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Today, six years ago: "At 6 a.m., residents who were asking for solutions to avoid eviction in Seoul's Youngsan-gu(district) lost their lives as a consequence of STATE TERROR. A 1500 strong force of riot cops, incl. SWAT and "anti-terror" units, was dispatched to disperse about 50 protesters. The police actions taken toward these protesters were similar to those taken in times of civil war. Less than a day after those facing eviction started protesting and without further conversations or an effort to discuss the issues, the government dispatched a special police force and staged an anti-terror operation. After the police entered the building where the protesters were, a fire broke out and the circumstances became dangerous. However, without taking any safety measures, the police proceeded with the operation which resulted in the death of 5 protesters..."(source: KCTU, 2009.1.27) [Related reports/detailed info you'll get here, here, here etc...]
And today, six years later... "Only vacant land remains at Yongsan tragedy site"(Hankyoreh, 1.20)
Related articles, depicting the current situation, you'll get here and here!
REMEMBER THE
YONGSAN MASSACRE!!
Today, five years ago: At 6 a.m., residents who were asking for solutions to avoid eviction in February in Seoul's Youngsan-gu(district) lost their lives as a consequence of STATE TERROR. A 1500 strong force of riot cops, incl. SWAT and "anti-terror" units, was dispatched to disperse about 50 protesters. The police actions taken toward these protesters were similar to those taken in times war. Less than a day after those facing eviction started protesting and without further conversations or an effort to discuss the issues, the government dispatched a special police force and staged an anti-terror operation. After the police entered the building where the protesters were, a fire broke out and the circumstances became dangerous. However, without taking any safety measures, the police proceeded with the operation which resulted in the death of 5 protesters...(source: KCTU, 2009.1.27) [Related reports/detailed info you'll get here, here, here etc...]
Last Sat.(1.18) in central Seoul: Around 1000 activists joined the memorial rally, demo and culture festival to honor the victims of the YONGSAN MASSACRE...
Related articles:
☞ 용산참사 5주기, ‘용산은 아직 안녕하지 못합니다’ (민중의소리, 1.18)
☞ 용산참사 5년...'여기 사람이 있다, 함께 싸우고 함께 살자' (참세상, 1.18)
Today's memorial service @(Maseok)Moran Cemetery...
Today's Hankyoreh published the following editorial:
After four years, Yongsan disaster is still unsolved
Jan. 20 was the fourth anniversary of the Yongsan disaster. On that day, the People’s Committee for Commemorating the Fourth Anniversary of the Yongsan Disaster was established to remember the tragedy visited the gravesites of the victims at Moran Park in Gyeonggi Province. At the cemetery, they held a service to bring peace to the troubled souls of those who passed away.
On Jan. 19, the group visited the former site of Namildang Building, where the disaster took place in 2009. They held a ceremony for the victims there. After this, they went to the plaza at Seoul Station to take part in a memorial service. (More detailed info, incl. pics, you'll get here!)
The Yongsan disaster, as it is known today, refers to a confrontation that took place at the Namildang Building on Hangang Street in the Yongsan district of Seoul. Evicted residents had seized control of the building and were holding a sit-in protest in a temporary structure on the roof. When the police attempted to break up the protest, the structure caught fire, and five of the protestors and one member of the police SWAT team died in the blaze.
Eight people were put in prison as a result of this incident. Two of them were released on parole last year, but the remaining six are still behind bars. While people continue to demand that the government find out what really happened, punish those who were responsible, release and pardon the convicted residents, and revise the law on forced eviction, four years later the wounds have yet to heal.
The awful events that took place in Yongsan were ultimately the result of the Lee Myung-bak administration’s policies that focused on redevelopment and government-sanctioned violence. When the container filled with police officers landed on the roof of the Namildang Building in the early hours of Jan. 20, 2009, the evicted residents had only been in the temporary structure for one day. It was also only two days since Kim Seok-ki had been promoted to commissioner of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Facing the global financial crisis, the Lee administration rushed to engage in a variety of redevelopment projects including the so-called “new town” housing developments. Time and time again, residents were forcibly evicted from their homes.
The tragedy is still unfolding today, at least in the sense that the details of what really happened that morning have not been disclosed. While the court may have rendered its verdict, plenty of questions remain about the prosecution’s role in the indictment. Another sense in which the Yongsan disaster is continuing today is the fact that hired thugs continue to be employed in city renewal projects.
The time after an election when a new government comes to power provides us an ideal opportunity to tend to and heal the wounds suffered under the previous administration. And indeed, the Yongsan disaster is a wound that Lee allowed to fester for four long years. The residents took up their positions in the temporary shelter to protect their livelihood, but in the end some lost their lives while others have spent years in prison. Looking at the situation from the perspective of the victims and their families, we can see how a tragedy like this would drive one to despair. Of course, adding even further to the tragedy is the fact that a police officer lost his life during the crackdown on the protestors.
If president-elect Park Geun-hye hopes to unify Korean society, she must not ignore the Yongsan disaster. Of course, there are differing views in Korea today on what happened in Yongsan. But that does not excuse us from the responsibility to address the suffering of the victims. The healing process will only begin when we listen to the cries of sadness and betrayal of the victims and their families. We must listen to their stories and give serious thought to what kind of solution society can offer them. Only by doing this can we shorten the time necessary to unify Korean society.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/570569.html
Related article:
☞ "They Killed My Family, Yet It's Still a Vacant Lot..." (Kyunghyang Shinmun, 1.16)
PS: A collection of (English) articles and reports(audio & video) related to the Yongsan Massacre(i.e. "Yongsan disaster"), resp. the resistance against the Yongsan "redevelopment" project, you'll find here!
2009.1.20: A two-hour long massive and extreme violent crackdown, executed by an Anti-terror/SWAT unit, against 40 activists, resisting a so-called "redevelopment" project in Yongsan, central Seoul, left at least six people dead and 17 injured... [☞ SWAT Unit Attacked Sit-in Strike, Executed Massacre... (2009.1.20)]
Yesterday(1.19) afternoon, almost 4 years later, about 2000 people(citizens and labor/resistance activists) rallied and demonstrated in downtown Seoul to remember the Yongsan Massacre, to demand final justice for the victims and the end of the unhuman so-called "redevelopment" projects...
Impressions from today's memorial service in Maseok("Moran Park", the cemetary for the victims of exploitation and oppression in S. Korea):
Related articles:
☞ 용산참사 4주기 추모대회...“용산은 끝나지 않았다” (NewsCham, 1.19)
☞ 마르지 않는 눈물이지만..."우리가 희망임을 증명하자" (OMN, 1.19)
☞ 끝나지 않은 용산참사, 2000여명 4주기 추모 (VOP, 1.19)
☞ 2009. 1. 20. 용산 유가족의 멈춘 시간 (NewsCham, 1.20)
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