Police Alert Over Candlelight Vigils in June
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Candles are unlikely to be blown out on the streets anytime soon. Protestors, undaunted by repeated arrest warnings from police, are expected to continue to gather in central Seoul through June, demanding renegotiations of the deal to resume imports of American beef.
Candlelit vigils, held almost every night in downtown Seoul since May 2, were initially organized to call for the renegotiations with the United States over the beef import terms. But protestors are showing signs of broadening the issue beyond U.S. beef, taking issues with other government policies.
Following such unexpected public protests in which even teenagers took part, the government delayed applying the new import sanitation rules which would subsequently start local sales of American beef. It plans to announce resumption of American beef importation officially later this week.
Even the government's gesture to modify the deal is unlikely to stop the gatherings, at least until June which is dotted with special occasions. June 3 is the 100th day of President Lee's inauguration. June 13 is the sixth anniversary of the death of two middle school girls, who were crushed to death by a U.S. armored vehicle in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, in 2002. To mourn the girls, civic groups and citizens held massive candlelit vigils, which became anti-U.S. rallies every year. June 15 is the eighth anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit. Liberals might denounce the Lee administration for scrapping the Sunshine Policy of engaging North Korea, according to police.
Anti-U.S. beef rallies are getting politicized, as protestors now denounce the government's policies other than the beef one, with some people calling for the impeachment of Lee.
Since Sunday, protestors took to streets and caused traffic chaos. Police, which allowed the evening gatherings on condition of holding them ``peacefully,'' are now taking a firmer attitude toward the rallies, defining them as illegal acts threatening ``national security.''
They decided to take legal action on violations, such as occupying roads or assaulting police officers, and arrest not only the rally organizers but also participants if they disturb traffic or do not follow police orders to disperse.
Police have taken 211 participants to police stations and are investigating 135 of them, releasing the rest.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions also plans a separate, large-scale demonstration. The umbrella union said its members will prevent distribution of American beef by blocking the roads in front of 12 freezer stores in Gyeonggi Province, where 2,066 tons of beef products imported before the inspection was suspended last October are stored. The products are to be distributed to the market when the government applies the new rules.