The country’s major labor group was searched by South Korea’s intelligence agency, which said it was investigating North Korean ties. KCTU’s central Seoul headquarters was searched by the National Intelligence Service and police on Wednesday. According to the espionage agency, several of its personnel had “links with North Korea.” Southwest city headquarters of the KCTU-affiliated Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union were searched.
An officer from the espionage agency told Agency France-Presse, “We and the national police agency have been carrying out our own investigation into the suspects’ suspected contacts with North Korea for several years.” The source stated, “Based on the evidence collected in the process, we concluded that a compulsory inquiry was necessary, and we proceeded forward with the raid once the court approved a search and seizure warrant.” Under the problematic and outdated National Security Act, possessing North Korean publications or other materials is a crime in South Korea. Alleged security act breaches sparked the raids, according to local media. Seoul’s conservative administration was “conniving” to target the KCTU, according to the KCTU. A recent truck driver strike was tied to the KCTU, one of South Korea’s major union umbrella bodies. President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered striking gasoline and steel workers back to work last month, threatening jail time or penalties if they didn’t.
Yonhap News Agency said that union representatives physically halted the authorities from entering the KCTU main office, requesting a lawyer for the raid and property confiscation. According to Yonhap, police and union representatives fought during the altercation. Most North Korean content, including Rodong Sinmun, is banned by the 1948 National Security Act. The UN has called the measure a “very worrisome” threat to free expression in South Korea. South Korea’s military rulers imprisoned thousands of individuals, including union activists, until the early 1990s. People were accused of pro-Pyongyang activities or espionage for the North using the statute.
