Interview With The Policy And Information Center For
International Solidarity (PICIS)
1. When was PICIS formed? What is the aim of your group?
We gathered in 1996 and prepared for organizing a group. We
studied international affairs, the Internet, and so on for about
one year. Officially, PICIS was formed in July 1997. After the
general strike during 1996-97, we felt the Korean movement was
too isolated and limited in its view. So we wanted to introduce
foreign struggles to Korean activists and our struggles to
foreign activists, too. We think that in this world of globalized
capitalism, international solidarity among exploited people and
workers is more important than ever. We hope our activity is
helpful for this.
Why did you decide to focus on "international solidarity"?
Well, we are not traditional internationalists. Every member
of our group has different ideas and viewpoints. The reason we
focused on international solidarity was because there was a
vacuum in the Korean movement. A lot of Korean workers and
activists don't know much about foreign struggles and we don't
have such a tradition. So we wanted to provoke ideas about
international solidarity in Korea.
At present, what are the most important political issues which
social movements in Korea are dealing with?
After the IMF's intervention in Korea, social movements,
including the labor movement, were faced with a difficult
situation. Massive layoffs are affecting workers indiscriminately
and millions of unemployed workers suffer from difficult living
conditions. This social and economic situation is now
becoming a political conflict. Social movement groups are
focusing on organizing unemployed people.
Korea has a history of militant struggle by both workers and
the student movement. What is the condition of these movements at
present? To what degree do labor and student organizations work
together?
After the military dictatorship, the militant struggle by
both workers and students got weakened. There have been some
turning points after the collapse. In 1991, millions of students
and workers staged a great struggle against the government. But,
there was also a national dispute about the militancy and
violence of the movement. Some students lynched prime minister
Chong Won-Sik and the situation changed abruptly after the
accident. In 1997, students who gathered for a rally for
reunification lynched a police spy and killed him. After that, a
lot of people who had been positive towards the student movement
turned their backs against the movement. Meanwhile, the labor
movement has focused on economic struggle and lost its militancy.
It is also somewhat negative towards solidarity with the student
movement. The government has manipulated anti-communist ideology
to split them as well.
In the Western media, the new President Kim Dae-Jung [known as
"DJ" in Korea] has been called the "Nelson Mandela of Korea".
Have conditions for social resistance improved under the DJ
regime? For example, has the National Security Law been changed
at all since DJ took office?
We totally oppose such propaganda. DJ has tried to
arrest union leaders in the aftermath of the May Day rally. Since
he took power, the government has arrested 198 workers and
activists under the National Security Law, the Act on Rallies and
Demonstrations, and the Act on Special Intervention in Official
Business. 129 of these people were arrested under the National
Security Law. Before his election, DJ promised to change the law,
but he now only takes advantage of it.
What is the condition of political prisoners in Korea?
Korean prisons are notorious for their violence and lack of
freedom. Political prisoners suffer from censorship and arbitrary
punishment in prison. Political prisoners organize themselves in
prison for reform of prison discipline and their conditions, but
the answer they get is more violence. The prison system doesn't
guarantee the basic rights of prisoners. The conditions have
improved somewhat, but there remain many problems.
PICIS describes itself as an information and solidarity group.
What role does the Internet play in your work? How do you
envision left-wing movements utilizing the Internet as a tool for
the resistance? What sort of groups do you communicate with over
the Internet?
We are a small group, but have we introduced a lot of
foreign movements to Korean activists. This was made possible
thanks to the Internet. We also publish a weekly newsletter
covering Korean movements for foreign activists. We were surprised
when U.S. activists demonstrated in San Francisco for Korean
political prisoners last spring. Thanks to the Internet, we, all
left-wing activists, can share each others' experience and
collaborate for common aims. We want to be of use to oppressed
peoples with our skills, so we want to communicate with as many
various groups as possible. We want to be a kind of bridge
between Korean movements and foreign movements. Political
ideologies are not important now. This is the time to reconstruct
the tradition of solidarity, we think.
What projects do you have planned for the future?
We are organizing the First People's International
Conference in Korea. The conference will be held from September
8-12 this year. We will continue to publish our two newsletters
(one for foreign movements and the other for Korean activists).
And if there is an important issue abroad, we will be at the
front of the solidarity struggle in Korea.
Thank you very much for your time.
PICIS can be contacted on the Net at http://kpd.sing-kr.org/~picis/
(Interview by Arm The Spirit - August 1998)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information
collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide
variety of material, including political prisoners, national
liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism,
the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our
writings, research, and translation materials on our listserv
called ATS-L. For more information, contact:
Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada
E-mail: ats@etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats/
ATS-L Archives: http://burn.ucsd.edu/archives/ats-l
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(
geocities.com/CapitolHill)