korean Construction Workers’ Union staged an overnight protest of the government’s labor policies on May 16 and 17 in multiple locations in Seoul, which included a march to Samgakji, near the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul.

BY CHOI SEO-IN, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]