hankyoreh

Nov. 23. (Photo by Shin So-young)

By Yu Sun-hui

Critics are leveling charges of unacceptably excessive suppression tactics against the police for indiscriminately firing water cannon jets toward citizen participants in a rally against the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) on Wednesday night, which saw wind chill temperatures drop as low as -6 degrees Celsius.

The police targeted demonstrators with water cannons several times during a crackdown on a street march toward Seoul’s Eulji-ro thoroughfare Wednesday after a candlelight vigil demonstration held in the Seoul Plaza area in front of Seoul City Hall to express opposition to the FTA.

According to the Korea Meteorological Agency, temperatures fell below zero between 9 and 10 p.m. on the evening when police fired the cannons, while heavy winds brought the wind chill temperature to a far lower -6 degrees Celsius.

Participants struck by the cannons said the cold was such that the water froze on their clothing. A 27-year-old participant named Kim recounted that police even fired the jets indiscriminately at people on the sidewalk.

“It was so cold out that my clothes froze, and all the friends who came out with me to the rally caught colds,” Kim said.

A 31-year-old named Ahn said, “The cold was unbearable. I was only sprayed a little while I was in the street, but I was shivering terribly.”

Criticisms of the police’s failure to take into account the cold when using water cannons were not limited to civic and social organizations. Lawmakers with the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) also issued notably stern statements against the decision.

At a GNP Supreme Council meeting Thursday, Lawmaker Won Hee-ryong said, “I think it crosses the line in several regards to fire water cannons in subzero wind chill temperatures.”

Spokesman Kim Ki-hyun reported the chairman of the party’s Policy Committee as saying he would discuss the water cannon issue with the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA).

Supreme Council member Nam Kyung-pil also made critical remarks about the police’s actions during a meeting with reporters Thursday morning.

“Dispersing demonstrators with a water cannon under conditions of bitter could induce a reaction of further hardening the hearts of FTA opponents,” he said.

Broadcasting personality and National Human Rights Commission of Korea public relations ambassador, Kim Mi-hwa, sent an open letter to the NHRCK on Thursday in which she said, “As I witness the violence of government authorities indiscriminately firing water cannons at defenseless citizens in the bitter cold, I have to ask where in the world the human rights of citizens of this country have gone.”

Kim also called on NHRCK Chairperson Hyun Byung-chul to “rush over the Korean National Police Agency this very minute to protest.”

Experts said being hit with jets from a water cannon in subzero temperatures could result in frostbite, hypothermia, and even heart attacks.

Physicians for Humanitarian Action Co-President Kim Jung-bum said, “People with chronic ailments like diabetes whose peripheral circulation is not good in their hands and feet may become disabled if they catch frostbite from being hit by a water cannon.”

Kim added that people may also suffer from hypothermia if exposed to the cold for a long time after being struck by a jet, and that people with heart conditions might suffer a heart attack.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) Security Department chief Yun Cheol-gyu said, “The march itself was illegal, so we fired the water cannons after first broadcasting an order to disperse according to procedure, and we took direct aim after they did not.”

Yun added, “There are no standards for the use of water cannons according to weather conditions, and everything was done in line with legitimate procedure, so there is no issue.”

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