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| A solidarity poster that has been spreading on Korean-language social media posts this week reads "Koreans support Hong Kong's democratization." Captured from Twitter |
By Lee Suh-yoon
A growing number of Koreans are showing their support for Hong Kong citizens' anti-extradition protests, after images of Hong Kong's smoke-filled streets and riot police firing rubber bullets and thrashing protesters flooded social media feeds this week.
"I don't care if this tweet later bars me from going back to a city I love, but I have to say this. I oppose the extradition bill in Hong Kong and support the Hong Kong citizens in the streets," Ha Bo-young, a Twitter user, said in a post tagged #prayforHongKong, Thursday.
Hong Kong, largely regarded as a shopping haven and modernity icon here, is lurching through events that bring back an eerie feeling of deja vu for Koreans ― some as recent as 2016 when police unleashed tear gas and water cannons at massive street protests against the now-ousted former President Park Geun-hye.
"Police firing rubber bullets and pepper spray at citizens ― well, that looks like us from not that long ago," another user tweeted.
Since Monday, hashtags like #AntiELAB #NoExtraditionToChina have plastered Korean-language social media posts. Also widely shared is a black poster featuring a withering orchid tree flower from Hong Kong's flag with the message "Koreans support Hong Kong's democratization" in both Korean and Chinese. Some K-pop fan accounts on Twitter even ceased their activity temporarily to show their support for the cause.
Around 1 million ― or one-seventh of the entire Hong Kong population ― took to the streets last Sunday, according to protest organizers and local news outlets. Hong Kong people say the proposed extradition bill will strip its judicial independence, giving China an official path to remove political dissidents.
Many Koreans went as far as to link the crackdown in Hong Kong to the Korean government's military crackdown on the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, in which hundreds were beaten, stabbed or machine-gunned to death. Some users posted side-by-side images of protesters being clubbed on the ground.
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| Riot police fire tear gas toward protesters outside the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, Wednesday. AP-Yonhap |
"I keep hearing of [Hong Kong] citizens getting hurt and shot with rubber bullets. [The Hong Kong police] are keeping up an 1980s Korean style of forcible dispersion," a different Twitter user said.
"Let's hope Hong Kong does not end up like Gwangju 1980 but more like our 1987 June 10 democracy movement or the recent candlelight revolution," another tweeted.
Exchange students here from Hong Kong have also been appealing for public support, posting letters in Korean online and on university bulletin boards. One letter, circulated widely on social media, was addressed to "To those who still hold their silence."
"You may not agree with the actions of 1.03 million protesters [in Hong Kong]. But we hope you won't turn a blind eye to the despotic actions of the Hong Kong government," the letter read.
A public petition also appeared on the Cheong Wa Dae website this week, calling on the Korean government to assist the Hong Kong people "according to the principles of International Human Rights Law." Over 20,000 people have signed the petition as of Friday afternoon.
"Korea and all other nations should issue a travel warning in Hong Kong and review diplomatic ties with the Hong Kong government," the petition urged. "We hope the Korean government will take the lead in spreading this issue and take the necessary legal steps to show solidarity for Hong Kong's democratization."
