Korea Trade Agreement Protested

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Wearing bright orange “stop the FTA” headbands and marching to the beat of Korean drummers, over a thousand workers, farmers, and activists took over downtown DC streets Sunday in a protest against a new trade agreement that critics say will devastate workers and farmers in Korea and the US (another demo is planned for noon Tuesday; see Calendar). “Down, down with the FTA!” chanted activists from the Korean Alliance against the US-Korea FTA as they marched from the World Bank to the US Department of Trade, and wrapped up at IMF headquarters, where demonstrators conducted  “die-in’s” symbolizing their demand to kill the FTA and end economic colonialism. Waving vibrant green, pink, and yellow banners energetically, the activists called for international unity in the face of globalization, war, and poverty. The afternoon’s activities concluded at Lafayette Park as demonstrators chanted “la lucha sigue” in English, Spanish, and Korean and noted the absence of a delegation of 50 Korean peasants and farmers who were denied visas to the US. “We’ve seen what happened to the people in Canada, Mexico, and Central America,” a representative from the Korea-US FTA Alliance warned, “Workers (in the) US, Korea, and Mexico must unite; we are all one.”

- reported by Sara  Wallace-Keeshan