***Real Time Update***
Right now a special division of 2,500 police are engaged in an assault on the occupied factory. The cops have removed most barricades and are using aerial ladders to attempt to reach the fortified roof positions of the strikers. 3 helicopters are supporting the cop attack. Hand-to-hand battles are presently occurring and the strikers are fighting back with molotov cocktails. Due to the intensity of the fighting, there will probably be many casualties -- and possibly fatalities.
***Real Time Update (August 4, 2009; 1:30 p.m. Korea time)***
Starting at 10:30 a.m., over 400 riot pigs, using aerial ladders, failed to take the roof in the photos below: 
In the map below, the red circles show areas where the cops are fighting to overtake the strikers' positions. The paint department is at the bottom, containing the number "2." 
The workers still control the assembly line buildings, shown by the numbers "3" and "4." The riot pigs have managed to take control of the areas "1" and "2," which are the 3 circles on the lower left. On the ground level, the cops are 5 meters from the paint department building. At present, over 2,500 special forces police are involved in the attack.
Comments
More photos: And videos:
More photos:
And videos:
Workers can be seen defending their positions with molotovs in this video from 12 noon:
http://www.ytn.co.kr/_comm/pop_mov.php?page=1&s_mcd=0103&s_hcd=&key=200908041200483225
From 1:00 p.m.:
http://www.ytn.co.kr/_comm/pop_mov.php?page=1&s_mcd=0103&s_hcd=&key=200908041303215597
Still more photos from the
Still more photos from the morning battle:
Around 9:00 a.m. 2,000 scabs, who are the company loyalists wearing uniforms with armbands, were brought in to "clean up the factory" and in the process destroyed the strike supporters' encampment. Around 10:00 a.m. scabs marched to factory from company parking lot, then attacked the strike supporters, destroying their water and medical supplies:
And dumped out water intended for the workers occupying the factory: 
Scabs on factory roof: 
Photos from 3:25 p.m.:
Photos from 3:25 p.m.:
Anti-helicopter devices in red circles: 
Scabs firing slingshots: 
Striker defending barricade: 
Cops having taken control of part of the factory: 
Scabs and hired thugs on the march behind heavy machinery: 
Workers defending their positions from roof: 
Strikers, with sign saying: "If you come in, there will be fire":
the BBC has uploaded a
the BBC has uploaded a video.
the link is here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8183023.stm
R
amazing photos.
amazing photos. congratulations on putting them up.
Couple of questions though. The language you use seems strange. Why are the police called riot pigs?
Also rather than providing us with the information you seem to have a very slanted view on this occupation. The people occupying the plant seem hell bent on destroying it, the equipment there and killing / maiming as many police / observers as possible. People who throw molotov cocktails are no longer workers, they are terrorists.
I am no supporter of the scabs either. Their actions have been disgusting. They should be arrested for destroying food, aid and shelter destined for the occupiers.
It seems the worker's union has seriously let down the employees of SsangYong. Rather than negotiating the best possible redundancy package, they have let themselves be drawn into anger and conflict.
I wish all well and hope this ends soon without any more bloodshed.
this is inspirational stuff
this is inspirational stuff indeed.
fatherb - your username is
fatherb - your username is paternalistic and so are your comments. cops are called pigs because "police in general" are consistently partial in their role to defend of capitalism and the state. there is also no clause or policy on this website stating that those who post articles/comments are purely objective. many of us have taken sides, as it seems have you. notably those workers oocupying the factory are clear that they view this conflict in terms of more than simply defending themselves against losses - they struggle for the integrity of our class - the working class.
Solidarity with the strike!
Solidarity with the workers!
They're called pigs because
They're called pigs because they're defending the pig system that commoditized the strikers and discarded them at the first whiff of greater profits elsewhere. Did you wander over here from DailyKos?
fuck the pigs.
fuck the pigs.
Fatherb, personally, I've
Fatherb, personally, I've never really been a fan of the word 'pigs' outside of farmyard references and we try not to use it on libcom but in terms of using pejoritave language when referring to police, i see no problem. I think this occupation is prime example of how political the police are: how many scabs do you think were arrested for destroying the supporters' campsite? The police are there to do a job and that job isn't to play independant and impartial referee in this conflict.
As for not being objective, well, you've got us there. We have most definately picked sides. We're a site for radical workers and we're currently supporting the workers taking radical action. Similarly, other media owned by big corporations reflect the interests of that social group. There is no such thing as objective reporting, everything from sentence structure (i.e. who 'claims' and who 'says', when is 'but' used etc) to choice of headline and even what is deemed worthy of coverage reflects a certain bias. Claims of objectivity are just a way of covering up subjectivity.
A perfect example of this would be your claim that the occupiers are "no longer workers, they are terrorists". 'Terrorist' itself reflects a certain bias. I hope you're ready for the old cliche of 'one persons terrorist is another one's freedom fighter'. The IRA are 'terrorists' in some parts of the UK and 'freedom fighters' in others. Nelson Mandela, nowadays elevated to the status of elder statesman of the world, was once considered a terrorist (in some places; in others he was considered a hero).
Anyway, I hope I've helped someway in explaining the reasoning behind libcom's open bias. Such openess about subjectivity can be discussed, try doing this with the BBC's 'objectivity' ;)
***Update as of 7:30 p.m.
***Update as of 7:30 p.m. August 4, 2009 (day 74 of the occupation)***
Polices, thugs and scabs have pulled back. Over 500 strike supporters are outside the factory gates.
A hired thug slipped from the roof of one of the occupied buildings and was captured by the workers. They questioned him for 6 1/2 hours because the police leaders have said that only official police will be part of the factory invasion. This is clearly not true. The thug is 24 years old, originally from the city of Pusan, and was recruited by a security company. 260 of these companies are flourishing in South Korea right now, mostly to provide goons to crush opposition to redevelopment/gentrification projects. The captured thug was hired in May as a security guard, but at the end of July he was brought to Ssangyong to be a strikebreaking thug.
Also, under court receivership the company is allowed to hire 300 strikebreaking thugs at 9,000,000 won per month (around $7,375 U.S.), but Ssangyong and the security companies pay the thugs a fraction of that and pocket the difference. After being questioned, the thug was released. The thug's equipment can be seen below:
As for the use of the word "pig," deep passions were involved. When I see over 4,000 riot cops and their helicopters attack 600 of my comrades occupying the factory, I use the old Black Panther term. Sorry, I can't help myself.
(photo from August 3, 2009)
Long live the Ssangyong factory occupation!
"We have to defend ourselves.
"We have to defend ourselves. We intend to defend ourselves. And were gonna do it today, and the day after that, and the day after that. Because only through the proper example of self defense, the proper example of retaliation-- and by letting these people know that we move for some basic laws-- that anything that goes down on oppressed people, on the part of the oppressor, it should be reciprocal.
And in plain proletarian workers language; It takes two to tango. As soon as these mothafuckaz go we go."
Fuck the pigs!
Long live the Ssang Yong occupation!
Long live the class struggle!
More photos of the attack on
More photos of the attack on the encampment of the strike supporters outside the factory on the morning of August 4, 2009. Some supporters, including family members of the strikers, are wearing the lime green t-shirts. The scabs are regular non-striking workers, who didn't get laid off, and who are company loyalists. They are wearing orange armbands.
August 5, 9am Korea time. The
August 5, 9am Korea time.
The special division of police force took over another building this morning.
1 striker fell down to the ground from the roof.
Right now(around 10am), special police teams are trying to get on the roof of the main occupied building(paint shop)
http://www.tagstory.com/video/video_post.aspx?media_id=V000348803
news clips
http://www.ytn.co.kr/_comm/pop_mov.php?page=1&s_mcd=0103&s_hcd=&key=200908051002523370
http://www.ytn.co.kr/_comm/pop_mov.php?page=1&s_mcd=0103&s_hcd=&key=200908050947541635
Scabs: No Guts, No
Scabs: No Guts, No Glory...those fucking cunts deserve to be fucking shot.
Solidarity with the strikers! I hope they take out a some of those fucking pigs and scabs...make it worthwhile.
P.S.
I'm not sure but I think I heard something about scabs having concrete slabs dropped on their cars in the UK back during the Thatcher Era/Error...one way or another it made me chuckle to myself a bit.
If you click on and watch any
If you click on and watch any of the links to the videos in kbysf's post #14 above, you'll see that those Korean riot pigs look exactly the same as the LAPD pigs who beat up Rodney King. I mean exactly!
It gets my blood boiling so much that I can't bear to watch it.
Fuck the pigs!
horrible... do we know
horrible... do we know condition of the worker and the circumstances of the fall?
Riot Queer. Yeah concrete
Riot Queer. Yeah concrete slabs were thrown from bridges at scab cars in Britain during the miners strikes. Im pretty sure in an infamous incident one was dropped which killed a Taxi Driver taking a scab to work, the press were loving it....
Did the worker who felt is
Did the worker who felt is dead or did he survived ?
Quote: Did the worker who
See new August 5 occupation update thread
This is ridiculous. Anyone
This is ridiculous. Anyone who has any remaining doubts on which side of the class war the police fall on is a fucking idiot. Those videos should be seen by everyone!
Solidarity with the strikers!