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Here you can read the editorial in today's Kyunghyang Shinmun, related to the 3rd anniversary of the Yongsan Massacre (2009.01.19/20):

Yongsan Disaster Three Years on: What Has Changed?

In the early hours of January 20, 2009, fire broke out in the lookout tower on the roof of the Namildang Building at "Yongsan Zone 4" redevelopment site in Seoul. Five evictees conducting a sit-in protest to resist forcible demolition and one policeman lost their lives. This was the "Yongsan Disaster."

Today marks the third anniversary of the disaster. Almost nothing, however, has changed.

The eight evictees detained at the time of the incident remain behind bars, while the livelihoods of the surviving family members of those that died remain in jeopardy.

The pain caused to tenants by indiscriminate redevelopment projects, unrealistic relocation compensation and violent forcible demolition continues.

Following the Yongsan Disaster, the government amended the "Built Environment Renewal Development Act" to increase the compensation for lost business provided to evicted tenants from three to four months' worth. It also introduced a "sunset system" whereby the designation of renewal zones is repealed if redevelopment does not take place within a certain period of time.

The government, however, has failed to produce a fundamental policy to prevent forcible eviction and demolition. Because of this, incidents of clashes between tenants and hired thugs continue to occur in areas such as Seoul's Sangdo 4-dong, Bugahyeon-dong and Myeong-dong.

If a second Yongsan Disaster is to be prevented, relevant laws must be passed as a matter of urgency. United Democratic Party lawmaker Chung Dong-young and others yesterday tabled a proposed bill for a "law on banning forcible eviction."

The bill is one that would ban violent activity by hired thugs at redevelopment sites and stipulate criminal penalties for those that violated the law, as well as banning eviction at times such as winter, bad weather, before sunrise and after sunset.

The bill also introduces a concept it calls 'resettlement of local residents,' and clearly stipulates specific policies for the resettlement of residents when redevelopment takes place.

Not much of the 18th National Assembly's term remains, but the ruling and opposition parties will have to find the will to pass the bill during the assembly's provisional session this February.

Another issue that requires a resolution on the third anniversary of the Yongsan Disaster is getting to the truth regarding what went on and releasing the evictees currently in prison.

At the time of the incident, prosecutors said that fire had broken out when the occupying protesters sprayed paint thinner and threw Molotov cocktails, but the evictees' surviving family members claim there is no evidence to conclusively attribute the fire to the Molotov cocktails, and are demanding an investigation to discover the truth.

Another problem is the fact that leading police officers have received no reprimand or punishment whatsoever, despite the fact that excessively hardline suppression constituted one of the causes of the disaster.

Then-chief of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Kim Seok-ki, who resigned following the incident, rose to a position as consul general in Osaka, Japan, and has returned to Korea saying that he will run as a candidate in the April general election.

While nobody claimed responsibility, the eight evictees were sentenced to four to five years' imprisonment and remain in jail.

Ahead of the Seollal public holidays the government has issued special pardons, commutations and reinstatements to 955 criminals convicted of livelihood-related crimes, while lifting more than 3,000 administrative restrictions placed on construction companies as a special favor. The jailed evictees, however, were kept off the list.

We believe the way to provide at least a minimum amount of solace to those that lost their lives through the Yongsan Tragedy is to release the comrades that were locked up after protesting alongside them.

We also believe that tragic situations such as replays of the Yongsan Tragedy can only be prevented by providing relocation compensation for tenants with a sufficient amount of money in the short term, and turning the paradigm of redevelopment projects toward housing welfare and boosting local communities in the mid to long term.

http://english.khan.co.kr/khan_art_view.html?artid=201201201605247&code=790101

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