UN special rapporteurs on human rights expressed concerns over the October arrest of the leader of a major South Korean umbrella labor union, and the government has countered that his arrest was warranted because he organized illegal rallies in disregard of antivirus rules.

The special rapporteurs sent a letter to the South Korean government on Oct. 22, saying Yang Kyeung-soo, the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), legitimately exercised his rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Yang was arrested and indicted in September for leading a series of mass rallies between May and July in violation of COVID-19 rules. He was released last month after being sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years.

"Over the past months, KCTU has organized a number of activities to advocate for the protection of workers' rights, in response to the economic and employment crisis that resulted from the COVID-19 global pandemic," the UN rapporteurs said.

They also pointed out that around 2,000 law enforcement officers were mobilized to execute the arrest warrant, and Yang's arrest and detention "seem to form part of a broader pattern to impose undue restrictions on the freedom of expression as well as of peaceful assembly and association of workers' unions and their leaders."

In a response sent to the UN recently, the government said the KCTU held rallies attended by thousands of people in violation of domestic laws, though it had asked the union several times to comply with state-guided COVID-19 rules.

The KCTU also pushed ahead with rallies when "everyone in the country had been enduring the daily life restrictions for a long time to prevent the spread of the virus," the government said, noting that South Korea guarantees the freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly and association of any individual under the Constitution.

The government also explained police had to take stern action as Yang had been staying at the KCTU headquarters for three weeks to avoid arrest. (Yonhap)