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Even after bringing in the autumn produce, the tractor didn’t have a chance to rest. Leaving behind the dirt roads it knew so well, the tractor rattled along the asphalt, heading north. As the tractor parted ways with the fields and moved along the road, there was a pungent smell of rust from the instrument panel.

“I gave up on planting the oats and am off to catch Park Geun-hye and her cronies. She’s a modern-day version of Jo Byeong-gap,” said Lee Hyo-sin, 53, vice president of the Korean Peasants League (KPL), referring to a notoriously corrupt county mayor from the Joseon Dynasty who spurred a peasant revolt in 1894. Lee had a red bandanna around his head and was clutching the steering wheel of his tractor as he spoke.

It was 9:30 am on Nov. 23 in front of the Hongseong Police Department in South Chungcheong Province. It had been 10 days since Lee put aside his work and embarked on the journey north. Lee is in charge of the west group of the “Jeon Bong-jun Battle Group,” which is moving toward Seoul in two contingents, one on the east and one on the west. [The name “Jeon Bong-jun” is a nod to the historical figure who led the Donghak Peasants’ Revolt, which sought to end the corruption of government officials like Jo Byeong-gap.] Led by Lee, the western group departed Hongseong on Nov. 23 and passed Yesan and Dangjin, reaching Asan after eight straight hours on the road. I spent those hours with Lee, sitting in his passenger seat.

Riding in a tractor is not nearly as comfortable as an ordinary car. Even though it only trundles along at an average speed of 15 or 20 kilometers an hour, it’s hard to keep your head steady with the constant jostling. Every speed bump is bound to leave a bruise on your behind. The glass windows don’t keep out the screeching and grinding of the huge tractor tires, which keep up their relentless assault on your eardrums. Just 10 minutes into the ride, I was feeling dizzy and nauseous.

“Holding the steering wheel all day long makes my shoulders hurt so bad. Tractors aren’t like cars because they don’t absorb the shock. The fact is, tractors are a farming implement, so ordinarily you would never drive it this fast. This is probably the first and only time that a tractor will travel such a long distance,” Lee said.

The KPL launched the Jeon Bong-jun Battle Group on Nov. 15, with farmers choosing the tractor as their vehicle for communicating their wish for Park to step down. On the first day, the “command tractor” for the western group set out from Haenam in South Jeolla Province with Lee behind the wheel and passed through North Jeolla Province all the way to South Chungcheong Province without a break. Lee’s is the only tractor that has been with the Jeon Bong-jun Battle Group’s journey from start to finish. Other tractors have participated in a relay demonstration, joining Lee while he is passing through their towns or counties and then breaking off when he moves on. The eastern group, which departed from Jinju in South Gyeongsang Province on Nov. 16, is led by Choi Sang-eun, another KPL vice president.

The east and west groups met in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, on Nov. 24. On Nov. 25, the two tractors will join more than 2,000 other tractors that have come from around the country to hold a demonstration in front of the Central Government Complex in Seoul at 5 pm at which farmers will protest “plummeting rice prices and the murder of farmers” and demand “the resignation of Park Geun-hye for her influence peddling.” The farmers are also planning to attend the candlelight demonstration in Gwanghwamun on Nov. 26. The final goal of the tractor army is the Blue House.

“We started planning the ‘tractor battle group’ after Baek Nam-ki passed away. We gave it a lot of thought, since it would mean taking ten days off from work in the busiest season [after the harvest]. I had 15 bushels of oats to plant, but I gave that up and came out here. As I was leaving my house, I decided that doing something for a lifetime of farming was worth sacrificing a single year’s crops,” Lee said.

“When Park Geun-hye was running for president, she promised to raise the price of rice, but that turned out to be a lie. We need to set up a government that regards agriculture as a fundamental state industry that ought to be protected and promoted.”

Since Oct. 30, the KPL has been stacking up bags of rice in front of city halls and provincial offices around the country to demand the government to deal with the plunging rice prices and to suspend rice imports. Farmers whose interests had been ignored by the current government were enraged by the death of Baek Nam-ki (who died in September after being hit by the jet from a water cannon in Nov. 2015) and by the scandal swirling around Park and her confidante Choi Sun-sil.

“People are fighting with candles, and so we farmers wanted to lend our support in a more forceful manner. Since we felt we couldn’t just talk about farmers’ issues at such a juncture, we’ve put the slogan about Park resigning front and center,” Lee said.

When the tractor passed Hongseong and entered Yesan, a couple carrying a black plastic bag started enthusiastically waving their arms. When Lee stopped the tractor and opened the door, the couple thanked him for his troubles and handed him the plastic bag. The bag was full of rice cakes, tangerines, honey water – and positive vibes.

“Since I’m driving the tractor along local roads through the countryside, I’m getting a warmer welcome from the locals. There are people who run out of their businesses and wave to me, people who give me something to eat, people who give me donations – they seem to be more sympathetic since they’re farmers just like me. Their support cheers me up and helps me stay the course even though the journey isn’t easy. We’ve got to go to the Blue House and kick Park out,” Lee said.

By Choi Ye-rin, staff reporter in Hongseong and Asan

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