Showdown Time   2008-06-11 00:47

Let us confess: we were skeptical when the number 1,000,000 was first mentioned by a few netizens a few days ago. How would that be possible in this "selfish" age? But we were wrong. Right now, in Seoul and other cities, one million citizens are protesting against President Lee Myung-Bak's policies. That's right, you just saw six zeros. In a country of 49 million. That breaks down to at least 600,000 in Seoul and at least 300,000 in other major cities such as Busan and Gwangju; it's the biggest crowd we've seen since June 10, 1987. After all those years, our People are still strong and united. We've given up trying to count the heads, as every street in downtown Seoul is packed with protesters tonight.

Protesters fill Taepyeong Street ("Great Peace Street"), just south of the police barricade, around 9:00 pm on June 10. This is just one of the many streets in Seoul that is packed with protesters.

Below: The same street further south. Seoul Plaza (bottom right) has been cordoned off, because pro-government groups are holding their own demonstration there.

Every street, that is, except the few blocks around the Blue House (President's office and residence) which the government has cordoned off with massive container boxes, as we reported yesterday. We gave a rather cute name to this horrible contraption: "Castle MB", or Myung-Bak's Castle. Everyone is laughing at the fact that the President has effectively built a prison of steel around himself. As you can see in the second picture below, somebody has even prepared a banner to congratulate the completion of Lee Myung-Bak's first construction project since he became President. (Lee had been the CEO of a major construction company before he entered politics.)

Concerns are mounting, however, about the grease which somebody has painted all over Castle MB prior to the beginning of our protests. Grease is a highly flammable substance. Once it catches fire, water won't put it out. Considering the fact that many of us are carrying candles, whoever painted grease here is obviously trying to sabotage the protests. In addition, it is reported that somebody has tried to damage the fuel containers of police vehicles parked near Castle MB, which led to a sizable leak. Fortunately, the leaked fuel was diesel, so it did not catch fire. Nonetheless, we are very worried about these sabotage attempts -- whoever it was that attempted them.

With half a million people marching around, it is not easy to tell them to stay away from a particular site. Moreover, the police -- stationed right behind Castle MB with water cannons and fire extinguishers at the ready, as if they're expecting a massive fire -- has done nothing to warn the People of the danger. We are currently relying on volunteers to keep the protesters away, or at least to tell them not to bring candles near the site. News has reached downtown that some protesters are now heading towards Hannara Party Headquarters, but it is unclear how many people will turn south to join this new group.

Earlier today, some protesters were marching with a portrait of Lee Han-Yeol, a man whose death by police violence in 1987 had triggered the massive June Democratization Movement. 1.6 million people are reported to have participated in protests that summer. If anyone loses their life to violence tonight, this time there will be more than 1.6 million. We, the People, urge the government and whoever is trying to sabotage our protests to back away. They have absolutely no right to keep us from speaking up.

We will keep you posted as the night proceeds. Please check back regularly.

[Edit: As of 1:00 am, some protesters have begun to build a styrofoam platform on the street near Castle MB. Others are worried that this may be dangerous, though the location of the platform suggests that it is not intended as a tool for climbing over the police barricade. The group that's building the platform claims that it is meant as a symbol of the People's will to stand up against the government's power (symbolized by Castle MB). We only hope that nobody tries to get on top of this fragile construction.]

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