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Today's (2nd) article in Hankyoreh, related to the 3rd Yongsan Massacre anniversary:

Couple torn apart by Yongsan tragedy still hanging on

Husband and wife find strength in current social movements and in each other

It was 3 pm Saturday in the No. 6 reception room at Anyang Prison. Separated by a transparent acrylic barrier and iron bars, the husband and wife were speaking through gestures before the microphone came on. The wife, forty-year-old Jeong Yeong-sin, mimed eating to ask, "Have you eaten?" and mimed running to ask, "Have you exercised?" Dressed in prison blue marked with number "2944," her husband Lee Chung-yeon, 41, had a shy look on his face, but a broad smile spread over it. He nodded his head vigorously at his wife's questions.

The couple married in 2008 after dating for six years. But their simple wish for a happy home was crushed just six months later when redevelopment plans went into effect for the Zone 4 area of Seoul's Yongsan district, where the couple was living.

The area was the site of the couple's pub, called Rea, which they opened in 2006, as well as their home and Lee's parents' home. Lee was threatened with eviction without fair compensation from contracted "security employees", which led him to become the head of a residents' committee organized to resist the zone's demolition.

On Jan. 19, 2009, Lee and his father headed up to the lookout tower of the Namildang Building where the pub was located and began a protest "to survive." Within a day, a police commando unit descended on it. During the suppression effort, a fire broke out, claiming the lives of Lee's father and four other protesters, as well as one police officer. Lee and six other protesters fortunately escaped with their lives, but are now facing their fourth winter behind bars, accused of killing a policeman.

Jeong went into seclusion after her father-in-law's funeral, which came 355 days after his death. The reason was her anger over having to conclude negotiations without receiving any adequate apology or compensation.

"In the beginning, I didn't come out on the weekends for visits," she explained. "There were too many people looking happy on the weekends."

Her only friend was the wall-mounted television, which was the only thing she managed to keep from the pub after it descended into chaos. But even now, she shakes in terror at the memory of the tragic day whenever it shows a scene of fire.

It was the Hope Buses that helped Jeong finally shake off a bit of her sorrow and anger and step out into the world again. After reading a copy of Kim Jin-suk's book Salt Flower Tree, she said, she took part in all five campaigns to visit the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Busan office direction committee member during her protest at Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction, gaining courage in the process.

"The tens of thousands of people who rode on the Hope Bus joined in even though it was not their own problem," Jeong said. "But Yongsan is my problem. I made up my mind that I couldn't just stay at home anymore."

Since July 2011, Jeong has been working as a full-time activist with the Yongsan emergency measures committee. She meets with demolition protesters across the country to help buoy their spirits, and she is passionately committed to the campaign to enact a law prohibiting forcible evictions in order to make sure no tragedies like Yongan happen in the future.

The microphone came on in the reception room. From behind bars, Lee asked for the latest news about the third anniversary event for the tragedy that was set to take place the next day. "It's a good thing the weather isn't cold for the memorial," he said.

"Yeah," said Jeong. "We're going to go around the development zone and then head to Duriban [a noodle restaurant near Hongik University] in the evening. The chairperson said he'd buy us noodle soup."

Even after going from being an ordinary small business owner to living behind bars, Lee expressed a wish to visit Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island and the Hope Tents at Ssangyong Motors.

Relating news he heard during a recent visit by Park Jong-bu, elder brother of torture victim Park Jong-chul, Lee told his wife, "I found myself thinking that the world has changed so much thanks to their sacrifice and efforts, yet we've gotten a free ride in this world."

He also said, "This is a still a world where common sense doesn't prevail, but that's all the more reason we have to live with a sense of duty."

Jeong told him, "Just rest easy. I'll do it all for you."

Perhaps because they were being watched, the couple never exchanged the expected "I love you"s. When encouraged by the reporter, Lee said, "I know it just seeing her eyes."

Without making eye contact with her, he said, "I love you." A bright smile spread over her lips.

As Lee headed back to his cell after the short 12-minutes together, Jeong smiled and waved at him.

In the car on the way to Seoul, Lucid Fall's song about the Yongsan tragedy, "Ordinary People," was playing on the stereo.

"It's a world where things are tough for the 99% who are ordinary people," Jeong said.

"I want to do my best for the people who have been locked up, and for the demolition protesters in other redevelopment regions, before people forget about Yongsan," she explained.

As soon as she arrived in Seoul, Jeong hurried to Seoul Station to buy chrysanthemums for the memorial event the next day. The flowers were placed at the site of the Namildang Building in Yongsan, where redevelopment has been halted for the third straight year, just like the couple's newlywed life.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/515083.html