International human rights watchdog condemns arrest of cable TV union leader

SEOUL, March 25 (Yonhap) -- Human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) called on the South Korean government to immediately release the union leader at YTN as a walkout by hundreds of unionized employees at the cable news channel entered its third day Wednesday.

Roh Jong-myeon, YTN's union leader, and three other unionists were taken into
custody on Sunday on charges of interfering with the official duties of the
company's new president, Koo Bon-hong. The union blocked Koo from entering his
office last year in protest of his appointment, which it sees as politically
motivated.
The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Roh but released
his colleagues on Tuesday night.
"This will not affect the strike in any way," its labor union said in a statement.
Labelling the arrest "unwarranted government interference and harassment," AI
said the union leader should be released immediately.
"These arrests violate the right to freedom of assembly and the freedom of the
press and constitute a very worrying development for the South Korean media,"
Roseann Rife, the organization's Asia-Pacific Program Deputy Director, said in a
press release.
YTN's workers have been on strike since Monday, demanding a pay raise and the
reinstatement of unionists fired for opposing the appointment of their new chief,
a former media adviser to President Lee Myung-bak.
Since he took office a year ago, President Lee has been at odds with local
television stations, which accuse him of appointing pro-government, personally
close figures to top media industry positions.
YTN claims police detained the unionists in an attempt to stop the walkout. Its
demand for a 7.2 percent pay hike was spurned by the cuture ministry as
unreasonable given the nation's economic downturn.
State-run firms own up to 70 percent of the 24-hour news network.