"Release the Two Detained Incumbent Public Officials' Union Leaders"

Democratic Labor Union Gwangju Headquarters Press Conference... Condemning Judicial Authorities for Regressing Times

The Gwangju Regional Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held a press conference in front of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office on the 11th, demanding the release of two current public official union executives who were recently detained.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Seulgi Sung] The Gwangju Regional Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) recently demanded the immediate release of two incumbent public official union executives who were detained.

On the 11th, the KCTU Gwangju Headquarters held a press conference in front of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, stating, "We condemn the judicial authorities for suppressing legitimate political activities of public official unions and for regressing against the times."

They criticized, "The public official workers were detained simply because they attended a regularly held training workshop and discussed 'Why political fundamental rights are important to public officials.' This alone shows how backward the political awareness of the current prosecution and judiciary is."

They added, "On April 23, the Constitutional Court ruled that Article 65, Paragraph 1 of the National Public Officials Act, which states 'Public officials shall not engage in the formation of political parties or other political organizations or join them,' is unconstitutional," and argued, "Political fundamental rights are universal rights that all citizens should enjoy, and public officials, as members of the public, should naturally enjoy these rights as well."

The KCTU explained that these are already demands of the times and universal rights that should be guaranteed in a democratic country, and there is no reason for detention and imprisonment simply for having a discussion.

The organization pointed out, "South Korea is the only country in the world with a backward system that deprives public official workers of political fundamental rights, so we cannot even properly express political opinions," and added, "The essence of this incident is to muzzle and politically suppress us in the struggle to change this."

They pledged, "All members of the KCTU Gwangju Headquarters will support and protect the struggle to secure political fundamental rights for public officials," and vowed, "As workers and citizens, we will fight together against all acts that deprive these basic rights."

A representative of the Gwangju Regional Headquarters of the National Public Officials Labor Union said, "Above all, we hope that political fundamental rights will be equally guaranteed," and added, "We only wish for the comrades detained for violating the Public Official Election Act to be released as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, two executives of the National Public Officials Labor Union Gwangju Regional Headquarters were detained on charges of supporting a candidate from a certain party ahead of the April 15 general election (violation of the Public Official Election Act, etc.).

They are accused of distributing policy booklets of a specific candidate to participants at a union executive training workshop held on February 20, appealing for support.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.