Against Park Geun-hye’s pardon Members of leftist civic organizations hold a news conference near the presidential office in Seoul on Dec. 27, 2021, expressing strong opposition to presidential amnesty for jailed former President Park Geun-hye. (Yonhap)
Rally against COVID-19 vaccine pass system for youths A parent holds her child as protestors stage a rally at the government complex in Sejong, central South Korea, on Dec. 9, 2021, to demand the government withdraw its plan to expand the COVID-19 vaccine pass system to teenagers. The system requires them to present COVID-19 vaccination or negative test certificates at multiuse facilities, including public study rooms and cram schools, a measure that critics say amounts to forcing people to get vaccinated. (Yonhap)
Remember when the Korean media was in lockstep condemning South Korean conservatives for rallying last year against President Moon? The leftist organization, KCTU has held multiple rallies since then and threatening to hold illegal “guerrilla rallies” to get around COVID restrictions with hardly any criticism from the media:
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) hold a massive street rally in Seoul, in this file photo dated July 3, 2021. (Yonhap)
The Seoul city government has prohibited South Korea’s major umbrella labor group from staging street rallies this month in accordance with a law on preventing the spread of infectious diseases, an official said Sunday.
The measure came in response to a formal report submitted by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) on its plan to hold outdoor rallies in some areas of the capital on Oct. 20. The KCTU stated it will carry out a general strike on the day.
City authorities, however, sent an official document to the KCTU notifying it of a decision to forbid such rallies. The city government plans to maintain a ban on street rallies as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, with stringent social distancing restrictions in place.
It raises the possibility that KCTU members will again push for “guerrilla-style” illicit rallies as they did in downtown Seoul in July that led to the arrest of the labor organization’s leader, Yang Kyung-soo.
Under the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, the Seoul mayor is empowered to prohibit rallies in the city.
You can read more at the link, but as much as I dislike the KCTU at some point they need to be allowed to hold their rallies along with other organizations. As South Korea is quickly increasing its vaccination status there has to come a point where a level is reached where groups can gather again. Protests and rallies are a strong part of the democratic process in South Korea.
Vegans’ rally A vegan wearing a mask of a fish is caught in a net, as members of the Korea Vegan Union hold a rally in Seoul on June 8, 2021, to call for people to go vegan as part of efforts to improve their health and the marine environment and to mark World Ocean Day that fell the same day. (Yonhap)
Calling for pardon for Samsung leader Residents and officials of the southeastern county of Uiryeong, the birthplace of the late Samsung founder Lee Byung-cheol, call for President Moon Jae-in to pardon imprisoned Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong during a rally on May 12, 2021. (Yonhap)
Like I have always said, Korean authorities can open the road to the THAAD site any time they want to, they just choose not to on a daily basis:
Residents and civic activists hold a protest against the planned ground transport of equipment onto a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Oct. 22, 2020, in this photo provided by a civic group.
Protestors failed to block 32 vehicles carrying construction equipment and materials onto a military base Friday in South Korea where the U.S. Army operates a missile-defense system, according to local media.
More than 50 people staged a sit-in as trucks approached the former golf course that’s home to a U.S.-built and operated Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, about 190 miles south of Seoul in Seongju, The Joongang Ilbo, an English-language newspaper, reported.
You can read more at the link, but the article says the convoy brought in construction material to help with barracks renovations and remove old construction waste from the site.
Protesters have been blocking the road since the THAAD battery was put in which causes daily logistical support to the site to be conducted by helicopter. Only when materials that cannot be moved by helicopter need to be brought in does the police open the road. I have always been concerned that over an extended period of time this could increase the chances of a helicopter crash happening.
Walled off Parked police buses wall off the National Assembly compound in Yeouido, southern Seoul, during a protest rally organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions on Nov. 14, 2020. (Yonhap)
Labor union protest Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions chant slogans during a rally in front of the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct. 24, 2020, demanding the passage of three bills aimed at enhancing labor rights. (Yonhap)
Anti-fur campaignSouth Korean animal rights activists hold a rally in Seoul on Oct. 21, 2020, to voice their objection to the killing of animals for their fur. (Yonhap)
Objection to doctors’ strike Members of patients’ rights groups hold a news conference demanding medical doctors end their strike in front of Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul on Aug. 29, 2020. (Yonhap)
