Korean KRWU KORAIL union leaders appear before police "Arrest warrants have been issued for 35 union members involved in the strike."

Korean KRWU KORAIL union leaders appear before police "Arrest warrants have been issued for 35 union members involved in the strike."

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/01/116_149765.html

KORAIL union leaders appear before police

By Nam Hyun-woo

The leaders of the union at the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) were questioned by police Tuesday for allegedly instigating a 22-day strike last month.

They turned themselves in after a five-hour-long standoff with police.

“I thank all union members who have fought with me to stop the privatization of the railway service,” said KORAIL union president Kim Myong-hwan in a brief press statement before being taken away.

The 13 leaders, including Kim, initially planned to present themselves to police after holding a press conference in the offices of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), a union umbrella group.

As some 300 police officers with arrest warrants tried to force their way into the offices, union members blocked their entry and the union leaders said they would not cooperate until officers deployed in front of the building withdrew.

After the two sides agreed that they would get into a police vehicle accompanied by lawmakers, the leaders came out of the building at 5:10 p.m. and were taken to Yongsan Police Station in central Seoul.

In the statement, Kim said, “We decided to appear voluntarily for police questioning to express our will that we will take full responsibility for the conflict between the company and the labor union.”

The 13 leaders had been holed up in separate places in Seoul, including Jogye Temple and offices of the main opposition Democratic Party, while continuing their negotiations with the state-run railway operator.

Kim and other leaders fled the KCTU offices on Dec. 22 before police raided the premises to apprehend them.

“Union members have returned to their workplace having trust in the rival parties’ pledge not to privatize KORAIL. The political circle, as well as the government and KORAIL, have to show their commitment in this discussion corresponding to their pledge,” Kim said.

More than 1,000 KORAIL unionists face disciplinary measures for joining the strike, which was held in protest of the government’s plan to set up a KORAIL subsidiary to operate a new KTX bullet train line that will depart from Suseo, southern Seoul.

The unionists argued the plan was “a camouflaged scheme” to privatize the service and a number of other groups, including the KCTU, supported their claims, decided to launch strikes in a show of solidarity.

The walkout ended on Dec. 30 when the rival parties reached a deal with KORAIL to form a parliamentary subcommittee on preventing the privatization of rail services.

“Courts earlier rejected prosecutors’ requests for the issuance of detention warrants against all those who voluntarily appeared for questioning or were apprehended. Therefore, we expect the courts to make reasonable judgments, and prosecutors to refrain from reckless requesting of warrants,” Kim said.

Arrest warrants have been issued for 35 union members involved in the strike. All had been apprehended or voluntarily appeared for questioning previously, with the exception of the 13 who appeared before police Tuesday.