Lee Myung-Bak Locks Himself Up   2008-06-10 11:16

It's been relatively quiet last night, as only about 5,000 people gathered in Seoul Plaza to protest. (Not that 5,000 is a few!) The next major protest is planned for this evening, as today is the 21st anniversary of the June Democratization Movement. Back in 1987, the People of Korea had won a great victory by bringing about the downfall of dictator Chun Doo-Hwan. Will we win again this time? Only time will tell. Some are demanding the resignation of President Lee Myung-Bak, but others are looking for a less drastic solution. It all depends on whether or not Lee can deliver what we need.

Thousands upon thousands of concerned citizens are calling for nonviolence as the historical night looms close. We don't want the violence of June 7-8 to repeat itself; for violence not only hurts us but also gives the government and the media a perfect excuse to call the People a mindless mob. Suspicions are still high that the government had employed thugs to initiate Saturday's violence -- or at least that it had prior knowledge of these men's nasty plans. Official sources, of course, deny these allegations. But whoever it is that's planning upon indecent behavior, we will not let it happen again.

In the meantime, the government has installed a massive barricade across Sejong Street (i.e. shortcut to the Blue House) to keep protesters away from their usual destination. Until yesterday, the police had utilized a mobile barricade made of buses. But it was found that buses, weighing only a dozen tons or so, could be pulled away. So this time the barricade consists of 40-foot cargo containers -- the kind that goes onto container ships and 18-wheelers. The containers are filled with sand, welded together along the edges, and bolted down to the surface of the street. In case someone brings a ladder like last time, the containers are also stacked two stories high. So unless the protesters bring a tank along, it's going to be impossible to pull apart this one. Just look at the pictures below.

Many People, however, are laughing at the government's latest effort. Lots of interesting suggestions about what to do with this hideous construction have been circulating on the Internet since early morning. The predominant sentiment seems to be that we should just stay away from it, as there's no use trying to breach it with our bare hands. Others proposed using the barricade as a way to differentiate between peaceful protesters and those who are sabotaging our cause: whoever tries to use violence at this barricade does not belong to us. Still others have suggested that we should bring buckets of paint to turn this ugly piece of steel into a gigantic banner. (Graffiti anyone?) We have no idea which of these suggestions will come to fruition this night, as unpredictability is a necessary feature of our voluntary and spontaneous gatherings. The best we can hope for is that, whatever else happens, no violence occurs.

Our favorite suggestion, however, is that we should be amused about this barricade. If every road to the Blue House is going to look like this, it only means that President Lee Myung-Bak has locked himself up inside a wall of steel. Not even the most radical of protesters have seriously considered the possibility of putting the President in jail; but he did it by himself! How scared of the People's voice does a politician need to be, in order to lock himself up like this? If the President and his government are confident that their choice of policies have been sound, why are they so scared of confronting their People, their Masters? The more he tries to act like an embarrassed child who's trying to hide some naughty deed from his parents, the more the People are forced to suspect that Lee Myung-Bak knows his own policies to be wrong.

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