Citizens detained 6 undercover soldiers at Yongsan memorial service

A group of military police officers affiliated with the Capital Defense Command were stopped by citizens Saturday while observing the site of a candlelight memorial to the victims of the “Yongsan tragedy.” The army explained that this was a “routine military discipline patrol,” but civic groups suspected an inspection, saying that the military was observed attempting to intervene in an assembly among private citizens.

Six soldiers, including a corporal from the CDC military police identified as Gwak, 22, were asked to identify themselves by citizens attending the memorial in the vicinity of Seoul’s Myeongdong Cathedral at around 10:30 p.m. The citizens suspected that the short-haired young men gathering in the area might be police and asked them to show identification, whereupon the men claimed that they were university students attending the candlelight demonstration and provided identification such as Korea University student IDs.

But when the citizens continued to express their suspicions that the men were plain clothes police, the men finally admitted that they were “with the CDC military police.” They were assembled in groups of two and four enlisted men, ranked from private to corporal, and it was confirmed that commanding officers were also in the area, although they did not make contact with the citizens. When asked why they had come to the assembly, the men replied that they “came to check if any soldiers were participating in the protest.” No documentation devices such as cameras were discovered, and the men were released after being held up by the citizens for over 30 minutes.

But citizens who were at the scene remain suspicious, saying that it is hard to believe the men came to prevent soldiers from participating in the protest. “One soldier was reporting on the movements of citizens by cell phone,” said a citizen, 40, identified by the surname Jang.

One of the soldiers stopped by the citizens also said, “I didn’t want to come out because I’m being discharged in a few days, but I was forced to come at my superior’s direction,” adding that he was supposed to report to higher-ups on whether soldiers participated in the assembly.

As other evidence that the goals of the soldiers at the memorial were not simply “military discipline inspection,” some are citing the facts that they came prepared with student IDs from when they were civilians and they continued observing the scene of the gathering until after it was finished and only 100 people or so were remaining. A total of around 10,000 people participated in the memorial service. “They followed from Cheonggyecheon, past the Lotte Department Store and up to Myeongdong Cathedral,” said one citizen.

In response, the Army said Sunday that they were “engaged in preventative activities so that servicemen out during the weekend did not get involved in the protest crowds.” They also stated, “It is highly regrettable that protesters detained soldiers who were carrying out routine military discipline patrols and arresting deserters.”

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