By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Police will allow citizens to hold candlelight vigils to protest against the import of American beef, but will restrict them if participants politicize the gatherings.
The decision has come after police said Friday they would take legal action against organizers of the rallies held over the weekend in downtown Seoul, against the full opening of the local market to U.S. beef.
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Han Jin-hee said Monday that the rallies will be okay, as cultural events can be held at any time without prior reports or permission according to the law.
Han said, however, that police will define the rallies as illegal and political if the organizers make political remarks and participants chant such slogans or hold banners about political issues.
According to the law, political demonstrations need to get prior permission and cannot be held before sunrise or after sunset.
``We'll decide whether a gathering is political or not after looking into the situation comprehensively. We cannot punish organizers just because they urged people to gather with candles. If we think the cultural event is turning into a political rally, we'll warn the participants on the scene, urge them to disperse, and then take legal action,'' Han said.
``The organizers claimed that the weekend rallies were cultural events for public health but police believed that some participants abused the event for their political gain,'' he said.
Despite a police warning, civic groups plan to keep holding candlelight rallies. They claimed the police tried to forcibly block voluntary movements calling for the public rights for health.
A member of a civic group against the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement said that he wonders whether the police would actually crack down on demonstrators from a coalition of 1,000 civic groups, which will hold a candlelight vigil Tuesday night. Many of the participants in previous rallies were also young students and girls.
Unlike other rallies, 60 percent of the participants at the weekend gatherings were middle and high school students, with some appearing in their school uniforms. Students, who usually do not pay attention to political issues, say they took to street because they are very likely to eat American beef, which they believe to be unsafe, in their school meals.
They claim that students and soldiers will become the ``victims'' of the cheap U.S. beef as it will be available at school cafeterias and barracks.
However, some worry that young students are easily swayed by false information and some idol stars' anti-beef import remarks. On some online communities for teenagers, rumors without scientific grounds are spreading, such as ``Americans do not eat American beef but only Australian beef,'' and ``American beef will also be used in making medicine, instant noodles, snacks and cosmetics.''
Such rumors are spreading fast, as students send them to their friends through cell phone text messages. Many singers and TV personalities also attracted young fans in the candlelight vigils as they joined in the anti-import campaign on American beef.