Democracy Is Now Officially Dead in Korea   2008-06-29 09:18

Three days ago, the head of the National Police Agency, Uh Chung-Soo, said in a press conference that he was willing to use methods of suppression that have not been seen in Korea since the 80's if protests do not subside. It was not an empty threat. During the early morning hours of this 21st anniversary of the democratization of the Republic of Korea, we saw the promised revival of brutal suppression. Our democracy, barely 21 years old, is now officially dead. National newspapers and TV stations will not tell you this, but each and every one of the 20,000-30,000 citizens who were out there last night protesting in the rain have witnessed nothing less.

An estimated 100,000 citizens participated in yesterday afternoon's rally. As usual, many of them returned home before midnight. But at least a quarter of them remained. We put on raincoats and braced ourselves for the police's water cannons. Once more, we tried to march towards the Blue House where the man who is responsible for all of this must have been enjoying a quiet evening.

The police was waiting for us as usual, but not in the usual location. The barricade was installed much further away from the Blue House, across a much narrower street. This was in response to a new protest tactic that had been suggested in Daum Agora. The suggestion called for citizens to individually travel to locations behind the barricade during the day (when the police can't close off entire streets, because obviously a lot of businesses operate in the downtown area), and to stay there till night. That way, it was suggested, a lot of protesters would be already on the other side of the barricade by the time conflicts came into view. But it seems that whoever suggested this tactic had underestimated the police. Lots of People who tried to follow the suggestion were either arrested or shoved away. Not even residents of the neighborhood were permitted to enter the area, and as a result many of them were forced to spend the night outside. The police then moved the barricade ahead, blocking Taepyeong Street ("the street of great peace": how ironical!) just north of Seoul Plaza. When we demanded passage, the police responded with water cannons and fire extinguishers.

The police also threw all sorts of hard objects at us, such as stones, metal rods, and empty fire extinguishers. As demonstrators backed up from the barricade, hundreds of fully armed riot police poured out from behind the barricade and began to make arrests. They beat us up, kicked us around, and didn't give a damn about women and teenagers. Blood was a common sight on Taepyeong Street and Jongno Street. Dozens were arrested -- even as they bled. According to the NGO's, at least 400 suffered injuries last night, and many were sent to hospitals with broken arms and legs. Those who volunteered to offer medical services on site didn't have a moment to rest.

Below is a video footage of several policemen beating and kicking a young woman. She couldn't even scream! The video was deleted from most major Korean websites as soon as it was released, but someone has posted it on YouTube as well. At least for now, YouTube isn't cooperating with the Korean government's efforts to cover up its crimes. In case you find the link broken, please go to YouTube, search for "Korean police violence", and look for videos posted in the early morning of June 29 (Seoul time). The poor woman, who was later identified to be a 24-year-old office worker, was unable to move when the police left her to be carried away by other protesters.

Opposition marty members of the National Assembly tried to convince the police to back up, but even they were threatened with violence. Reporters were no exception, either; so much for press freedom. At one time, several legal experts from Lawyers for Democratic Society visited the police department and argued that current methods of suppression were clearly illegal. These petitions were ignored, and the lawyers ushered out.

Above: A potester gets beaten up by several riot police. Until yesterday, the police had only used their shields as weapons. But last night, metal rods showed up.

Not even children and babies were spared. Many protesters have been participating in recent protests as families; and parents with young children are a common sight in Seoul Plaza. The police, however, sprayed fire extinguishers not only to adults but also to babies (see picture below). The chemicals are known to cause respiratory problems. The parents protested, but of course they were ignored. Thankfully, rain began to fall in the evening, which made many families with young children go home before more violence was seen.

Water cannons and other tools of crowd dispersal were commissioned from all over the country to be used in Seoul this weekend. Three water cannons from Busan arrived in Seoul yesterday afternoon, but the drivers were stupid enough to take a route adjacent to Seoul Plaza. Protesters stopped the cannons, told the operators to abandon their vehicles, emptied the tanks, and took out the wheels. As a result, the police couldn't use these cannons last night. That probably saved us a lot of injury, though -- strictly speaking -- it was illegal to stop the cannons on duty.

As a whole, there was less violence on our side last night than there was the night before. Perhaps that's because the police was so aggressive that protesters didn't have any opportunity to strike. A few individuals hit policemen with sticks and stones; and at one time, protesters drew water from a nearby fire hydrant and used a hose to shoot it towards the police, mimicking the water cannons. But most citizens exercised a remarkable degree of restraint even as they were beaten and trampled upon. Whatever the pro-government media says, we were mostly victims and rarely aggressors. Which side looks more like rioters and insurgents?

On June 29, 1987, the Korean government announced that it would accept the citizens' demands for democracy. That was the end of dictator Chun Doo-Hwan, and a free election was held later that year. Now, on June 29, 2008, the government is doing exactly the opposite. Can President Lee reverse 21 years of history and pretend as if nothing had changed since then? Can his government silence us, just as the dictators he admires had done for decades? No, no government can win a war against its own People. The longer the government tries to trample on our rights, the more severe the penalties will be for those who are in power now.

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