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Seoul Plaza undergoes re-turfing Tuesday to recover from the damage inflicted by demonstrators. The city government said that citizens will be banned from accessing the lawn until the facelift is completed on July 27.
/ Korea Times Photo by Wang Tae-seok |
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Seoul Plaza, the Mecca for candlelit rallies over the last two months, is struggling to get back to normal. Under sweltering heat at noon Tuesday, dozens of workers were toiling to re-turf the round plaza and decorate it with flowers in front of City Hall.
The plaza is regaining its green, peaceful appearance as candlelit vigils are apparently waning, with civic groups and religious leaders positioned not to hold anti-American beef protests, at least not on weekdays.
Their retreat, although temporary, provided breathing room not only for the plaza but hundreds of restaurants and shops in the area.
All tents pitched by demonstrators have been removed and riot police buses to fend off protestors have left.
``It's good to see all demonstrators and riot police gone away. I just hope there will be no more rallies here,'' said a female worker who is planting flowers into a big pot at the plaza.
Restaurant owners in Gwanghwamun area hope their businesses will no longer be interrupted by rallies.
``Korean people have to work together to overcome this situation at their own workplaces not here,'' an owner of a noodle restaurant said. He said he has suffered more than 30 percent reduction in sales due to candlelit rallies over the last two months.
Seoul Plaza was left free of demonstrations yesterday for the first time in two months. Instead, the candlelight vigil, organized by the Korea Confederation of Trade Union, moved to Yeoido, in front of MBC headquarters.
Catholic and Buddhist priests withdrew from the protests after massive rallies last weekend. Voices calling for the protest stoppage are getting louder amid the deepening economic slump and police are taking a tough stance against protestors.
Seoul City plans to prohibit citizens from entering the plaza until July 27 for the re-turf work.
``There are many citizens who want the plaza to regain its lawn. Therefore, we really hope that protestors will refrain from holding rallies on the grass,'' senior city official Kim Seok said.
Kim said the city is re-turfing the plaza as it was damaged in the rallies. ``Restoration work will continue until July 27 and it will be off limits until then.''
However, how long the peace will continue remains uncertain.
The People's Association for Measures Against Mad Cow Disease plan to hold a couple of rallies over the weekend. But future rallies are unlikely to be as massive as before amid dwindling support from the public. Instead of taking to the streets, protestors are likely to adopt more diverse steps.
``We are going to hold rallies as scheduled on July 12 and 17. But we will leave civic groups to host candlelight vigils creatively in their own ways,'' a spokesman of the association said.
Other civic group officials also said that if police overreact to candlelit vigil leaders, it could re-trigger strong reaction from citizens.
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