Special Riot Police Team Estbalished
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Police launched a special riot police squad to crack down on illegal protesters. It will replace the current riot police beginning Thursday.
Civic groups denounced the move, saying the special police are reminiscent of the ``Baek-gol-dan (or white skull corps),'' a group of plain-clothes policemen wearing white helmets in the 1980s and 90s. At that time, they brutally suppressed demonstrators who took to the streets to fight dictatorship.
The National Police Agency had an establishment ceremony for the team at a police station in Sindang, Northeastern Seoul, Wednesday.
The special unit includes roughly 1,700 highly skilled police officers. They had to complete a 6-month-long training session to join in the group, NPA said. NPA plans to increase the number of special riot police to 14,000 by 2013.
The agency expects the special members will efficiently control protesters.