Opposition parties and civic groups plan to stage an event early next month to protest against the recent police crackdown on a demonstration in Yongsan that left five civilians and one police officer dead in a deadly blaze last week.

The liberal Democratic, Democratic Labor and Renewal of Korea Parties, along with the conservative Liberty Forward Party, plan to hold an event in cooperation with other 500 civic groups at 3. p.m. Sunday in the square near the Chonggyecheon stream. They plan to use the event to voice their complaints about the Lee Myung-bak administration’s unilateral style of government, while proclaiming that to be the cause of the Yongsan tragedy. They also plan to use the event to rally support for their efforts to stop the government from rushing a number of pending bills through February’s extraordinary National Assembly session, bills that some critics say would not be beneficial to the general public.

Organizers say the event will start with the party and civic group leaders voicing their criticisms of the government, and many are expected to blame the government for causing the civilian deaths. The event will continue with various memorial events for the victims.

Ahead of the gathering, the lawmakers and civic groups will hold a joint press conference at 11 a.m. on Thursday in central Seoul, during which they plan to call on the government to bring those responsible for the civilian deaths to justice through a fair investigation and promise to prevent such a thing from happening again.

Park Seok-un, one of the event organizers, said, “We will hold legal and peaceful events in which civilians can participate… These events will provide us with a chance to get people behind our demand for the government to apologize for the deaths and prevent the ruling party from railroading the controversial bills.”

With these events, the opposition parties seem to be trying to get the upper hand over the rival ruling Grand National Party in the upcoming parliamentary session to be held beginning Monday.

An Hee-jung, a member of the Democratic Party’s Supreme Council, said, “We alone cannot keep tabs on the ruling party’s audacity. This gathering will provide us with a chance to rally support both from civilians and democracy groups (against it).”

Park said, “We will continue our fight in and out of the parliament, even after the events are over, in cooperation with the opposition parties and civic groups.”

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