Protesters confront police and government negotiators outside Seattle's Museum of History and Industry. Photo: Sarah Sloan

two hours of the morning protesting outside of the Westin Hotel where the South Korean government's negotiation team is staying, as well as outside the negotiations' site at the Museum of History and Industry.

 

The demonstrators split into small groups and gathered outside of the entrances on all sides of the hotel. As South Korean negotiators left the hotel in small groups, the protesters chanted, beat drums and blew whistles.

Some of the groups involved in the protests then headed over to the site of negotiations, while others remained at the hotel. When it seemed that all of the negotiators had left the hotel, the final group of protesters ran almost half a mile to the negotiations site and helped cover entrances on the different sides of the building.

As negotiators entered, crowds moved towards them and demonstrated loudly. Even from the other side of police barricades, negotiators hurried to get inside the building away from the protests.

Demonstrators next marched around the block and held a rally outside the building’s front entrance.

Popular chants include "Down, down, FTA," "No way FTA," "Free trade is a lie," and chants in Spanish.

Farmers hold rally, forum builds solidarity

Later that day, the Korean Advanced Farmers Association and Korean Peasants League held a joint march and rally with the U.S.-based Family Farm Coalition. The action focused on the impact the KORUS FTA will have on farmers in both countries.

The groups have worked together jointly for several years, including at the first round of the KORUS FTA negotiations in June in Washington, D.C., as well as at anti-WTO protests in Cancun in 2003 and Hong Kong in 2005.

The event began with a march through Seattle's famous Pike Place Farmer's Market, the oldest farmers market in the

Protesters hold signs outside of the site of negotiations as a representative of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions speaks. Photo: Diana Alfanash

country. Activists passed out hundreds of flyers to the farmers who sell at the market, and to the many people shopping and touring in the area. The organizations then held a joint rally at a nearby park.

To close the day, workshops and an international forum were held to build solidarity and cooperation between Korean and U.S.-based organizations.

The Women's Committee Against the FTA is a central component of the delegation from South Korea. They are highlighting the impact that the KORUS FTA will have on women. Member organizations in the committee include the Korean Women Against U.S. Imperialism, the Korean Women's Organization Against U.S. Occupation and the Korean Women's Peasant League.

These groups held a workshop on Sept. 7 to highlight the impact of globalization on women and to report on the women's movement in South Korea. They plan to issue a joint statement with U.S.-based women's groups.

The farmer and peasant organizations involved in the earlier event also held a workshop.

Finally, Korean organizers attended an international solidarity forum to hear from grassroots groups and coalitions that had organized against the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement and participated in many U.S. domestic struggles.