<Anchor> The
police issued an arrest warrant for Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the KCTU today (2nd). It has been 20 days since the warrant was issued for leading an illegal assembly, and the KCTU announced that it would fight against it with a general strike.
Reporter Shin Jeong-eun.
<Reporter> At
dawn before dawn, armed police enter the building where the KCTU office is located.
Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the KCTU, was caught by the police an hour later and appeared.
[Yang Kyung-soo/Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions: Colleagues, please prepare for the general strike properly and work hard! (Release Chairman Yang Kyung-soo!)] The
police executed a forced recruitment procedure for Chairman Yang, who had been issued an arrest warrant for leading several illegal protests in downtown Seoul.
It has been 20 days since the arrest warrant was issued.
Previously, the police tried to execute the warrant last month, but the KCTU blocked it and withdrew in about an hour.
When the news of Yang's arrest became known, more than 100 union members gathered in front of the Jongno Police Station in Seoul where Chairman Yang was imprisoned, and
[Hyun Jeong-hee/Chairman of the Public Transport Union: They said they were going to arrest Chairman Yang Kyung-soo, who said that the self-employed should not be allowed to die like this. will not disappear.]
At an emergency press conference held next, he condemned forcibly torn the door open and rescued Chairman Yang as crossing the 'line that should not be crossed'.
[Yoon Taek-geun / Senior Vice-Chairman of the Korean Federation of Trade Unions: If we declare war, we have no choice but to face it. If repression comes, the struggle will lead to a general strike.] The
KCTU said that it would launch strikes and relay hunger strikes centered on executives, and expressed its will to make sure that the scheduled general strike in October would happen.
(Video coverage: Hwang In-seok, Yang Doo-won, video editing: Won-hee Won)