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| Police officers pull protesters out of a hole on a mountain in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. Police removed sit-in camps for residents who have been protesting against a power transmission tower project for years. / Yonhap |
KEPCO says construction of power towers back on track
By Kim Se-jeong
Police on Wednesday forcibly removed sit-in camps where some residents of Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, have been protesting for years against a power transmission tower project.
The action prompted a violent clash with the protesters. Witnesses said 19 people sustained injuries during the clash. Fourteen were taken to a local hospital.
For the past few years, hundreds of villagers have set up makeshift houses on the tops of mountains in Milyang to stop the construction of high-voltage transmission towers by the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp., or KEPCO.
The power firm plans to set up 161 transmission towers on the mountains to distribute electricity from the Gori nuclear power plant.
Police raided the camps around 6 a.m. after obtaining a court warrant.
"The removal of the illegal houses is in response to protesters' incompliance with our earlier notices," said a police officer.
Police dragged protesters out of the huts and demolished them.
More than 2,000 policemen were mobilized for the operation, along with Miryang city officials.
Resistance from protesters was fierce.
Villagers used human waste to block the officers. Some laid down on the ground.
One male protester was detained after assaulting a female officer, police said.
One woman in her 70s wore iron wire over her naked shoulders and tied herself to one of the huts to block officers.
KEPCO dispatched 250 of its employees to clean and erect fences around the sites to keep out protesters.
The National Human Rights Commission also sent commissioners to monitor possible human rights violations. The commission last year came under criticism as it rejected a petition from the protesters.
The fight over the transmission towers began in 2007.
The transmission towers are expected to carry 765,000 volts of electricity.
The company has received approval from authorities for construction of the towers.
Some residents, mostly elderly, have protested the tower project, claiming it may pose health threat and reduce value of their properties.
Their protests have sometimes been violent.
In 2012, a farmer set himself on fire after pouring gasoline on his body. Last year, a woman killed herself by drinking agrichemicals. Another woman launched a hunger strike.
The confrontation has also attracted environmentalists from around the country who are in opposition to nuclear power plants
Villagers want KEPCO to alter its planned route for the electrical lines, place the lines underground or decrease the voltage of electricity that the lines will carry. KEPCO doesn't think any of those are viable options.
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