Yeouido Again   2008-06-14 07:11

Our protests are definitely evolving. For the first time since the beginning of this year's candlelight vigils in early May, the main force of concerned citizens confronted the National Assembly last night. Instead of proceeding towards the Blue House as we used to do, 10,000 People walked south to Yeouido Island, guided by a loosely connected group of NGO's. The small island (about 1/8 of the area of Manhattan) houses a surprisingly high number of Korea's most important institutions, including the National Assembly, Hannara Party (to which the President belongs), Korea Stock Exchange, and two of the nation's largest broadcasting stations (KBS and MBC). This concentration of important institutions had made Yeouido a favorite place for demonstrators over the decades, but most People have been protesting in the downtown area so far this year. Meanwhile, a lot of People at Daum Agora have been urging the protesters to go to Yeouido since a few days ago, as we reported in one of our posts. But some sort of trigger was needed in order to get tens of thousands of individual citizens to change their usual meeting place. The controversy surrounding KBS has proven to be just such a trigger.

As seen in the photograph above, protesters faced the National Assembly, demanding that the Representatives do something to keep President Lee Myung-Bak from pushing his controversial policies. Since the President's own Hannara Party currently commands a majority in the Assembly, it will not be easy to get the Assembly to check Lee's power. It may be possible, however, for the People to take advantage of factions within Hannara Party. Park Geun-Hye, who lost the presidential nomination to Lee last year, still has a large following of her own. Observers have said that if Park and her followers (both inside and outside of Hannara Party) can be brought to vote against Lee's policies, there is still hope in the National Assembly. But the police did not allow the People to approach Hannara Party Headquarters. A few individuals tried to throw eggs at the Headquarters, but couldn't get close enough to actually hit the building.

The majority of People then moved on to KBS, where we protested the government's rather transparent attempt to bring the broadcaster under control. Controlling the media only works if the People don't know that the media is being controlled. Now that so many of us know what's going on, Lee Myung-Bak is going to have a hard time trying to censor the news. Many young men and women no longer trust what they see on TV and the newspapers, and instead rely on old-fashioned "word of mouth", or rather, what other People on the Internet forums say. Obviously, there are pros and cons of this new way of obtaining news. But the very fact that we must resort to the Internet for minimally objective information tells a lot about how biased and unreliable the mainstream media has become.

Left: Teenage girls laugh as they participate in last night's walk to Yeouido. After six weeks of protest and police violence, we are still thoroughly enjoying this opportunity to celebrate our freedom and to speak up without fear. Our youth belong to a generation that sniffs at an oppressive government's claim to legitimacy. They have learned at school that they are the Masters of their country, and they are naive and unspoiled enough to believe what they have been taught. If there is any hope in our future, it is in them.

Right: Protesters gather in front of KBS, a public broadcaster whose management is being threatened with an untimely audit. As we reported yesterday, whether or not the audit uncovers any corruption is likely to depend on the management's willingness to censor anti-government views.

Meanwhile, several hundred members of Agent Orange Veterans Association, the group of Vietnam War veterans who have suffered serious illnesses due to the use of defoliants, gathered in Yeouido earlier in the day to rally (see picture below) in support of Lee Myung-Bak's government. Minor scuffles arose between the veterans and other protesters, which the police did not bother to break up. While we do sympathize with these unfortunate veterans and would demand at every opportunity that the government make compensations for their losses, we cannot help but notice something suspicious about this particular rally. This is the second time that a military-related group rallied in support of the government, and also the second time that members of such a group initiated violence against candlelight protesters. A lot of People are therefore suspecting that the government is using military-related groups (1) to give the impression that many citizens are supporting the government, and (2) to provoke violence.

The document pictured below also supports our suspicion. This is the document that was mailed out yesterday to members of the Agent Orange Veterans Association. Besides being filled to the brim with claims that candlelight protesters are left-wing radicals, it also says that those who participate in Friday's pro-government rally are more likely to be considered for the order or merit, and that those who don't come will be removed from the Association's mailing list as well as being subjected to obscure disadvantages. The document as a whole displays errors in grammar and punctuation that are typical of the generation that served in the Vietnam War, most of whom are in their sixties now. It is astonishing that any group -- whether or not they have anything to do with the government -- should take advantage of senior citizens who have already suffered so much pain and illness due to the use of defoliants in Vietnam. It's positively disgusting! The unjust sacrifices made by these soldiers definitely deserve recognition, but recognition shouldn't be conditional upon their participation in pro-government rallies.

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