Police start investigation of violence against prime minister
By Lee Kyung-min
Residents in Seongju County vowed Sunday to extend their organized struggle against the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery there, shrugging off a police investigation of some residents who used violence during a rally, Friday.
Some 200 members from the public and private sectors in the county in North Gyeongsang Province set up an Anti-THAAD Struggle Committee, Saturday, to stage a long-term, systematic fight against the deployment of the anti-missile unit.
The committee members said they would continue rallies until the government withdraws the plan to deploy THAAD there. They also plan to wage a legal battle against the government for the "flawed" process of the site decision, which they claim was made without consulting the residents.
"Some 2,000 residents will visit Seoul Thursday to stage a rally at Gwanghwamun Square and the National Assembly in Yeouido," the committee said in a statement.
About 1,000 residents also held a candlelit vigil for two hours in protest near the county office. The office said the vigil will take place every night until the deployment decision is withdrawn.
Police in dilemma
Police said they are investigating some residents who used violence during a rally at the country's office on Friday when they threw raw eggs and bottles of water at Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and Defense Minister Han Min-koo.
Hwang and Han, who visited the county to reassure residents that THAAD's radar does not pose health or environmental threats, were met with jeers and pelted with eggs. They were stuck in a van for six-and-a-half hours surrounded by enraged protestors.
Police are reviewing video footages taken from the scene after setting up a special investigation team under the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency.
"Throwing such objects is an act of violence that may be subject to punishment," a police official said.
But concerns also rise that punishment of residents may further worsen the already soured public sentiment against the government.
Some residents denounced police for attacking them first to get Hwang and Han on the van.
"We were standing close to the van to talk with the ministers, and some officers choked us to make way for them to get to the van," a resident said. "We will collect evidence to prove police brutality."
Some government officials claimed the residents should be accused of confining the ministers, but National Police Agency Commissioner General Kang Sin-myeong said it was not confinement because the ministers only could not move, but were able to communicate with people outside the vehicle.
In similar cases, those using violence faced jail terms.
In June 1991, former Prime Minister Jeong Won-sik was covered with eggs and flour thrown by students of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies who protested his hard-line stance against movements of student activists and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union.
The incident occurred shortly before he was scheduled to be sworn in as prime minister under the Kim Young-sam administration.
Out of a total of 18 students indicted, 10 were sentenced to prison terms of between two and three-and-a-half years, while the remaining eight received suspended sentences.
By Lee Kyung-min
Residents in Seongju County vowed Sunday to extend their organized struggle against the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery there, shrugging off a police investigation of some residents who used violence during a rally, Friday.
Some 200 members from the public and private sectors in the county in North Gyeongsang Province set up an Anti-THAAD Struggle Committee, Saturday, to stage a long-term, systematic fight against the deployment of the anti-missile unit.
The committee members said they would continue rallies until the government withdraws the plan to deploy THAAD there. They also plan to wage a legal battle against the government for the "flawed" process of the site decision, which they claim was made without consulting the residents.
"Some 2,000 residents will visit Seoul Thursday to stage a rally at Gwanghwamun Square and the National Assembly in Yeouido," the committee said in a statement.
About 1,000 residents also held a candlelit vigil for two hours in protest near the county office. The office said the vigil will take place every night until the deployment decision is withdrawn.
Police in dilemma
Police said they are investigating some residents who used violence during a rally at the country's office on Friday when they threw raw eggs and bottles of water at Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and Defense Minister Han Min-koo.
Hwang and Han, who visited the county to reassure residents that THAAD's radar does not pose health or environmental threats, were met with jeers and pelted with eggs. They were stuck in a van for six-and-a-half hours surrounded by enraged protestors.
Police are reviewing video footages taken from the scene after setting up a special investigation team under the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency.
"Throwing such objects is an act of violence that may be subject to punishment," a police official said.
But concerns also rise that punishment of residents may further worsen the already soured public sentiment against the government.
Some residents denounced police for attacking them first to get Hwang and Han on the van.
"We were standing close to the van to talk with the ministers, and some officers choked us to make way for them to get to the van," a resident said. "We will collect evidence to prove police brutality."
Some government officials claimed the residents should be accused of confining the ministers, but National Police Agency Commissioner General Kang Sin-myeong said it was not confinement because the ministers only could not move, but were able to communicate with people outside the vehicle.
In similar cases, those using violence faced jail terms.
In June 1991, former Prime Minister Jeong Won-sik was covered with eggs and flour thrown by students of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies who protested his hard-line stance against movements of student activists and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union.
The incident occurred shortly before he was scheduled to be sworn in as prime minister under the Kim Young-sam administration.
Out of a total of 18 students indicted, 10 were sentenced to prison terms of between two and three-and-a-half years, while the remaining eight received suspended sentences.
