By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Demonstrators who hijacked the stage for Saturday's opening ceremony of the Hi Seoul Festival will be held accountable for holding an illegal rally and causing damage. But liberal civic groups criticized the police for cracking down on ``peaceful'' protestors.
Police and Seoul City will ask the prosecution to seek arrest warrants for about 20 people apprehended staging the unauthorized anti-government rallies in central Seoul over the weekend for causing financial damage to the city and undermining its brand value.
The harsh stance underscores the government's commitment to crack down on illegal and violent demonstrations.
Police took about 240 protesters into custody among the 3,000 who gathered to commemorate the one-year anniversary of anti-U.S. beef protests from Thursday through Saturday.
Police said they turned violent at night and played a leading role in forcing the city to cancel the opening ceremony for its annual festival scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
``The cancellation alone inflicted 375 million won ($250,000) in damage to the city. Given that Seoul's image and brand value were also significantly undermined by the protest, the damage we sustained is immense,'' a Seoul City spokesman said.
He added, ``It was reported worldwide through foreign media. We expect the number of inbound travelers to decrease as it projected the image of Seoul as a dangerous town.'' The official said the city plans to file compensation suits against protest organizers and participants.
The prosecution sought an arrest warrant for five of the detained, and will additionally seek warrants for 20 others. Kang Hee-rak, commissioner of the National Police Agency, has said police will show no tolerance toward participants in unauthorized street rallies.
A number of progressive civic groups that organized the protests condemned the authorities for using violent measures against protesters.
``Riot police assaulted not only peaceful protesters but also nearby pedestrians,'' they said in a joint statement Monday.