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Dear Brother John Sweeney,
On behalf of Korean workers, the Federation of Korean Trade
Unions (FKTU) extends solidarity greetings to you and 9
million members of the AFL-CIO.
Korea and the U.S. made an agreement on safety conditions
for U.S. beef import on 18 April 2008. However, hundreds of
thousands of Korean people have recently been staging
candlelight vigils every night in a massive protest against
the result of the negotiations, denouncing that it is clearly
lacking in fairness and transparency. The people of Korea, men
and women of all ages, have assembled at the City Hall and
tried to advance the US Embassy and the presidential house of
Cheongwadae, demanding a complete renegotiation with
Washington.
The reason why Korean people are so strongly opposed to
U.S. beef import is that there are not sufficient measures
provided on the restriction of the export of cattle aged over
30 months and the Specified Risk Material (SRM). Korean people
have not only questioned the safety of U.S. beef but also
expressed grave concerns over the media report that a U.S.
woman allegedly died of the human form of mad cow disease in
April this year. The people of Korea are greatly angered by
the fact that their food supply could seriously be endangered
by the import of US beef.
The government of Korea made a request to the United States
to ban the export of cattle aged over 30 months, the results
of which were very disappointing to Korean People. Especially,
Mr. Alexander Vershbow, the U.S. ambassador to Korea, has
undermined the relationships between the two nations by
responding that the U.S. doesn’t see any necessity for
renegotiation. This remark has made trust-building efforts of
the two countries even more difficult because the right to
enjoy safe food is of a significant importance not only for
U.S. citizens but also for Korean people.
The public uneasiness is far from being relieved even by
the U.S. government’ recent announcement that it would
strengthen measures to exclude all SRM from animal feed and
instruct main beef exporters to label shipments of beef
exported to South Korea with information showing a cow’s age
at time of slaughter. It is time that an urgent decision
should be made to guarantee people’s safety without any
further delay.
The AFL-CIO and the FKTU were engaged in joint action
against the Korea-US FTA by holding joint debates and taking
part in rallies on several occasions in 2006. The two national
centers made firm commitments to making joint endeavor to
protect workers of both countries in strong solidarity. Now,
we are making an earnest appeal for your cooperation and
sympathy with Korean people in our efforts to call on the U.S.
government to resume full renegotiations with Korea. We
strongly believe this joint effort will further strengthen
solidarity between the AFL-CIO and the FKTU in the future.
Thank you very much.
In Solidarity,
Jang,
Seok-chun
President
Federation of Korean Trade Unions
(FKTU) | 
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