150,000 Strong and Growing   2008-06-07 03:35

Last night we had saw largest gathering of this year. Concerned citizens holding candles filled Seoul Plaza (a circular plaza that can hold 30,000-50,000 people, where most of our recent gatherings had taken place) and overflowed into surrounding streets. The entire downtown area of Seoul was flooded with candlelights. Even the police, which tends to under-report the number of anti-government protesters, says that there were 60,000 protesters last night. Some NGO's that participated in the protests, on the other hand, are saying that there were 200,000; this number, however, might be an overestimate. The Hankyoreh Newspaper reports that the number is more like 150,000, and this seems a reasonable guess. So 1.5% of Seoul's population, including students, teenagers, parents with children, and activists, were out there holding candles in the evening of June 6 and well into the early morning hours of June 7. And of course this is just Seoul. Candlelight vigils/protests/festivals were held in many other cities throughout Korea as well. Busan, Korea's second largest city, also saw many thousands of protesters. The People have united in opposition to a government that has no respect for our human rights and well-being. Again, this is not some left-wing plot to overturn the country. Except for a few activists and organized groups, most of the participants had just shown up to support each other.

Volunteers continue to cheer us up. Members of DCInside -- an internet community often mocked for their mania for trivial things, caught everyone by a pleasant surprise when they showed up with truckloads of food, snack, and drink. They even sent a team dedicated to cleaning up after the gathering. Since the streets of downtown Seoul obviously don't have as many garbage cans as is needed to handle 100,000 people, this was a great contribution. DCInside really helped us feel a little more civilized.

A few thousand participants have been trying to march to the Blue House (the President's office and residence) shortly after midnight. The police, however, installed massive barricades around the entire neighborhood, blocking even the narrowest of alleys. Minor scuffles erupted between the police and some of the more passionate citizens who tried to break the barricade. Thankfully, nobody seems to have been seriously injured, as neither the police nor the protesters were willing to repeat last week's brutality. The police seems to have gotten a little softer since a few days ago when we began to demand the resignation of their Chief, though we'll have to wait and see if the change of attitude is going to be permanent. We also thank the anonymous teenagers who are reported to have helped encourage nonviolence. According to Ohmynews, these teenagers stopped the older ones who were trying to remove the barricade by brute force in Gwanghwamun Street (the main artery leading to the Blue House). A heated debate ensued, with all sorts of arguments being exchanged. But the teary 16-year-old girl who stood up before the crowd finally had her appeals fulfilled. The crowd pulled back from the barricade, returning to peaceful protests. We absolutely love these youngsters. They are pure in heart, unpolluted by any of the rhetoric of politicians and ideologists. Ninety years ago they gave their lives for our independence; even now they are our greatest hope. Who said our teenagers are nothing but spoiled kids? Stereotypes have no place before the candlelight.

One more thing. When the People arrived at Seoul Plaza two days ago, we found it completely occupied by an unidentifiable group of thugs. They claimed to be affiliated with a society dedicated to soldiers who died on enemy soil; but when a few of us contacted that society, it was found that their claims were false. When a few of us approached them and demanded them to identify themselves or go away, they reacted violently. A dozen people were injured and/or arrested at the scene. Thankfully, since 7:00pm on June 6, Seoul Plaza has been available for us once again. Nonetheless, we have a strong suspicion that these thugs were placed there in order to prevent us from reaching our usual gathering place and to provoke violence. President Lee is also reported to have employed thugs to deal with protesters a few years ago when he, as Mayor of Seoul, bulldozed through the redevelopment of Cheonggyecheon Stream. Of course, this is just a speculation, so we still don't know if the suspicious group was affiliated with the government. But please do forgive us for speculating, as we have no reliable source of news at this moment.

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