hankyoreh

on their way to Bosingak bell tower

By Park Ki-yong and Park Seung-heon, staff reporters

Candlelight vigils to commemorate the victims in last month’s Sewol ferry sinking are turning into a growing phenomenon.

With members of the Emergency Family Committee and Ansan Citizens’ Countermeasures Committee taking part in May 24 memorial rallies all over downtown Seoul, people closely impacted by the tragedy are now joining in the memorials.

Meanwhile, the arrests of more participants are raising questions about the excessive reaction of the police.

The Citizens’ Countermeasures Committee for the Sewol Tragedy, an organization representing 618 civic and social groups, held a second “national candlelight action” rally on the evening of May 24 on Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul’s Jongno district. The turnout was estimated at 30,000 by the organizers and 8,000 by police.

Yoo Kyung-geun, a representative for the Emergency Family Committee, appeared at the rally alongside Jang Dong-won, a representative of family members of the surviving second year students at Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, many of whose classmates lost their lives in the sinking.

“I don’t understand why we still have to be here,” a tearful Yoo declared. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t figure out what I did wrong, yet my child is not here in front of me, and I’m here.”

Yoo went on to join the participants in chanting the names of 16 passengers who remain missing.

“At Paengmok Port, I called out names with the others, and the next day my child was brought out of the water,” he said, as many on the plaza burst into tears.

Representing the Ansan Citizens’ Countermeasures Committee, Kim Young-ho relayed a message from the victims’ family members.

“They are asking for a probe to find out the real truth of the accident, and they want the public not to forget,” Kim said. “You have to watch over them so they don’t give up in despair.”

Lee Tae-ho, secretary general of the group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, called for people to take part in a campaign collecting 10 million signatures for a special law to investigate the sinking.

“Another Sewol disaster could strike again,” Lee warned. “The world doesn’t get better by itself.”

After the rally, around 2,000 participants decided to march to the Blue House, only to end up facing off with police at the intersection by the Bosingak bell tower at Jongno 2-ga in central Seoul. Thirty people were arrested, including Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) secretary general Lee Ki-soo and Korean Metal Workers’ Union leader Jun Kyu-seok. Among those arrested were some high school students, who were quickly let off with warnings.

On May 17, more than 200 people were arrested at rallies in downtown Seoul between that evening and the next morning.

The KCTU protested the police’s excessive reaction in a statement on May 25.

“Police are being used to block the public’s anger toward the Blue House,” it read. “Citizens on a peaceful march were arrested because it was directed at the Blue House. The police should not try to block democracy.”

Members of the public also grilled the police after they were seen gathering evidence even on people standing on the sidewalk near the rally.

“It’s illegal to seal off a peaceful rally with vehicles or prevent people from going to the place where it’s being held, and it’s illegal to collect evidence for something that is not the scene of a crime,” the Citizens‘ Countermeasures Committee said, adding that it planned to record cases of obstruction and illegal evidence gathering for a future response.

Police said they plan to press charges of violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act against 29 people arrested on May 29, in addition to the more than 200 arrested the week before. On May 22, a 25-year-old Seoul National University student surnamed Park was arrested and detained after a surprise demonstration in front of the Central Government Complex in Seoul.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]