Police/protesters clashes over Japan-SKorea free trade treaty
(1 Nov 2004) 1. Protesters clash with Japanese Police, pushing them across road 2. Protesters and Japanese Police struggling 3. Tokyo street, pan to protest 4. Police buses race to scene of clash 5. Pan from Japanese pedestrians to protestors chanting 6. Protester's banner saying "No to Japan-Korea FTA" 7. Pan of protesters chanting 8. Cho speaking to protestors 9. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Cho Junho, Chief Organiser, South Korean Trade Union Federation: "There are negotiations going on in that building that will have a very big effect on both the people of Korea and Japan - but these negotiations are going on behind closed doors. Our first demand is for them to open up negotiations and propose the FTA in a manner that the people of both countries can understand. The people should be allowed to participate in negotiations as part of the democratic process." 10. SOUNDBITE (English): Lee Chung-geun, South Korean Trade Union Federation representative: "We are Korean people. We are here to protest against the Korea-Japan Free Trade agreement because we think the Korea-Japan FTA is no good for the people's livelihood, especially the FTA would downgrade working conditions and the real wages of workers. That is why we are here to protest against the Korea-Japan Free Trade Agreement talks." 11. Protesters seated doing hand waving routine, pan-up to Japanese Foreign Ministry 12. Japanese Police STORYLINE Japan and South Korea opened a new round of free trade talks on Monday as nearly 150 labour union members from the two countries clashed with police during a demonstration to oppose the deal. Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Japanese and South Korean negotiators were to discuss removing tariffs on goods, services, and investments, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It was their sixth session since talks began last December. About 80 South Korean labour union members flew to the Japanese capital to protest, saying a free trade agreement, or FTA, would allow Japan to dominate the South Korean economy, hurting local businesses and costing jobs. Another 70 Japanese labour union members and civil activists joined them. The protesters clashed with police after they were blocked from delivering a statement to the negotiators at the Foreign Ministry. The chief organiser of the South Korean Trades-union Federation, Cho Junho, called for the negotiations to be conducted publicly. South Korean Trade Union Federation representative Lee Chung-geun said an agreement would be detrimental to working conditions and wage levels in South Korea and Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has made liberalising trade with its Asian neighbours a top priority. The Japanese Government is currently negotiating with South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand, and is in preliminary discussions with Indonesia, for trade agreements. Japan and Malaysia will hold another round of talks in Tokyo this week. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
