hankyoreh

at Anguk intersection in Seoul

The three high-pressure water cannons that the police deployed to disperse participants in an all-night demonstration for the Sewol tragedy on May 1 used 40,000 liters of water that night, police figures show. This was the largest amount used over the past six years.

In addition, the police used portable dispensers to spray 719.7 liters of capsaicinoid tear gas (not including water cannons) in the faces of protestors during five recent assemblies and demonstrations, which is 3.72 times the total amount used last year (193.7 liters).

According to statistics about the use of water cannons and capsaicin that the National Police Agency provided to New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) lawmaker Jung Cheong-rae on May 11, the police bombarded protestors with 40,000 liters of water at just Anguk intersection in Seoul’s Jongno district on the night of May 1. This is the most water used in any of the 13 demonstrations at which the police have deployed water cannons since 2010.

After first firing the water cannon at 10:12 pm, the police deployed three water cannons and, for about 80 minutes, shot water, some of which contained tear gas and some of which did not, both spraying it over the crowd and aiming it directly at the protestors.

This would imply that around 500 liters of water were fired every minute, but considering that the water cannons were only filed intermittently, the actual amount of water fired per minute was probably much higher.

During the demonstrations on that day, the police fired 123.34 liters of capsaicinoid tear gas from handheld dispensers. When asked how much PAVA (a synthetic capsaicinoid solution) was mixed in the water fired by the three water cannons, an officer with the security department at the National Police Agency said that would have to be calculated separately.

Considering that so much water mixed with tear gas was fired at the demonstration that the white solution ran in the streets, it is likely that a significant amount of tear gas was also used in the water cannons.

A total of 19 water cannons are currently owned and operated by the police, including five in Seoul and three in Gyeonggi Province.

During an assembly commemorating the Sewol tragedy that was held in Gwanghwamun Plaza, Seoul, on April 18, the police fired 33,200 liters of water from the water cannons. On that day, 465.75 liters of capsaicinoid tear gas were fired from handheld dispensers alone, amounting to half of the total 1004.54 liters of capsaicinoid tear gas that was used between 2010 and 2014.

By Kim Kyu-nam, staff reporter

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