Members of the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice go on a hunger strike in a tent set up in front of Seoul City Hall, Wednesday, demanding renegotiation of the beef deal between Seoul and Washington. / Korea Times |
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Seoul City is under heavy stress because of the huge number of tents pitched by religious groups supporting candlelit protests against the resumption of U.S. beef imports.
Christian groups Tuesday installed outdoor tents at Seoul Plaza, in front of Seoul City Hall building.
Protestant groups installed three tents next to those of the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice where priests are conducting a fast, causing a congestion of tents.
The city government, which has so far resisted civic groups' building tents there, is having a hard time trying to deal with the religious groups' actions. It removed protestors' tents late last month, but this case is much more complicated.
Seoul City has not authorized the tent pitching. It sent letters to the religious groups asking for the tents to be dismantled for the second time Wednesday, but they have been ignored. The government said it would not remove the installments by force.
``We are positioned to demolish unauthorized tents on Seoul Plaza. But these are built by religious groups, so we will continue trying to talk them into dismantling them voluntarily,'' a city government official said.
Since there are 4.7 million Catholics and more than 8.5 million Protestants among a population of 50 million in the nation, drastic measures against the installments could trigger strong reactions, they said.
Especially since after the religious groups participated in the protests, non-violence and peace have dominated the atmosphere. Therefore, the city fears any governmental action could easily break the fragile amicability, making it take all the blame.
Meanwhile, alongside the installation of tents, the religious groups have laid out plans to lead the candlelit protests by holding services or mass with the priests. The Korea YMCA of protestant Christians, Korean Buddhist Jogye Order and other religious leaders also announced they will participate in protests on Wednesday and Thursday, expecting tens of thousands of people to follow.
Friday is expected to be the turning point of the protests, which recently turned violent after police started to suppress participants. While the priests have managed to keep events non-violent since Sunday, experts say that when the umbrella unionists who vowed to join the protest appear Friday, protests may once again become violent.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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