hankyoreh

bleeds as he hits the ground at dawn on June 2.

It has been found that riot police were found to have exercised a series of illegal and drastic measures in the course of cracking down on demonstrations held in front of Cheong Wa Dae on June 1-2. Many protesters were injured. Riot police used water cannons at close range, in violation of safety regulations. A number of demonstrators were injured as riot police wielded shields and clubs in the process of taking them into custody.

Hong Gi-don, who participated in the demonstrations, had his eardrum split during a protest on June 2. A doctor at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital said that Hong needed surgery for his ear and that he could lose his hearing. Hong also has a black eye. At around 6 a.m. on June 1, Hong was hit in the face by police water cannons fired by riot police from just 10 meters away. “At the time, I felt one of my ears get hit and, as time passed, one of my eyes grew dim,” Hong remarked. On the same day, a demonstrator who was identified only as Jeong had two-thirds of his eardrum ruptured when he was hit by police water cannons.

The People’s Countermeasure Council against Full Resumption of Imports of U.S. Beef Endangered with Mad Cow Disease said that it had confirmed that more than 10 protesters had been injured by the police water cannons. The damage, which was serious, was incurred because the police shot the water cannons at excessively close range, violating safety regulations related to the management of their equipment, according to the organization.

Article 91 of a set of safety regulations for the management of police equipment states, for example, that as water cannons can cause damage to human life and body, they require special handling and should remain under the responsibility of police station chiefs. There are detailed requirements for the use of water cannons. The firing angle should be over 15 degrees and the cannons cannot be used within 20 meters of demonstrators. However, police fired the water cannons from as close as four or five meters from protesters or occasionally fired them from just above the demonstrators. In response, Myeong Yeong-su, a Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official, said, “Water cannons are safer than clubs. It is a lie to say that they were injured by the water cannons.” However, a profusion of evidence to the contrary showed that his remarks may be something other than the truth.

There is video and photo evidence, some of it taken by the demonstrators, showing that police indiscriminately wielded shields or clubs to block demonstrators.

One demonstrator who was only identified as Kim was confirmed to have been seriously wounded. A picture of Kim’s bloody face was posted on Internet sites on the morning of June 2. He sustained injuries to his nose and teeth when a riot police officer hit him in the face with his shield near Gwanghwamun in downtown Seoul at around 1:50 a.m. on June 2.

The victim in a video labeled as “showing violence against a female university student,” which was rapidly circulated via the Internet on June 1, was confirmed as a student of Seoul National University. The female student, who was only identified by her family name, Lee, is at Seoul Paik Hospital, where she will undergo an operation. “A riot police officer seized my hair and flung me down to the ground and then trampled on my head several times. When I escaped under a bus and then tried to flee from there, he tramped on my head a few more times. I was rescued by a citizen,” Lee said. Lee underwent a medical exam because she was suffering from a serious headache and is considering filing a complaint against the head of the National Police Agency. An official from the People’s Countermeasure Council said the group will take legal action and urge the NPA chief to resign for acts of indiscriminate violence and police suppression.

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