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Wednesday felt to many like a throwback to the Korea of 20 years ago when some 12,000 protestor massed in front of the city government in Gwangju at 4:30 p.m. Some 300 anti-globalization activists among them, who want Korea to end free-trade negotiations with the U.S., attempted to break into the government building, brandishing bamboo and wooden sticks and hurling paving stones they had torn out of the square in front of the building. Dozens of windows shattered and riot police shields were burnt. Protestors also set fire to the city flag above the main gate. The demonstration caused an estimated W420 million (US41=W930) in losses.
The demonstrations were as fierce as any during the 1980s democracy struggle. Those struggles have long been won, yet not a day passes without a protest somewhere in the country. A total of 11,036 rallies were held between the beginning of this year and the end of October, some 30 a day on average. The total number of protestors stood at 2.92 million during the same period, or some 6,700 taking to the streets every day. Over the whole of last year, the figure was 8,023 a day.
Violent illegal protests numbered 41, less than 0.1 percent of the total. But the problem is that they are getting more violent. Molotov cocktails, paint and stones were the weapons of choice in the 80s, but today there are homemade guns (a protest in Seoul in November 2003) and flamethrowers (Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province this July). Some blew up a barrel of liquefied petroleum gas in a protest in North Jeolla Province in November 2003.
A huge amount of taxpayers' money goes to dealing with the protests. In all, 3.64 million police conscripts were mobilized and W261.2 billion spent on keeping them in check last year, 90 percent of the money on conscripted police units. Then there are the indirect costs. Prof Choi Eung-ryul of Dongguk University estimates W234.9 billion indirect costs as of 2003 from corporate productivity loss, financial costs of mobilizing the police, medical expenses for injured police officers, traffic jams and related social losses. The figure does not include direct corporate losses such Hyundai Motor¡¯s from labor disputes that halted production. In short, Korea spends W500 billion every year and W1.3 billion every day on dealing with protests.
Experts say judicial authorities are too soft on illegal protests, which encourages them to proliferate. Some 40 percent or 2,855 of the 7,193 violators of the assembly and protests law were dealt with only summarily or freed after a warning. "The public will no longer tolerate violent and illegal protests," Prof Lee Hwang-woo in the Department of Police Administration at Dongguk University says. "The police should punish those engaged in violent demonstrations more strictly according to the law.¡± Tolerance now means they will only get worse.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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