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| Police fire water cannon at protestors who used a rope to try and topple a police bus during an anti-government protest held in Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, Saturday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
Elderly man remains unconscious after being hit by water cannon spray
By Lee Kyung-min
Police have detained 49 protesters during Saturday's massive anti-government rally in Gwanghwamun Square, downtown Seoul, which also left a 69-year-old man, surnamed Baek, critically injured after he was hit by spray from a water cannon.
Baek, a farmers' union member, fell after being hit by the water while trying to topple a police bus using a rope. He was taken to Seoul National University Hospital where he underwent surgery for four hours, but remains in critical condition.
Forty-nine people were detained for violating the law regarding the staging of public demonstrations and two high school students among them have been released, police said.
A coalition of labor unions and civic and famers' groups denounced the police's excessive suppression of protesters using tear gas and water cannons, urging National Police Agency Commissioner Kang Sin-myeong to step down for the injury caused to Baek.
"Baek fell to the ground due to the canon attack, and police kept on firing the water cannon even after he was unable to defend himself," protesters said during a press conference in front of the hospital in Jongno District.
"They increased their actions when other protesters approached Baek for help. How could have they done that unless they had the intention to let him die?"
Although police are required to aim at people from their chest down when they use the water cannons, they broke this rule, according to a lawyer from Minbyun, a social organization of progressive lawyers.
"The police kept firing the water cannon for more than 20 seconds, an action with the intent to kill. We are considering filing criminal and civil lawsuits against the government," a lawyer said.
The rally organizers demanded an official apology from President Park Geun-hye, as well as Kang's dismissal for causing such a deadly injury to Baek as well as to 29 other protesters.
"The government has turned a deaf ear to what people are angry about but instead suppressed their voices," they said.
In response, Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong vowed that the protestors who incited violence during Saturday's rally will receive harsh punishment.
"The government will locate and sternly punish those who spearheaded or masterminded violent acts against others, as well as those who committed such acts during the rally," he said during a press briefing in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday.
Earlier, on Friday, in a joint statement released by five ministries ― the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Employment and Labor, and Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs ― a warning was issued stating that "illegal actions" or "violence" committed during the rally will not be tolerated.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people from 53 labor unions and civic groups staged a 12-hour rally in protest against the government's plan to adopt state-authored history textbooks, labor reforms, and youth unemployment, among other causes.
More than 20,000 police officers with 700 police buses were mobilized there.
Dozens of police officers as well as protesters sustained injuries during the violent clashes that occurred when the protesters tried to remove police bus barricades blocking their path to Cheong Wa Dae.
The nation's largest umbrella union Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), which led the movement, said some 130,000 protesters gathered there, while the police estimate was 64,000.
The number is the largest since 2008 under former President Lee Myung-bak's administration, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets in protest against the resumption of U.S. beef imports.
The groups said they will hold a second rally on Dec. 5.
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