1) structure of TTGS
- Central briefing room : planned and reviewed of all activities
- National telecommunication team : uploaded prompt reports of struggle on national major telecommunication networks such as Hitel, Nounuri, Chollian, Unitel, Truenet etc.
- Prompt report production team : made prompt reports on street struggles, activities and decisions of leadership who demonstrated in Myongdong Cathedral.
- Internet team : made website on General Strike, launched a signature-collecting campaign, and organised international protests.
2) composing organisations
TTGS was made of various volunteers from many progressive telecommunication activists' groups. For example, Solidarity for Progressive Information and Communications(SPIC), video&information team of SDP, Social Information Networking Group(SING), Workers' Information Center participated in it. And other concerned people were engaged in it. So about 50 people supported the General Strike through communication.
2. Meaning of the activty of TTGS
1) activities supporting General Strike
General Strike during '96-'97 was the first nationwide general strike since independence. Therefore almost all the people was concerned about it. Activities of TTGS was a major difference between the General Strike and the Great Struggle of '87, for the scale of communication activities was very big in 1997.
The significance of supporting activities of TTGS, first, was the fact that it took a leading role in making opinions for General Strike. Because the general strike erupted against the rail-roading of the evil laws, it was easy to make people have favorable opinion on the strike. The problem was how to focus invisible opinion upon struggle. On this point, TTGS made strike-favorable opinion bigger by using the headline [giving support to the strike] in the communication network and gathered opinions.(In the beginning of strike, more than 70% of the writing in Nownuri Plaza had the headline [giving support to the strike], on the other it was hard to find opinions against strike.)
Secondly, TTGS took a role of information center. TTGS received supporting anouncement and opinion of foreign people as well as situation of the strike and Myongdong Cathedral, and uploaded this whole information emerytime according to the change of situation. This role as an information center had some limits of quick collecting of prompt news, but gave useful aid to the people in that it gathered all kinds of information related to the strike and oriented the activities according to the quick change of situation.
Thirdly, TTGS opened broad possibility of international solidarity. It was due to the political character as well as modality and scale that the General Strike received international concern. General strike in Korea was the first and biggest among the developing countries, i.e. NICS, and in the course of movement of capital in other countries, same inevitable conflicts had been noticed previously. According to this, international concern was bigger than ever, and therefore international stream of solidarity and support was great, too.
In contrast to the insufficiency of international solidarity activities before, struggle of this year made a useful fruit in that it gathered supporting announcement from foreign countries through website and English prompt reports. And through prompt reports in English it informed opinion of KCTU to foreign countries and made the stream of international solidarity.
2) independence of communication movement
The product of activity of TTGS is not limited to the supporting activities of the General Strike. It arouses social interest on communication movement. In the situation that objective news was not possible owing to the yellow journalism, it showed that cyberspace could be the area for quick change of information and communication.
Also, cyberspace can be a major area of making public opinion through fast response and positive statement. That is, beyond the commercialized and passive definition that makes cyberspace an individualized imagine, it ensured that cyberspace was a great popular space of communication and interaction. According to this, communication movement forces should have a role to intervene in cyberspace continuously and make a communication mind.
And, another product of activity of TTGS is organisation of voluntary activities of netizen, who are the basis of communication movement. There had been ativities of these people before, but they were not massive political movements. We should make positive actions for organisation of action through communication and organisation of cyberspace. Also, we should make a plan for guarantee of activity through communication.
3. Review of Activities of TTGS
1) the problem of organisation of netizen
50 people participated in the activities of TTGS. But in the situation that there were only insufficient contacts with individual netizen who were positive in the activities through computer communication, the organisation of volunteers was somewhat impossible. Therefore, though there were 50 volunteers, their activities, exept some of them, were very passive, and we have to analyse the fact that the number of uploadings on the bulletins of various users' groups on the net and should make an alternative plan.
The problem of organisation of netizen will be analysed through three points, one is common sharing of information, the other is activity through bulletin on the network, and the third is organisation of local activties.
Common sharing of information was successful through struggle. Sharing of information was always carried out by mailinglist at any situation. But because there were not systematic assortation of mailinglist, there were too many English e-mail, or some internal mails spreaded openly. When we make the framework of sharing information, it is needed to make systematic mailinglist according to the objects and topics.
Secondly, though it is important to upload statements on the bulletins of various groups on the net, in order to succeed we must think of characteristics of each group. We can't cover up hundreds of users' groups, and some groups are against uploading of outsider's writing. Therefore we should have the plan of winning as many groups as possible over to our side. And also netizen's role must go beyond activity of uploading data and they have to be online journalists. This is not easy task if they are not trained, and only possible through usual relationship.
Thirdly, the managing of local prompt news team has many limits. It is nearly impossble to make someone collect local news, and there is no one accessible to local news. Therefore, in order to manage local correspondance, there must be the basis of local computer communication and the center of local network, so we must have the plan for this. For the collection of information and fast delivery of news on the national scale, it is necessary to have networking relationship with local center. When we look on the side of information&communication movement, we must realise nationwide netmork of information&communication movement.
2) quick reports of struggle and news of the spot
Quick reports of struggle was made daily until the first part of January. But there were many confusions to be regular. First of all, some other organisations uploaded quick news of their own, so the question was raised why we should continue uploading quick reports. And also, because KCTU and Pomdaewi(temporary joint struggle organisation at that time) leaded struggle actively and made daily struggle news, the meaning of quick reports of struggle was questionable.
If movement organisations use computer communication more widely than now, the role of telecommunication taskgroup, which focuses on the uploading of quick news, will be smaller. But, the delivery of quick news through centralisation of information is very important activity. If the quick news is made by other organisation, activity of telecommunication will focus on posting.
When we make newsletter of our own, we need to give a stable information, for example, about black ribbon/statistics of signatures, and compose an independent newsletter of appropriate materials for netizen, for example, the case of 신한국텔. That is, we have to make our own newsletter by manufacturing materials which netizen would be interested in.
Quick reports of struggle changed into this direction in January.
news of the spot has no meaning if it only contains materials of KCTU or Pomdaewi. This would be only taking place of them. And also, description of the fact, like "10,000 people gathered in Jongmyo today", "The crowd and policemen are standing face to face", loses vitality as a news of the spot. news of the spot team should enhance writing skill. They should have the ability to make some facts into news. And news of the spot must deliver informations continuously according to the changing situation. Like '57 minute struggle information', the framework that can deliver the quickness of situation is needed.
3) activity of international solidarity through internet
It was the first experience in Korea that internet was used as a means of international solidarity. In the situation that there is no usual international solidarity, all the foreign informations were gathered through e-mail and informations on Korean situation went out through English website.
- internet homepage
TTGS made homepage in English on the internet to inform workers' strike to the foreign people.(http://kpd.sing-kr.org/strike/index-e.html) This homepage took a great role in arousing worldwide support and solidarity on the strike.
- solidarity signature on the homepage
Capaign of solidarity signature of TTGS was a good example that made international solidarity of workers through internet.