By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
A record of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Ju Sang-yong ordering a mass roundup of demonstrators from May's candlelit protests was revealed Wednesday.
Rep. Kang Ki-jung of the opposition Democratic Party disclosed the transcript of Ju instructing his officers over the radio to apprehend as many protestors as possible.
On May 2, the police chief surrounded Seoul Plaza with police vehicles to halt candlelit demonstrations marking the first anniversary of last year's mass protests against U.S. beef imports. "The solution is to arrest as many demonstrators at an early stage. Round up as many as you see and chase after those on the sidewalk," Ju was quoted saying. He also ordered the blocking of all the exits of City Hall subway station near the plaza.
"We will pursue legal action against the police for their irregularities in dealing with the protests," an official with a Seoul-based civic group said. Human rights activists will hold rallies next week at Seoul Plaza, urging the authorities to uphold the freedom of expression.
Ju was inaugurated as Seoul's police chief in February. He has faced criticism from the public for his hard-line stance against protestors.
He arranged police buses to encircle the temporary memorial altar for former President Roh Moo-hyun set up in central Seoul in May. When citizens criticized the police, Ju claimed that "they were positioned there to protect the mourners."
When the police demolished Roh's memorial altar on May 30 in an unannounced removal, lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party visited Ju to show their discontent. He claimed that the police only meant to blockade Seoul Plaza again and the demolition was an accident.
However, when Rep. Yoo Won-il of the minor opposition Creative Korea Party listened to the radio transcript from that same day, he found that Ju ordered the altar to be destroyed and then monitored the scene through closed circuit televisions.