North and South Korea
Bush’s "evil axis" speech destabilises the Korean peninsula
By James Conachy, February 15, 2002
The threat of US military action against North Korea implicit in George Bush’s State of the Union address has cast a pall over the South Korean government’s “sunshine policy” o...
US steps up pressure on North Korea
By James Conachy, November 30, 2001
Before the war on Afghanistan is even over, the Bush administration is already naming other potential targets for American aggression. While the most publicised have been Iraq and other Middle Eastern...
North Korea seeks rapprochement with South and the US
By James Conachy, September 28, 2001
Amid the war preparations of the United States, South and North Korea held their first ministerial level meetings for six months from September 16 to 18. The talks were marked by the eagerness of Nort...
A dismal anniversary of the Korean summit
By Peter Symonds, June 21, 2001
A year ago the first-ever summit meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea in Pyongyang was greeted with euphoria in official circles and the media. Editorials waxed lyrical on the prospect...
South Korean unions rapidly shut down national strike campaign
By a correspondent, June 18, 2001
Bowing to government threats and pressure from the media, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has effectively ended most industrial action just days after launching an indefinite strike ca...
South Korean government faces backlash over police violence against Daewoo workers
By James Conachy, April 21, 2001
The South Korean government of President Kim Dae-jung has been significantly shaken over the last week by protests and other expressions of outrage over a brutal police attack on 350 laid-off Daewoo a...
Bush administration ratchets up tensions on the Korean peninsula
By Peter Symonds, April 6, 2001
At present international media attention is focused on the standoff between Washington and Beijing over the fate of the US spy plane grounded on Hainan Island. But just to the north, on the Korean pen...
South Korean president boasts to US investors of crackdown on Daewoo workers
By Terry Cook, March 17, 2001
For months now, Daewoo Motors workers in South Korea have been involved in a bitter struggle against layoffs and possible plant closures. The administration of President Kim Dae-jung has repeatedly mo...
South Korean government orders massive police assault on Daewoo workers
By a correspondent, February 24, 2001
The South Korean government this week launched a full-scale attack on workers at the Daewoo Motor Co., aimed at breaking resistance to mass layoffs and clearing the way for the sale of the bankrupt ve...
China pushes North Korea to accelerate free market policies
By James Conachy, February 6, 2001
Following a visit to China last month by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, there are signs that Pyongyang is preparing to accelerate its free market reforms. The South Korean news agency Yonhap reporte...
Unions call off strike
South Korean police storm bank workers' occupation
By Luciano Fernandez, December 30, 2000
South Korean union leaders called off a week-long strike by employees of the Kookmin and Housing & Commercial banks on December 28, the day after 8,000 riot police stormed a training centre being occu...
IMF presses for more job destruction in South Korea
By Joe Lopez, December 8, 2000
Despite an estimated annual economic growth rate of 9 percent for this year, the South Korean economy is far from healthy. Consumer demand is set to fall or remain stagnant, corporate bankruptcies wil...
