Tag: protests

Students of Seoul National University in Seoul occupy part of the university’s main building on Oct. 10, 2016, to demand a stop to building a new campus. The school administration is planning to start construction of a campus in Siheung, west of Seoul, later this year, but students say the decision was unilateral, without prior talks with students who will be most affected by it. (Yonhap)

Here is the latest supposed activism from a sports athlete:

New York Knicks center Joakim Noah chose to sit out a dinner with West Point cadets during the team’s training camp this week, citing his pacifist viewpoints and the fact that it was hard for him to “understand why we have to go to war, why kids have to kill kids around the world.”  [USA Today]

Here is an awesome response from a former West Point graduate, Captain Nick Palmisciano:

“Whenever one of these types of things pop up, I kind of have an eye roll moment. I see this kind of stuff as self-aggrandizing. This doesn’t solve anything, it shows a lack of understanding about what it is that the military does, and really only calls attention to the individual. I see them as publicity stunts by people who think too highly of themselves.

He judged an entire group of people based on their chosen profession. This is no more ignorant than judging all police because of one bad shooting or all black people because of one criminal. As soon as you start generalizing people, their motives, their beliefs, you are part of the problem.”

“There are plenty of people in the U.S. that are strong supporters of the military. That isn’t present in a lot of countries, and we are very fortunate. Is it irksome when someone takes the national stage to talk down to the military? Yes. But does anything change because of Noah? No. Guys still deploy tomorrow. National policy doesn’t change.

There is still a job to do. And the men and women in uniform rely on each other to get that done, not a guy who plays a game for a living.

And again, it’s their right. I think both of these guys, Kaepernick included, think they are doing the right thing and they think that what they are doing is important, so I can’t really judge them for that. But the reality is that these pseudo-stands are just as worthless as the hashtag of the day. #bringbackourgirls”  [IJR.com]

You can read much more at the link.

Basically these students are protesting to remain an elitist institution by not allowing in older students who could not afford to go to college after high school, but could later on in their lives:

Hundreds of students at Ewha Womans University in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, have been occupying one of the school’s halls for days in a bid to pressure the university to scrap its decision to create a college for non-traditional students.

Some 300 students have participated in the sit-in so far, which began last Thursday in a building housing the president’s office. The school’s board of trustees had officially decided that day to push the plan forward, rejecting voices from the student body that denounced the so-called Future Life College.

A group of five professors and faculty members who joined Thursday’s meeting was locked inside the building when 200 students stormed in to express their defiance, leading local police to dispatch around 1,600 officers Saturday to guide them out.

Around 10 students were physically injured during the altercation. Some were transported to a nearby hospital by ambulance.

The school’s initiative to establish the Future Life College is led by the Ministry of Education, which sought to offer high-quality education to people who started working right after graduating from high school. The plan was to offer opportunities for those who couldn’t afford a college education but felt the need to get one later in their careers.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

In the least surprising news of the day, the South Korean government has confirmed that leftist agitators were behind the violent protest that saw the ROK Prime Minister detained for six hours and pelted with eggs last week:

Debate is escalating over the violent protest during the prime minister’s visit to the potential site for a U.S. advanced missile system last week, with the ruling camp condemning the incident as a criminal act of violence and the opposition accusing the government of politicizing it.

The Saenuri Party demanded firm punishment against the violent protesters who they said came from other neighborhoods to incite illegal activities. The opposition parties in turn rebuked the government for cracking down on a legitimate protest.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was pelted with eggs and water bottles during his visit on Friday to Seongju county, the southern rural town where the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense artillery unit will be deployed. The prime minister was also blocked for more than six hours by angry protesters.

Korea National Police Agency chief Kang Shin-myung said Monday that he received a report on evidence linking the violence to outside protestors. He said the authorities would determine whether there were any illegal activities and how far the out-of-town activists were involved in the incident.

“Violent activities staged by some protesters should be brought to justice,” said the Saenuri Party’s floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk. “Granting the residents the right to express their opinion is one thing, but allowing the outsiders to exercise violence is another,” he said.

The conservative party’s whip praised the Seongju residents for staying away from “outsider protesters,” many of whom, he claimed, consisted of antigovernment leftist activists. He urged the residents to prevent the activists from meddling in protests.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link, but via a reader tip comes this Reddit posting that translates a Donga-Ilbo article that states that six of the eight anti-THAAD protest leaders are from outside of the village of Seongju where the THAAD battery will be stationed:

Out of eight high ranking officials who are coordinating the protests against THAAD installation at Seongju, only two were Seongju residents, reports Channel-A News.

The rest were made up of well known ‘professional protestors’ who make their living protesting against South Korean government policies, who had no ties to the town of Seongju. This new organization met with the opposition Democratic Party for 4 hours, and asked the opposition party to intervene and block the THAAD installation, right to the end. One of the leaders in the group was a man who was in charge of the Mad Cow protests in 2008, arrested and served some time for organizing violent protests. Included in the same group are two leaders who were responsible for anti US protests 10 years ago, at Pyeongtek, when they violently tried to oppose the construction of new US military base in the area with homemade weapons. They are already wrapping headbands around their heads, and promises to “fight to the end” to stop the THAAD.

The leftist agitators in question include the the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea.  Both groups are highly involved in anti-government and anti-US movements in South Korea.  Another usual suspect, the Catholic Church of Korea is getting involved in the anti-THAAD movement as well by holding a protest outside of Camp Carroll.

For those unfamiliar with the Catholic Church in Korea it has a long history of anti-government protests stretching back to the authoritarian era of the South Korean government.  Now with full democracy in place the Catholic Church still protests conservative governments and anti-US causes.  For example here is the Catholic Church protesting during the 2008 US beef riots:

Just like the THAAD controversy the US beef riots were based on proven lies spread by the Korean left and their media allies:

MBC apologized to viewers on Tuesday for misleading them with misinterpretations and exaggerations about the risks of mad cow disease in the current affairs program PD Diary. It had been 106 days since PD Diary aired the first report on April 29 on the risks of mad cow disease that drove the entire country into hysteria. The apology followed an order by the Korea Communications Standards Commission on July 16. Following its main newscast that night, MBC showed the text of the KCSC order on air and read aloud its content, telling viewers that it apologized from the bottom of its heart.

MBC ignored a decision by the Press Arbitration Commission on May 19 ordering PD Diary to air a correction. Throughout July, the broadcaster rejected demands by prosecutors summoning program officials and to hand over transcripts and other materials. It also initially ignored the KCSC order on July 16 to issue an apology. It even ignored a ruling by a court of law on July 31 to air a correction saying the key points raised by PD Diary were false. At an internal meeting, MBC officials agreed not to admit any mistakes and to drag their heels for as long as possible. Now, the network probably decided to issue an apology because it became afraid of the treatment it would receive from the public, who have realized the truth about the deliberate exaggeration and distortion of facts by PD Diary.

But the distortions by MBC are not restricted to PD Diary. Since the first day PD Diary aired its report on mad cow disease, MBC News Desk, the main 9 p.m. newscast, broadcast reports exaggerating the fear of mad cow disease for three straight days, allocating 13 out of a total 25 items to that subject. The program regularly broadcast scenes of downer cows that had been aired by PD Diary, bombarding viewers minds with the notion that U.S. beef equals mad cow disease. The anchors made comments voicing satisfaction with the fear they had spread, saying young students were hitting the streets to lambaste and mock the government over the beef issue and that it had been a long time since we saw students this age protesting. The hysteria also poured through the airwaves on morning shows geared toward housewives, entertainment shows and radio programs.

Housewives and young students who saw these broadcasts were scared out of their minds and took to the streets to protest. Junior highschool girls wept that they were too young to die, and some even called the agriculture ministers office and cried, saying they were too afraid to eat even instant noodles or use sanitary napkins if U.S. beef imports resumed. Parents took their children to see doctors after they developed beef phobia or had problems sleeping due to fears of contracting the human form of mad cow disease.  [Chosun Ilbo]

Interestingly who we haven’t seen shown up yet in Seongju is quite possibly the most well known anti-US activist and Catholic priest, Father Mun Jeong-hyeon:

It seems like he has been keeping a low profile ever since his 2013 protesting of the ROK Navy base on Jeju island that he and other protesters claimed was actually going to be used by the US Navy.  Another group that I have not seen in Seongju yet is the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.  This long time anti-US group has protested in Seoul before against the deployment of the THAAD battery, but it overall has not been a major issue for them.  I do expect that to change since the THAAD issue has now become much larger in Korea.

At this point is pretty much a certainty that violent protests will be used to stop the THAAD battery especially with a Korean presidential election looming next year.  If Father Mun and the Korean Confederation of Trade Union thugs along with the other usual suspects show up at Seongju to block access to the base for the arrival of the THAAD equipment than expect things to get ugly.

That is why if USFK planners were smart they would install the THAAD battery during the winter time and not during the summer protest season.  The anti-US movement will not be able to draw huge crowds to violently protest in cold weather.  Convoying in the equipment late on a cold winter night should mitigate any attempts to block access to the ROK base.  Once the THAAD battery is deployed and the presidential election is over, I expect this issue to fade away just like the Camp Humphreys issue back in 2005 which no one cares about today.

Members of conservative youth groups stage a performance lampooning North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on a street in central Seoul on July 14, 2016, to back a recent decision to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system in South Korea. North Korea has warned of “physical action” against the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) aimed at countering the North’s missile threats. (Yonhap)

A group of residents from Goseong near South Korea’s eastern front line with North Korea rallies in front of the government complex in Seoul on July 11, 2016, to urge the government to come up with measures to support them as they have been financially hurt by the 2008 suspension of an inter-Korean tour program to Mount Kumgang on the North’s eastern coast. The tour program, in which South Koreans visited the scenic mountain resort via an overland route in the Goseong region across the Demilitarized Zone, was abruptly halted in July 2008 after a female South Korean tourist was shot to death by a North Korean soldier. (Yonhap)

It looks like the “Not In My Backyard” crowd has already started protesting the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea:

The official announcement of deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in Korea is bringing a huge backlash from residents of areas which are rumored to be candidate sites for the system.

People in the regions claim the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) will pose serious health risks to them and environmental damage due to strong electromagnetic waves.

Immediately after the announcement Friday, residents in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and Waegwan of Chilgok County in North Gyeongsang Province, the two key candidate locations, expressed vehement opposition.

A coalition of 25 civic groups in Pyeongtaek, where the United States Forces Korea (USKF) headquarters will be moved, said they will hold a press conference on July 19 to announce their protest plans to block the possible deployment there.

“The noise and electromagnetic waves emanating from THAAD radar will pose grave health threats to residents here,” the coalition said in a statement.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but like most Korean protests these people are blatantly lying to get public sentiment behind them.  Anyone can Google and find out the safe keep out zones for the THAAD radar.  In fact it is published in the draft Environmental Assessment document for the THAAD unit on Guam that can be downloaded at this link.  Here is an excerpt from the document that discusses the safe keep out zones for the radar:

Members of a local environmental group hold a street campaign in central Seoul on July 4, 2016, to discourage the use of plastic bags for carrying items purchased at stores. The event took place one day after International Plastic Bag Free Day dedicated to heightening awareness about the problem of plastic waste, which takes a long time to degrade and contributes to air, water and soil pollution. (Yonhap)

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), South Korea’s second-largest umbrella labor union, hold a rally in front of the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on July 4, 2016, calling for the release of its jailed leader. In a high-profile ruling the same day, the court sentenced KCTU leader Han Sang-gyun to five years in jail for leading last year’s violent rallies in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)

Hwang In-cheol holds up a sign saying “North Korea…Be Free My Father” at an event to send a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the border city Paju, north of Seoul, on June 17, 2016. His father Hwang Won has been in captivity since December 1969, when a South Korean plane carrying Hwang, a radio producer, and 50 other crew members and passengers was hijacked by a North Korean agent on its way from the eastern South Korean city of Gangneung to Seoul. (Yonhap)

For those interested the story of how Mr. Hwang’s dad was taken hostage can be read at the below link:

• DMZ Flashpoints: The 1969 Hijacking of Korean Airlines YS-11