5.22(木): 전국빈민대회

And only three hours later

Street Vendors Will Join Candlelight Vigil! (*)

Just yesterday Korea Times published an article related to the issue of the permanent repression of street vendors:

Conflicts Between Seoul City, Street Vendors Resurface

Seoul city's plan to clear the streets of venders hit a snag after video clips of the brutal beating of a female vender in her 60s, by a young security guard hired by the city, were released on the Internet.

The street vender of "kimbab,'' or rice rolled with dry seaweed, was brutally beaten. She is seen barely able to sit up, wiping blood from her lips in a UCC posted on Web sites. It is titled "Violence Against Grandmother Selling kimbab.''

The incident took place last Saturday in central Seoul where tens of thousands of citizens flocked to oppose the controversial U.S. beef import.

Police later learned that the assailant was one of the security guards mobilized by Seoul city government to run the candlelit vigil smoothly. Police summoned the 23-year-old to question him over his motivation for the attack.

The Self-Employed Workers' Association, an association for street venders, Tuesday urged the government to clamp down on still rampant security guards' assaults against them. "The assault on the kimbap grandma is just the tip of the iceberg,'' it said in a statement.

In fact, the conflict between street retailers and mobilized guards is not new. Such violence has long been witnessed on kiosk-packed streets. The government and police are also well aware of the existence of violence in the "clean-up'' campaign. But the problem is the authorities even plot and wink at such violent incidents in many cases, the association said.

According to the association, 400 security guards hired by Gwangmyeong city government forcibly dismantled numerous street shops in the city's downtown on April 3. Most affected shops were run by those in their 60s or older. Though it was conceived that the shop runners were feeble enough, the guards pushed them down and even kicked them, leaving two with bone fractures.

"Most guards are gangsters or convicted criminals,'' said Shin Hee-chul, 32, a kiosk runner in northern Seoul. "They are paid around 50,000 won up to 100,000 won in exchange for clearing a requested district.''