The Korean
Confederation of Trade Unions organized a nationwide demonstration to put
forward their demands of more jobs and improved work conditions while wearing
outfits of the Korean hit drama ‘Squid Game’.

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Out of the
crowd of thousands of people, hundreds were seen wearing red jumpsuits with masks
that hid their faces and had shapes drawn on them. Much like the ones that actors
were seen wearing in the Netflix show.

The protest
that took place on Wednesday succeeded in garnering
attention thanks to a large crowd. However, the Seoul city government filed a
police complaint against the members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). The complaint
being that the protest defied the rules and regulations put in place in order
to control the spread of coronavirus.

The local government
told Reuters that Seoul city’s complaint against one of South Korea’s biggest
labour groups stated that the protest should be deemed illegal since it
violated the infectious disease prevention law.

The KCTU has a
member strength of approximately 1.1 million people with a large number of them
working for the country’s biggest business conglomerate including but not
limited to Hyundai Motor, LG Chem and the government owned Korail Railroad
Corp.

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The Unionists who
were dressed up in a ‘Squid Game’ attire were seen beating drums and dancing to
loud music while some others held flags and signs which read “Inequality Out”
and “Safe Youth Employment; Quality Youth Employment” as seen from the videos
uploaded on the group’s YouTube channel.

South Korea’s
trade unions have historically been a powerful unit which boasts of a long and successful
history of activism. They are fairly powerful and have succeeded in getting the
corporations to give better benefits over the years.

However, with
the onset of the coronavirus the recent protests that the group has tried to
organise have led to confrontation with the authorities who are trying to
enforce strict rules in order to stop the prevention of disease.

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As a result,
only one-protest protests are allowed in the capital and surrounding areas according
to the present social distancing rules. This is because the large rallies have
been largely blamed for a surge in coronavirus cases.

On Wednesday
1,441 new COVID-19 cases were reported in South Korea which increased the tally
of infections to 347,529.