A South Korean group against free trade has expressed concern over a report that some of its nationals have been put on an immigration blacklist and would be denied entry to Hong Kong ahead of the WTO ministerial meeting.
'I still do not know if such a list does exist,' general co-ordinator for the Korean People's Action Against Free Trade Agreements and the WTO, Sohi Jeon said.
'Most of the protesters will not be arriving in Hong Kong until December 10 and 11.'
The Sunday Morning Post broke the story last weekend that as many as 300 militant protesters, including many South Koreans, due to fly in for the meeting had been put on the blacklist, which the government has never acknowledged existed.
Ms Sohi said radical demonstrators had been prosecuted and they would not be able to come to Hong Kong in any case because of their records. 'Our Korean delegation will have about 1,400 people. We just want to express our views in a peaceful manner,' she said.
More than 120 activities will be held by different anti-WTO campaigners next week, Elizabeth Tang Yin-ngor, chairwoman of the Hong Kong People's Alliance on the WTO which is the local co-ordinator for the protests, said yesterday. Activists will hold concerts, seminars and show a movie. Some members of the Korean delegation will distribute leaflets about how the World Trade Organisation affects farmers in their country.
Ms Sohi was upset about media reports on Korean farmers who have developed a reputation for violent protests after one killed himself during a demonstration outside the WTO meeting in Cancun, Mexico, two years ago.
