The use of state power in Daechuri is going overboard. The government has sent in riot police to carry out a forced eviction and to arrest people at random, and now it is going to judge them based on military law. Local residents and protesters have been defined as "elements challenging state authority," and the government looks like it is going to continue with its super hard-line stance, using the military, the prosecution, and the police in their efforts. The authorities are not even attempting dialogue and persuasion, and, having so far used force, they seem ready to push ahead in much the same way.
Concern that the use of force to resolve the situation will only lead to greater conflict is already turning out to be accurate. The day after the eviction order was served, protesters from around the country gathered in Daechuri and clashed with soldiers there. The Minister of National Defense initially said there would be no direct clashes between civilians and the military, but two days after that statement he changed his position and ordered that soldiers on guard duty be given riot control equipment. What on earth did he expect would happen when he armed soldiers who have no experience in dealing with protests and put them in front of enraged protesters? I am just left speechless to hear him say that civilians are going to be prosecuted according to the military criminal code--and during peacetime, when martial law hasn't been declared.
The prosecution is being unreasonable about its arrests. A court has rejected several of its applications for warrants for people who were not even organizers of the protests, but the prosecution remains dedicated to punishing those involved in this "public security incident instigated by anti-American elements." Leading prosecutors were in agony over arresting the head of a conglomerate, but they do not seem to have any qualms about arresting those in Daechuri.
Locals and the umbrella group opposing base expansion there plan to hold a massive protest this weekend, and more during the following week, which is the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democracy Campaign. If the authorities again depend entirely on the use of force, another physical confrontation will be unavoidable. The government has persistently ignored the appeals of those seeking to defend their land and defend peace, and since the government started to carry out the evictions, it has refused even dialogue on the matter. The government needs to remember the historical misery that came in the past when the state power apparatus suppressed the people. If the government were to begin changing its tactics now, it should immediately remove the razor wire and engage in dialogue.
Remove razor wire and talk about Daechuri |
