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Police prevent People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy citizen engagement team secretary Kim Seung-hwan from accessing the fountain plaza in front of the Blue House to hold a one-person demonstration with signs reading “Step down

Critics are accusing the police of adopting a double standard to “shield the feelings” of President Park Geun-hye by exclusively cracking down on one-person demonstrations in front of the Blue House to call for her resignation.

According to accounts on Nov. 9 from police and the civic group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), PSPD citizen engagement team secretary Kim Seung-hwan attempted to go to the fountain plaza in front of the Blue House at noon that day to hold a one-person demonstration with signs reading “Step down, Park Geun-hye,” and “Puppet Park should resign,” only to be stopped by police in front of the Cheongwoon-Hyojadong Community Center.

PSPD members were stopped by police at the same time and place for the same reason on a total of four occasions since Nov. 4.

“The police are applying a double standard to citizens to shield the president’s feelings and willfully disrupting assembly,” said PSPD citizen engagement team director Cheon Woong-so.

“The police let through demonstrators holding signs about opposing the THAAD deployment, reforming prosecutors, or investigating the Sewol,” Cheon noted.

PSPD now plans to request emergency assistance on Nov. 10 from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, claiming the police have “violated the right to freedom of expression and passage.”

In response, Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency 202nd guard chief Kim Su-hwan said the fountain plaza “is part of the Presidential protection zone within 100 meters of the Blue House.”

“Other people do voice positions about policy, but an entrance ban was enforced for people holding signs demanding the resignation and impeachment of a VIP out of serious concerns that it could pose direct harm to that VIP,” Kim explained.

By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter

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