| North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop dies at 87 Hwang Jang-yop was one of North Korea's most powerful officials when he sought asylum with South Korea in 1997Hwang Jang-yop, the key architect of North Korea's isolationist state policy who defected to South Korea in 1997, has died aged 87.Hwang's naked body was found in a bathtub at his Seoul residence, police said. A preliminary examination suggested no foul play, and an autopsy is planned to determine the cause of death.His death came as North Korea held a massive military parade today to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' party, of which Hwang was once a senior official. Kim Jong-il and his heir apparent son, Kim Jong-un, attended the parade.Besides being the intellectual force behind North Korea's guiding juche philosophy of self-reliance, Hwang was one of the country's most powerful officials when he sought asylum with South Korea's diplomatic mission in Beijing during a visit to the Chinese capital in 1997.Following his defection, Hwang lived in Seoul under tight police security amid fears North Korean agents might try to take revenge. He wrote books and delivered speeches condemning Kim's government as authoritarian. His criticism of the regime he once served earned him the moniker "human scum" in North Korean media.Two North Korean army majors were sentenced to 10 years in prison in South Korea in July for plotting to assassinate Hwang. North Korea denied responsibility for the plot, accusing South Korea of staging it to intensify anti-Pyongyang sentiment.Hwang graduated from North Korea's elite Kim Il-sung University and Moscow University. He was close to the country's founder, Kim Il-sung – the father of Kim Jong-il – and tutored the younger Kim.His defection caused a five-week diplomatic standoff with China, which was caught between its traditional ally Pyongyang and growing trading partner Seoul. China asked the Philippines to allow Hwang to travel there first rather than directly going to Seoul, in an effort not to anger North Korea. Two South Korean fighter jets escorted Hwang's plane flying in from Manila, 67 days after he defected.Pyongyang initially accused Seoul of kidnapping Hwang and threatened retaliation, prompting South Korea to put its army on high alert. But the North later said it had decided to banish him, calling him a betrayer.Hwang had a wife, two sons and a daughter in North Korea before his defection.North KoreaSouth Koreaguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Bomber minutes before 7/7 bus blast The coroner at the inquests into the deaths of 52 people in the 7/7 attacks has been shown video of one of the bombers, just before he set off his explosives on a bus. bbc.co.uk |
Lessons of Lou Dobbs's 'illegals' | Isabel Macdonald The revelation that anti-immigration former CNN anchor hired undocumented workers highlights the sorry state of labour rightsFormer CNN host Lou Dobbs, who has frequently warned Americans about an "invasion of illegal aliens" imperilling their jobs and wages, turns out to have relied on undocumented labour for years to maintain his show horses and multimillion dollar homes. I interviewed five such workers who laboured on his properties for my recent exposé published in the Nation. While my findings certainly revealed Dobbs's hypocrisy, the more important lesson is that the get-tough approach to immigration reform – favoured by Dobbs and his allies – is dangerous for immigrant and American workers alike.    The experiences these workers related to me demonstrate powerfully how a punitive approach to the immigration crisis threatens the very concept of labour rights in America. Working in an underground economy meant they were constantly living in fear of apprehension by the immigration enforcement system. The prospect of being stopped by the police and incarcerated because they lacked legal immigration status was so terrifying that the workers who cared for Dobbs's showjumping horses did not even dare to drive a car, even though the stable where they worked was in rural Vermont. Many of the workers who cared for these horses, and for the grounds of Dobbs's estate, were also extremely apprehensive about travelling back home to visit the loved ones they supported with their hard-earned wages. One Mexican stable worker, who had come to the US when he was only 18 years old, told me he had not seen his mother or siblings at all since he came to the US to find work six years ago. Living in the shadows like this makes it extremely difficult for undocumented workers to speak up for the rights to which all workers are legally entitled in America, or to protest unfair wages or working conditions. The undocumented workers who cared for Dobbs's horses in Florida put in days that were typically 12 hours long, but they were not paid overtime, as required under Florida labour laws. Nor were the workers who cared for the grounds of the former CNN host's estate paid overtime, although they often worked far more than the 40 hours per week at which overtime pay is legally supposed to kick in, under federal labour law. Yet, these workers were so afraid of possible job loss or deportation that they asked me not to use the names of their employers, the contractors Dobbs hired for the upkeep of his properties. In fact, the workers I interviewed didn't even want their own names to be used in my article detailing their pay and working conditions. Although some of these workers complained that "the pay was bad", they felt stuck because they lacked legal status. As one worker put it, if he had papers, he would "find better work"; but at present, his "situation with immigration is bad", so he had no other options. The shadow of fear that America's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants are forced to work under imposes a terrible toll, not just on their own wages and working conditions, but those of all workers in America, particularly in the low-wage sectors like landscaping, housekeeping and farming, where the undocumented are prevalent. If undocumented workers could leave bad jobs, and protest terrible working conditions, employers might be forced to offer higher wages, and improve working conditions. For this reason, a path to legalisation for America's millions of undocumented workers would have benefits for all workers in those sectors, according to a recent Centre for American Progress report, Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform. As Fordham Law School professor Jennifer Gordon has compellingly argued, an even more long-term strategy for protecting workers' rights, which anticipates the influx of future migrant workers, is also required. At the heart of any immigration reform package truly grounded in the concept of labour rights, there must be incentives for migrant workers who speak out on labour violations, Gordon argues. Ultimately, such immigration reforms to protect workers' rights might mean that Lou Dobbs would have to pay a bit more for the care of his show horses and the grounds of his estate. But having made a lucrative career sowing fear and confusion about the relationship between immigration and workers' rights, the multimillionaire former TV host can well afford it.• Isabel Macdonald's reporting on Lou Dobbs was supported by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute.US immigrationUnited StatesUS politicsCNNEmployment lawIsabel Macdonaldguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
China's New Scandal: Tainted Milk or Smear Campaign? China's most recent milk scandal, in which tainted milk products were alleged to have caused early onset puberty in infants, took another odd twist this week when dairy giant Yili accused its rival of planting false rumors about their products feedproxy.google.com |
WikiLeaks' Afghan Revelations: Way Too Familiar It doesn't mean that Afghans aren't riled when they hear about alleged corruption and shady dealings. But it isn't news to them feedproxy.google.com |