Civic, labor groups tell of G-20 rallies

[Joanne98]

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announced yesterday that it will kick off a series of demonstrations against the G-20 Summit starting tomorrow, adding more tension to the Korean government¡¯s efforts to completely block demonstrations and terror attempts during the summit, which is slated for Nov. 11-12.

The union and other liberal civic organizations created a united confederation - the Korean People¡¯s G20 Response Action - to condemn the G-20 for ¡°not being able to adopt effective financial regulations and for being unable to agree on measures such as a bank levy and a financial transaction tax.

¡°As the chair of the G-20 Summit, the Lee Myung-bak administration has declared that ¡®poverty and development issues¡¯ will be the main items on the agenda,¡± the Korean People¡¯s G-20 Response Action said in a press conference yesterday. ¡°The Korean government¡¯s initiative focuses only on ¡®economic growth,¡¯ while values such as democracy, human rights, the environment and gender equality have been sidelined. We can only wonder whether the government¡¯s initiative will bring sustainable and balanced development to developing countries.¡±

The Response Action group designated Nov. 6-12 as its rally period in an effort to criticize what they say is the negative impact of the G-20.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2928047