2257개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
[6.28/29] Police Violence Led to Hours of Street Battles
The "conflict" began yesterday in the early afternoon when the Seoul Metropolitan Government gave a deadline to the protests groups to remove their information tents from City Hall Plaza. The protesters - of course - refused and 2,000 riot cops moved in and forcibly removed the tents.
About 400 protesters tried to physically block the removal, but failed. About 10 people who passive resisted were arrested.
Later during the entire afternoon riot cops attacked and/or arrested people who "could be" on their way to the (for 7 p.m.) planned canlelight vigil (i.e. mass demonstration against the policy of the LeeMB administration).
But, despite the repeated threat by the S.K. gov't to use "massive force" against any attempt for further protests, in the early evening around 100,000 people gathered in the area near the City Hall, blocked by hundreds of police buses and thousands of riot cops.
And only few minutes after the beginning (of the protest) riot cops started to use water cannons against the demonstrators (the claimed reason: they came to close to the police barricades!).
But thousands of protesters resisted for the following five hours the almost unceasing "fire" by at least four water cannons!! (*)
Finally - despite the excessive violence used by the riot cops - today in the morning thousands of protesters celebrated a kind of "victory party" on the "battle field"... and vowed to continue the struggle against policy of the current S.K. gov't.
And the answer of the LeeMB administration? Further escalations: "The Police may lift decade-long tear gas ban", according to today's S.K. media reports (but also CNN mentioned it).
PS:
Tonight - despite the prohibition of any further anti-gov't protests and the increasing efforts of thousands of riot cops to barricade downtown Seoul - some thousands of protesters were/are gathering near Jong-no 2-ga, just few Meters away from last night's battle-ground:
Related stuff:
☞ Police to Get Tough With Violent Protesters (Korea Times)
Reports by S.K. independent (i.e. non-gov't) sources (incl. many pics!!):
☞ VoP
☞ OhmyNews
☞ KCTU
☞ Pictures from last night's battle
☞ ... #2
☞ ... #3
* The (bourgeois) newspaper Korea Herald writes today following about the "event":
Violent clashes between police and anti-U.S. beef protesters created mayhem in central Seoul over the weekend, resulting in hundreds of injuries.
Protesting the legal notice to resume U.S. beef imports on Thursday, tens of thousands of people poured onto major downtown thoroughfares that lead to the presidential residence.
Police wielded clubs and used water cannons, fire extinguishers, and metal shields, and were seen to repeatedly kick some protesters who were shoved to the ground. Over 10,000 riot police were mustered to cope with increasingly unruly demonstrators..
Critics rebuked police again for employing excessive force in their dispersal efforts during the rallies.
Demonstrators used metal pipes (against police buses) and sprayed fire hoses from nearby buildings. They vandalized police vehicles and fired toy water guns filled with vinegar and seafood extract at the riot police. Protesters also threw plastic bottles, stones and other trash at the police.
Police used their amplifiers to persuade people to voluntarily disperse.
"Stop illegal acts (against the police). Destroying police buses and menacing officers are clear violent acts," they announced. But all such announcements only met with jeers of the protesters who repeatedly said, "Violent police move out!"
Roughly 300 to 400 demonstrators were injured between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, according to vigil organizers. A total of 112 police officers were injured, including 14 listed in critical condition, police said. Over 35 police vehicles were damaged, they said. A total of 55 people were detained for alleged illegal demonstrations.
Such rowdy scenes were taped and immediately posted on the internet, triggering controversy again over the police "inhumanely" dealing with demonstrators. Many observers said the weekend police crackdowns harked back to the 1980s military oppression on pro-democracy movements.
Following the June 1 footage where a 21-year-old woman was kicked by a boot-clad riot policeman, another similar one was released.
A 24-year-old woman, surnamed Jang, was repeatedly clubbed and kicked by three policemen on Saturday night. Jang had her right arm broken with lacerations and bruises in some parts of her body. She is considering suing the police.
"I continuously rolled my body over to survive. They chased me, kicking primarily parts around my head. I felt afraid that I could die," Jang was quoted as saying in local media.
Lee Hack-young, a secretary general of YMCA in Korea, was also delivered to a hospital after being stomped on by police Sunday morning. Lee said police clubbed, kicked, and hit about 50 YMCA members while they lay on the ground between police and protesters to block clashes.
"We didn't think that police would walk on us when we lay and shout 'nonviolence.' About 10 policemen stepped on me. This is tantamount to a declaration of war against people," he told reporters...
Well, after almost 50 days of demonstrations (candlelight vigils) slowly the S.K. ruling class and its media is becoming really angry(^^) about the ongoing protests against the policy of the current gov't (i.e. the LMB administration):
☞ Has the Gov't Given Up on Law and Order? (Chosun..)
☞ Lawlessness in Downtown Seoul (..Ilbo)
☞ Central Seoul Becomes 'Lawless District' (Korea Times)
(Oops.. "Lawless District"?? Yeah, why not??!! Who cares about the "law and order" created by the ruling class??)
And while the NPA is increasing its efforts to smash the protest movement (likely in the coming days/during the weekend)..
☞ Seoul police plan crackdowns on demonstrators (JoongAng Ilbo)
.."All 14 members of the National Police Agency’s human rights committee have decided to resign en masse to express regret for the crackdown on the candlelight rallies conducted by the riot police." (Hankyoreh, 6.27)
BTW.. very instructive are the comments (about the ongoing protests in Seoul) mainly posted likely by "foreigners":
☞ LMB Orders Crackdown on Violent Demonstrations
Anyway, at least from tomorrow afternoon until Sunday morning:
THE STRUGGLE GOES ON!!
(李)정부 박살내자!
자본주의 박살내자!
While the S.K. ruling class and its media is predicting - once again - that "the protests appear to be losing steam", since yesterday afternoon tens of thousands of people, "ordinary" citizens and many activists, are occupying the streets in the center of Seoul.
After LeeMB yesterday ordered the crackdown on the protest movement..
..clashes between the protesters and large units of the riot cops become routine.
Alone yesterday about 140 protesters were arrested!
Today LeeMB threatening demanded the end of the protests, but there is no end in sight!!
"The Lee administration has taken its first step toward death. We, along with the people, will fight the war!'', the DLP, for example, promised today.
And right now - once again - around 30,000 people are demonstrating in downtown Seoul (near the Sejong-no/Jong-no intersection). Of course they're blocked by hundreds of police buses and preparing for the next attack by the (thousands of) riot cops.
Korea Herald's newest edition reported about the latest(6.25/26) developments on the protest front:
Civic groups and trade unions vowed to fight against the government's posting yesterday of U.S. beef import terms in its gazette.
They argue the move ignores public opinion, amid lingering fears over mad cow disease.
A coalition of about 1,700 civic groups said it would stage massive rallies Saturday and Sunday in central Seoul, demanding the government withdraw its notification of new beef import conditions.
The coalition also threatened to initiate a movement to oust the Lee Myung-bak administration.
"We have reached a time when people cannot help discussing the toppling of the administration," said Park Won-suk, a senior member of the coalition...
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the nation's second-largest labor umbrella group, and other civic groups vowed today to block the release of the meat from warehouses in Busan and Gyeonggi Province. Some 5,300 tons of U.S. beef has remained frozen since last October when banned backbone fragments were found. "We will block the transportation of U.S. beef from today. We plan to position 10 to 100 members at 12 beef storage houses (in Gyeonggi Province), and will gradually increase the number," KCTU spokeswoman Woo Moon-suk told reporters.
Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency dispatched about 900 police officers yesterday to six warehouses in Gwangju, four in Yongin, one in Incheon and one in Hwaseong, where a combined 2,066 tons of U.S. beef is being stored. Police said it will take a stern action against any illegal demonstrations, such as obstruction of traffic.
About 100 members of women's rights groups, including Korean Women's Association United, formed a human chain in front of a storage house in Gwangju to block meat shipments.
Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea, a coalition of nationwide non-governmental groups, also joined the public condemnation...
They called for a complete renegotiation of the deal, the release of detained protesters and the resignation of Eo Cheong-soo, chief of the National Police Agency.
Lawyers for a Democratic Society -- a progressive lawyers' association -- applied to the Constitutional Court to stop the new import terms from taking effect.
"The government, against the will of the citizens, posted the new import terms in its gazette without announcing its legislation plan," it said in a statement.
"If the terms go into effect, the distribution of American beef could seriously compromise people's fundamental right to health, infliction damages that can not be recovered. We expect the court to make a prompt decision on this, given the gravity and urgency of the matter."
The anti-U.S. beef protests stretched into the morning, clogging main thoroughfares in central Seoul, which lead to the presidential residence of Cheong Wa Dae.
Roughly, 2,500 people (according to the "independent" media: between 10,000 and 20,000!!) joined the candlelight vigil on Wednesday night.
Between Wednesday and the morning, 139 were detained at the scenes, according to police. Of them, one senior citizen and four school children were released. According to the anti-U.S. beef coalition, about 100 citizens and 56 police were injured during violent clashes.
As violence escalated, police used water cannons and fire extinguishers to ward off protesters who attempted to climb up police vehicles parked to prevent them from marching toward Cheong Wa Dae.
Rep. Lee Jung-hee of the Democratic Labor Party was detained at round 4 p.m. on Wednesday while demonstrating on streets near Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul. She was released later that day and rejoined the demonstrations.
"I lament the reality that the administration can be maintained when it had to forcefully put on a police bus a lawmaker who protested the illegal detention of demonstrators," said Lee in a message she posted on an internet site while she was held at a police station.
"The insane Lee administration mounted a terrorist attack on a lawmaker in broad daylight, compromising the dignity of lawmakers and spitting on the authority of the legislature," said Park Seung-heup, spokesperson of the DLP.
At around 1:30 a.m. (today in the morning), a 53-year-old man part of his middle finger cut out. He claimed that a riot police officer had bitten it. He failed to find the missing part.
In the wake of mounting criticism about forceful crackdowns on protests, the human rights commission at the National Police Agency said all of its 14 members would offer to resign.
Related article:
☞ Protestors Break Up After Violent Rallies (K. Times)
[6.25/26]"independent" reports by..
☞ VoP
☞ OhmyNews
☞ Tong-il News
☞ [6.25/26]Timeline
The current mass protests in S.K. (against the KORUS FTA and/or the S.K. gov't) seems to be "an argument for pulling US troops out of Korea"..
..as it was suggested(6.14) in AntiWar.com (well, I think that's a f.. good idea!!!):
Ungrateful Allies
Recently, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans filled the streets of Seoul near the U.S. Embassy to protest the South Korean government's decision to resume imports of American beef. The imports had been halted since the much overblown scare of "mad cow" disease of 2003. The accusation that the American beef is so tainted is a protectionist and nationalist canard, because it has long been certified as safe. In reality, many South Koreans joined the protests because they felt the South Korean government of Lee Myung-bak has been too deferential to the United States.
These protests are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, South Korea has not fully opened its auto market to U.S. exports, while its own car sales to the United States have soared.
Perhaps South Koreans have forgotten that between 1950 and 1953, the United States lost 37,000 troops to help them beat back a North Korean invasion. Since then, U.S. forces in South Korea and nuclear weapons have deterred another attack by kooky North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. Since the Korean War, under the protection of the U.S. shield, South Korea has grown from a poor, backward country into one of the world's economic powerhouses – with a GDP of about 30 times that of its destitute North Korean enemy.ies.
Despite plundering their colonies at gunpoint (for example, the Spanish Eempire looted the gold from Latin America) and creating sheltered markets for their goods overseas (for example, British mercantilism), even the formal empires of old were not cost-effective, according to classical economists. The informal U.S. Empire that defends other countries abroad using alliances, military bases, the permanent stationing of U.S. troops on foreign soil,, and profligate military interventions is even more cost-ineffective. U.S. forces cannot plunder, and rich allies, such as South Korea, excessively restrict their markets to U.S. goods and services.
South Korea is not the only wealthy U.S. ally to reap the rewards of a U.S. security guarantee, while not fully opening its market to the United States. Japan and most of the European NATO allies also do the same. The foolish U.S. policy of continuing to subsidize the defense of these now rich countries – all economic competitors of the United States – allows them to reduce the drag that added defense expenditures would impose on their economies. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy has to bear the costs of defending the world.
Also, the U.S. has informal alliances with nations such as Taiwan and Israel and hands out significant direct and indirect defense subsidies to them.
Now that the worldwide Soviet threat has long passed, no excuse exists to provide welfare for rich allies merely to foster their security dependency on the U.S. Empire. All U.S. allies need to should all spend more on their own security; but they have no incentive to do so if the United States is willing to subsidize a shield against their mostly poorer enemies.
The United States should take the radical step of abrogating these outdated formal and informal alliances and security guarantees and gradually withdraw all of its forces from South Korea, Japan, and Europe. The phased withdrawal will give such nations time to build up their own defenses. If this route is taken, the United States, South Korea, and the other allies will be more secure, and the economic playing field will be made more level.
http://www.antiwar.com/eland/?articleid=12990
Related articles:
☞ A potent, troubling nationalism (IHT)
☞ Candlelight Vigil Tests S. Korea-US Alliance (Korea..)
☞ 2002 Tank Incident and Aftermath (..Times)
Yeah, Why Not??!!
Today's Korea Herald published following (in my opinion somehow objective/??) article about KCTU's planned "General Strike":
Members' lukewarm response weakens KCTU walkout call
The nation's largest labor umbrella union yesterday vowed to go ahead with a massive walkout on July 2 with the momentum for the strike weakened by an increasingly negative response from its members.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions declared July as the "month of struggle," saying that an estimated 40,000 members from workplaces across the country will gather in Seoul to hold rallies on July 3-5.
"We decided that all workplaces belonging to our umbrella union will shut down their operations for the whole day on July 2 to urge the government to renegotiate the beef deal between Korea and the United States," KCTU head Lee Suk-haeng told reporters.
But the KCTU leadership's plan for a general strike has drawn less support from its members than in the previous years, indicating a growing number of unionized workers, worried with the deteriorating economy, are reluctant to join in politically-motivated walkouts.
In the vote held last week, 70.3 percent of the 271,322 workers who cast their ballots voted for the walkout. But the number of voters accounted for slightly more than 50 percent of the KCTU members eligible for the voting.
Critics say the vote results, which were tallied on Monday, meant that just about 30 percent of the KCTU workers approved the plan for a nationwide strike.
Further embarrassing the KCTU leaders was the rejection by workers of Hyundai Motor Co. to join the walkout.
It was the first time the labor union of the country's largest car manufacturer failed to gain support from a majority of its members for a strike in its 21-year history.
But executive members of the Hyundai Motors union are pushing for the strike, insisting that a majority of the workers that participated in the vote were in favor of it.
But the move is facing objection from its members.
"I wonder if it's necessary for the labor union of our company to violate the law and join the KCTU's politically-motivated strike at such a difficult time when our lives are being threatened by factors like record-high oil prices," a Hyundai Motor employee wrote on its union's website.
The KCTU requested its branches to submit a specific action plan of the strike to its headquarters by next Wednesday.
Before proceeding with a general strike, the group will take part in a giant-scale rally to gain public support. It projects up to 100,000 unionized workers to join the candlelight vigil, which is set to be launched this Friday...
Related:
☞ 'Political Strike' May Undermine Labor Group (K. Times)
Anyway...
THE STRUGGLE GOES ON!!
李정부 박살내자!
자본주의 박살내자!
6.14(土) 투쟁일정:
투쟁사업장 문제해결을 위한 민주노총 집중투쟁 마지막날!
11시 비정규철폐전국노동자대회 사전대회 (뉴코아강남점)
15시 비정규철폐전국노동자대회 (대학로)
19시 촛불집회 (시청앞)
Related article:
☞ Bread & Butter Issues Unsettle Society (K. Times)
李정부 박살내자!
자본주의 박살내자!
SOLIDARITY MESSAGE by StreetNet International:
We send the warmest message of congratulations and solidarity to the Korean Street Vendors' Confederation (KOSC) on its 21st Anniversary Rally and Congress on the 13th June, 2008.
Street vendors in South Korea have been sending a clear message to the government that the right to earn a living is a right that should be recognised. There must be a halt to the harassment and intimidation that accompanies the economic injustices that comes from seeing informal economy workers as a short-term problem that can be "cleaned' from the street.
StreetNet calls on the S.K. government to engage with street vendors in social dialogue and to stop the practice of forced evictions without finding alternatives for them.
Street vendors, as much as other workers, deserve to earn a living with dignity in order to put food on the table to feed their families.
StreetNet Int'l
2008.6.10
"The government is going backwards to the military junta era, a dictatorship, to oppress our democratic ways of expressing ideas!'' a young participant in yesterday's candlelit vigil said, while the S.K. gov't is threatening with a new wave of..
STATE TERROR
S.K. prosecutors and the police today vowed to "deal sternly with any illegal rallies against U.S. beef imports as the initially peaceful candlelight vigils turned violent over the weekend", according to Korea Herald's newest edition.
'Justice' Minister Kim Kyeong-han has directed prosecutors to clamp down on any "illegal protestors".
"Illegal rallies are continuing with protesters blocking roads and even assaulting the police, causing inconvenience to other citizens. We must not allow the protests that have gone beyond what's legally acceptable to slip by," Kim added.
The chief of the National Police Agency, said, "The issue will be strictly dealt with in full accordance with law and principles." (i.e. daily police terror!!)
Yesterday and today, the riot cops detained 68 protesters on charges including "taking part in unlawful demonstrations, obstructing traffic and assaulting the police". Some clashes between large units of the riot cops and protesters were witnessed, but no serious injuries were reported.
"Police are currently investigating how the violence began and set to seek arrest warrants for those who actively participated in the illegal protests", today's K. Herald wrote.
Yesterday the cops used water cannons to break up sit-in protests in downtown Seoul.
"The protesters defied our repeated calls to disperse voluntarily, continuing to block the roads by lying on the ground. We cleared the roads of everyone who resisted our orders," the police said.
Yesterday's gatherings, held at various locations in Seoul, were filled with political slogans against the government and demanding the release of the detained activists...
Police arrest scores of protesters against U.S. beef (K. Herald)
Police detained about 30 people early Monday as candlelight vigils continued into the predawn hours demanding the Lee Myung-bak administration renegotiate its beef deal with Washington, reported Yonhap News Agency.
Thousands of protesters marched in the streets of downtown Seoul on Sunday, some clashing with police trying to block their move toward the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. The violent clash was the first of its kind since protests against U.S. beef imports started on May 2.
Despite mounting public concern over the safety of American beef, the government was set to implement its beef accord with Washington on Tuesday to lift almost all restrictions on American beef cuts including bones and intestines for the first time in five years.
About 400 people continued candlelight protests early Monday in the plaza along the Cheonggye stream, while 200 others protested in the Sinchon area, where several universities are located. Clashes occurred in the university district where police came to disperse the mostly young protesters. Police said they arrested 31 people in addition to 37 people they detained the previous day.
"Some people tried to intervene when several students were being detained by police, but a riot police officer wielded his shield, hitting a student on the forehead," a witness, Yun Ji-hak, 61, said.
Police Warn of Crackdown on Night Vigils (Korea Times, 5.26)
Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han warned Monday that protestors against imports of American beef will face criminal punishment if they turn violent and illegally occupy the streets.
In a special statement, he instructed the prosecution and police to round up illegal, violent street protestors, who disguised themselves as peaceful candlelit "vigilantes''.
The minister said the police roundup of protestors will continue if the candlelit vigils, supposed to be a cultural gathering, turned violent.
Those who led the protestors to the presidential office have been traced, according to police. Investigation is under way to trace rumormongers who inflamed the anti-American beef campaign. The tough action came about as thousands of demonstrators defied police warnings and gathered in central Seoul to protest the resumption of U.S. beef imports over the weekend.
Police rounded up 70 people for participating in the "illegal collective actions'' over the weekend, but more people turned up to denounce the police crackdown. The detention was in line with the government's strong willingness to crack down on demonstrators breaking the law. Vigil participants and police are on a collision course, neither group budging an inch. Civic group members vowed to hold more rallies until the government accepts their demands. According to the police, more than 68 people have been detained for participating in the protest last weekend, with more considered for arrest warrants.
Over the weekend, rows of protestors gathered at Cheonggye Plaza and Yeoeuido in Seoul, urging President Lee Myung-bak to scrap the beef deal. Then some tried to head to Cheong Wa Dae by road, which triggered police to round them up. Physical scuffles took place and protestors criticized police for using violence to suppress their rights to air political views.
Despite the government's "effort to soothe public fury'', more people are planning to further express their objection toward the beef import.
42-year-old Lee Byeong-ryul committed suicide Sunday by setting himself on fire in Jeonju, north Jeolla Province. He had spread out leaflets criticizing the beef deal and urged President Lee to resign. (*)
The progressive Federation of Korean University Students' Council said 80 leaders of the group will go on a fast to express their disapproval of the imports. Students from 90 member universities are planning larger protests for Friday, including shaving off their hair and jointly boycotting classes.
"The government is going backwards to the military junta era, a dictatorship, to oppress our democratic ways of expressing ideas. We disapprove of that,'' a citizen in the candlelit vigil said.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/05/117_24752.html
About the "events" on last weekend today's Hankyoreh reported following:
Demonstrators taken into custody after U.S. beef protest
Police plan to issue strict punishment to participants of sit-in candlelight vigil
Fifty one people who participated in an overnight, sit-in candlelight vigil held to protest U.S. beef imports on May 24-25 were taken into custody after the protest. This is the first time policemen have cracked down on candlelight rallies since they began on May 2. The prosecution and police announced a plan to punish the demonstrators at a joint meeting with the related institutions, including the National Intelligence Service, arousing a strong reaction from civic organizations and netizens.
After the protest, Guk Min-su, an official of the Seoul Central District Court, said, “Those that were taken to the police station had occupied the roads and waged an illegal demonstration,” adding that they would be punished strictly according to the law following an investigation.
The police action incited strong reactions from civic groups, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which said, “We will never accept the government’s provocation or suppression of candlelight events.”
On the Internet, netizens have continued to post stories denouncing the police crackdown on candlelight rallies.
About 14,000 citizens and students took part in the sit-in candlelight vigil, which started at Seoul Plaza in the evening of May 24. Members of the KCTU and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union joined the rally.
After the rally, about 5,000 protesters occupied the roads in the process of attempting to march toward Cheong Wa Dae, or the Blue House, and police forces confronted them. At dawn on May 25, policemen took 37 demonstrators, out of more than 200, to four police stations for investigation. An additional 14 people were taken into custody on the following day.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/289680.html
* 광우병쇠고기 수입반대 전주시민 분신 (참소리, 5.25)
Related articles/reports:
☞ "촛불아 될 때까지 모여라" (민주노총, 5.26)
☞ 명동.종로 '촛불' 행진 종료 (통일뉴스, 5.26)
☞ 전주시민들, 거리행진 시도...경찰 막아서 (참소리/전주市, 5.26)
☞ Candlelight Vigil Organizers to Be Summoned (Korea Times, 5.26)
Police detain 37 beef protesters (Korea Herald, 5.25)
Police detained 37 protesters Saturday in their first crackdown on candlelight vigils against U.S. beef imports.
About 7,000 people (according to several independent reports: between 25,000 and 50,000!!!) staged a rally in central Seoul demanding the government scrap the import deal.
A clash erupted as police tried to disperse the protesters, who had blocked roads, disrupting traffic. Police used water cannons and pushed the demonstrators off the roads. No serious injuries were reported.
Police are investigating them on charges of violating the Law on Assembly and Demonstration.
It was the first anti-U.S. beef demonstration in which riot police stepped in to disperse protesters, taking some of them to police stations by force. "We concluded that they violated the law by occupying roads and staging sit-in protests into the wee hours of the morning. We will sternly deal with any illegal protests," said the police.
An estimated 7,000 protesters began the 17th candlelight vigil in Cheonggye Plaza in central Seoul at 7 p.m. on Saturday, holding up pickets reading "nullify the beef imports and scrap the official notification of the import terms."
Protesters began marching onto the streets leading up to Cheong Wa Dae around 9 p.m. causing a gridlock in the area. Police immediately dispatched about 2,400 riot police to prevent the demonstrators from entering the presidential office after they occupied the eight-lane thoroughfare in front of Kyobo Bookstore in Jongno.
About 500 protesters, mostly in their 20s and 30s, remained on the streets until midnight in defiance of continued police warnings.
At around 4 a.m. the police declared the road occupation illegal and forcibly took 37 protesters, who strongly resisted the crackdown by lying on the ground, to police stations.
At 6.30 a.m. riot police cleared the protesters off the road onto the sidewalks. The move prompted strong resistance from the protesters again, who claim that violence was used during the dispersal process.
Prior to the candlelight vigil on Saturday, about 19,000 workers from seven unions registered with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions rallied in protest of the government's scheme to privatize the public sector. Public servants, journalists and teachers nationwide were among them. (*)
"The incumbent government's policies regarding education, food, medicine and prices, have been devastating the economy for ordinary citizens," said the KCTU.
They protested plans to privatize water, railway, electricity and gas companies, and the state medical insurance.
Following their rallies, they joined the candlelight vigil opposing U.S. beef imports...
Timeline of the "events", according to KCTU:
5월24일(오후)
19:00 서울 청계광장 17회 촛불문화제 개최
21:10 일부 시민들 자발적으로 청와대행진 실시
21:30 촛불집회 참가자들 자발적으로 청와대행진 합류
21:40 경찰, 세종로네거리 병력투입 및 차벽 설치 (통행 및 교통 차단)
22:30 시민들 종로통으로 방향 선회 및 종각 일대에서 청와대행진 시도
23:50 경찰 난입, 행진대오들 분산, 종각 차도 연좌시위 돌입
23:59 경찰 다시 병력 투입
5월25일
00:03 경찰 1차 강제진압 실시 (시민 5명 폭력연행)
00:10 광화문우체국 연도 시민들 '경찰 폭력연행'에 집단 항의
00:13 종각차도, 평화집회 보장 요구하며 연좌농성
00:30 농성중 '이명박타도, 독재타도' 구호 외치며 경찰과 대치
00:50 경찰 병력 재투입, 충돌
01:00 경찰 차량 투입해 차도농성 현장과 보도쪽 분리
01:45 경찰, 농성현장에서 일부 차량과 병력 철수, 시민들 촛불 연좌농성
(점거농성 현장에 정부고시 일주일 연기 소문)
02:00 일부 시민들 광화문 농성소식 듣고 농성현장 합류, 촛불농성 및 자유발언 지속
02:30 청와대 비서관 광화문 농성현장 투입소식 공지
(01:45-04:10 광화문 점거농성현장 연좌시위 및 시민들 자유발언 진행)
04:10 경찰 살수차 2대와 병력 투입
04:25 경찰, 농성현장 지키던 시민들에게 물대포 살수
04:45 농성시민들, 폭력경찰에 항의하며 경찰병력에 밀착해 '평화집회 보장, 협상무효 고시연기' 등 외치며 남녀노소 모두 팔을 건 채 몸을 경찰의 농성현장 침탈 규탄, 격렬 공방
04:48 경찰, 농성장 시민들 향해 소화기 살포 및 폭력진압, 시민부상자 및 연행자 속출
05:15 경찰 살수차 빠지고 병력 투입해 농성현장 계속 침탈, 시민들 '평화시위 보장, 폭력경찰 물러가라, 협상무효 고시철회' 구호 계속하며 '제발 도와달라' 눈물로 호소. 격렬 대치.
05:23 경찰, 다시 폭력침탈
05:25 농성시민들 집단 폭력연행, 시민들 절규.
05:34 대치
05:47 경찰, 또 다시 폭력침탈, 시민들 '독재정권 물러나라' 구호 외쳐
05:50 경찰, 인도까지 경찰투입, 인도에 서서 밤샘농성 벌이며 폭력경찰 물러나라 구호 외치던 시민들 폭력 퇴거
06:18 농성시민들 광화문우체국쪽 인도 쪽으로 고립(경찰 차벽세워 차도와 인도 분리)
07:00 경찰, 세종로네거리, 종각, 청계천 등지에 병력 집중투입
07:30 광화문우체국 인도쪽, 시민들 연좌농성 돌입, 부상자 및 연행자 현황 파악
(source of the pics: Tongil News)
Related articles:
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☞ '광우병 촛불', 광장에서 거리로 (통일뉴스)
☞ 청와대향해 네티즌, 시민들 진격투쟁 (민주노총)
* Rationalization Or Massacre? (Korea Times)
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