FOUR REGIONS SLUM NETWORK   Unite Slum Dwellers Unite the Poor

20 August 2012

Mr. Chung Chang-Young

CEO

Korail

240 Jungang-ro, Dong-gu

Daejeon City, Korea 300-720

Dear Mr. Chung:

We, the Four Regions Slum Network (FRSN), are an organization of urban poor slum dwellers and the homeless from around Thailand, who are working on the issues of land and housing rights. On 22 August 2011, we held a demonstration at the Korean Embassy in Bangkok to protest against Korail’s eviction of the homeless from Seoul Station and to call on the Korean government to intervene to stop Korail from enacting the regulation causing the eviction.

One year has now passed, and the situation of the homeless at Seoul Station has not improved. We understand that Seoul Station is now closed from 1:30-4:30 every night, and that homeless people are not permitted to enter the station during this time. Furthermore, we know that Korail has hired a special private security team to confront people who appear to be homeless and evict them from Seoul Station during both day and night. This action represents clear discrimination against the homeless, as they too are members of the general public, who have a right to use the station just like everyone else.

In fact, evicting the homeless from Seoul Station solves no problems. Moreover, accusing them of being a terrorism risk as a pretext to evict them only promotes more public distrust and prejudice toward the homeless, making it even harder for them to find a way out of homelessness. Instead of making the already precarious situation of the homeless even more difficult, Korail, as a state-run agency with a responsibility toward Korean society, should try to help find a constructive solution to the problem, which fundamentally lies in insufficient provision of social and housing assistance to the poor.

FRSN therefore urges you to set up a support system and facilities to guarantee the human rights of the homeless, put an end to the policy of evicting the homeless from Seoul Station and terminate the private security contract, and stop closing the station from 1:30 to 4:30 every night.

Yours sincerely,

Ponganan Choungtham

Chairperson

cc: H.E. Mr. Lim Jae-hong, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Thailand