"We are not machines! Enforce the labour code!"
- Ollie C
- Dec 14, 2017
- 1 min read
[The workers at the Seoul Pyunghwa (Peace) Market in 1960s]
Hi all,
Regarding Chapter 10, I am sharing a Korean movie (A Single Spark (1995)) about Jeon, Tae-il, a Korean worker (tailor) in 1960s who protested against the horrendous working conditions in the Seoul Pyunghwa (Peace) Market and further the oppression rules of then Park Jung-Hee government.
Jeon Tae-il died after setting himself on fire in 1970 to force people's attention onto the labour condition issues. The slogan he shouted to the last moment was "We are not machines! Enforce the labour code!"
His death sparked social attentions and made university students, religious people, and media united against the inexorable exploitation of labour.
[Lee So-sun, the mother of Jeon Tae-il, one of South Korea's most notable labour activists was holding her dead son's photo.]
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