Another Bloody Night   2008-06-26 15:18

134 arrested, hundreds hurt, and 30 citizens seriously injured... We're not talking about some sort of riot. The 10,000 citizens who gathered last night in Seoul only wanted to protest. We did our best to keep the peace as much as it was within our power to do so; and yet, the government responded in a spectacular display of violence. Horribly spectacular, that is.

Citizens engage in an open discussion as to what their next course of action should be. The decision was that protesters should try to go to the Blue House, where the President remains safely (?) out of earshot.

The police began to shoot water cannons around midnight -- for the first time in three weeks. As I wrote in this post, water cannons are massive guns that produce jets of water at speeds up to 100km/h (60mph). Water cannons are supposed to be "safer" than other means of crowd dispersal, because a jet of water at that speed cannot penetrate the body like a bullet. The jet, however, exerts an enormous amount of pressure upon the target. It literally blows away anyone caught unawares, though stronger men can put up with the force for a few seconds. The jet can also cause really bad bruises. The last time water cannons were used against unarmed protesters, a few individuals were hit in the face, temporarily or permanently losing their sight and/or hearing. Since then, protesters have been generally well prepared against water cannons. Last night, a lot of citizens brought raincoats and large pieces of fabric to protect themselves. Men with military experience formed a scrummage to protect other citizens, which also helped mitigate the harm. Still, water cannons are nasty devices. They hurt a lot, and they also make everyone soaked in cold water. (Update: I just saw a video footage in which a member of the riot police accidentally gets hit with a water cannon and falls unconscious. He was wearing a helmet and other appropriate protections. Imagine what it's like for unarmed civilians!)

Fire extinguishers were also extensively employed by the police to make it very difficult for protests to see. The chemical fog has caused respiratory problems in many who participated in the protests. But the police seems to consider fire extinguishers even "safer" than water cannons, which is really alarming from the point of view of public health and safety. Is it okay to damage People's lungs if the President can thereby get a worry-free (i.e. protest-free) night of sleep? Oh, well, we already know that our health and safety are but minor concerns to Lee Myung-Bak. Otherwise why would he permit the trade of beef products that contain specified risk materials (SRM: parts which carry a higher risk of BSE), or try to privatize the universal health care system?

And there was also an abundance of direct, physical, face-to-face violence. According to those who were out there last night, the police beat them up, kicked them around, trampled on them, and even chased after those running away. A man in his fifties lost a finger. Apparently, some retarded policeman was biting him in the hand when another policeman pulled the two apart -- leaving a finger in the first policeman's mouth. Dozens of others were also badly hurt, and blood was a common sight in Gwanghwamun. All because a few thousand citizens wanted to get a little closer to the Blue House. Did the citizens provoke violence (as some newspapers keep saying)? Well, as far as I'm aware of, the most aggressive thing we ever did was to try and pull away a couple of police buses that formed a part of the barricade. Okay, sue us for damage to public property and interference with government officials. But the kind of brutality we witnessed last night on the government's side was by no means an appropriate response to the mostly peaceful protests on our side. If anything, our violence was directed against property, not humans.

Protesters who remained on the sidewalk were no exeption; water cannons, fists, and feet were frequently aimed at citizens on the sidewalk. A few senior citizens were arrested for no other reason that they stood watching and holding small flags. Several high school students were also arrested, only to be released afterwards when an officer confirmed their status as minors. As I reported yesterday, it is no longer legal in Seoul even to walk along the sidewalk if one protests against the government in doing so. Likewise, a lot of protesters have been denied access to public transit (buses and subways) in central Seoul. This is getting totally ridiculous. As I also reported yesterday, even our Representatives are being arrested for opposing government policies. (What else is a member of an opposition party supposed to do?)

As of 9:00 a.m. today, the "new" policy on beef trade with the U.S. has come into effect. It is now legal in Korea to import from the U.S. any beef that is permitted under the April 18 agreement (including beef from Canadian cattle that had lived in the U.S. for 100 days or more), unless the traders decide not to. The last clause doesn't sound at all like a ban on beef with a higher risk of BSE. See my previous posts, "Why Can't We Buy BSE-Free Beef?" and "Deceit, Deceit, Deceit" for more on this, as I'm getting sick and tired of repeating the same words over and over again.

If Lee Myung-Bak thinks that he can quench our candles with violence, he is badly mistaken. Dictator Chun Doo-Hwan in the 80's could pretend that nothing wrong was going on, by controlling the media and making entire cities inaccessible from the outside. But this time we have the Internet. Unless Lee goes China's way, the Korean People will learn about the truth and rise up in protest. Well, perhaps we must thank President Lee for provoking us every now and then, because our protests aren't getting any smaller. One more injustice the government braves in trying to suppress dissent is one more reason for we, the People, to stand up for our rights.

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