Container Barricade Draws Spotlight

Protesters gather in front of shipping containers and buses placed by police to block them from marching toward the presidential house in Seoul, Tuesday.

/ AP-Yonhap

By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Giant shipping containers placed in central Seoul Tuesday to keep protesters from approaching Cheong Wa Dae have emerged as a ``tourist attraction'' for some, while hard-line activists allege the structure symbolized the President's lack of communication with the public.

Police used more than 60 shipping containers ㅡ each 12 meters in length, 2.7 meters in height and 4 tons in weight ㅡ to establish barricades called a ``final defense line'' in preparation for a record number of anti-U.S. beef imports protesters. However, they were dismantled Wednesday morning as Tuesday's vigil ended without any clashes between demonstrators and riot police.

Protesters called the structure ``Myung-bak Castle,'' and online protestors registered it on the Korean language version of Wikipedia.

Some held up banners in front of the barricades that read ``Congratulations! Castle MB, the new landmark of Seoul.'' Hundreds of leaflets containing anti-government messages such as ``Lee Myung-bak Out,'' ``Judgment Day for the President,'' and ``Mad Cow Drives People Mad,'' were pasted on the fronts of the containers. Many participants were busy taking pictures of themselves with the unprecedented structure as a backdrop.

A participant holding a loud speaker said ``The barricades clearly show the government doesn't want to listen to the voice of the Korean public.''

A high school in central Seoul criticized police for erecting the barricades: ``It caused serious traffic congestion all day long in the downtown area. Numerous students and workers were late due to the containers.''

Meanwhile, a cultural heritage expert claimed placing such a structure in central Seoul was illegal.

Hwang Pyung-woo, head of Korea Cultural Heritage Policy Research Institute, said police setting up a barricade without the government's permission was against the laws.

Noting that a monument commemorating the 40th year of the King Go-Jong's enthronement is located in Sejongro where the protests took place, Hwang said, ``Police should have got permission from the Cultural Properties Committee to build such a structure in the vicinity of the monument.''

pss@koreatimes.co.kr

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