Comments on: Reaction http://kotaji.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/reaction/ Thoughts on Korea, northeast Asia, history and other things Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:46:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: Iver Biggun http://kotaji.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/reaction/#comment-471 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:16:56 +0100 http://kotaji.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/reaction/#comment-471 King Baeksu - My friend was tear gassed in Seoul about a month ago. King Baeksu -

My friend was tear gassed in Seoul about a month ago.

]]> by: kotaji http://kotaji.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/reaction/#comment-467 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:41:16 +0100 http://kotaji.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/reaction/#comment-467 Hey, by the way, I liked your letter to IHT - it hit the nail on the head. The kneejerk reaction in the US press that any protest in South Korea is nationalist or Anti-American borders on the racist and seems to say more about Americans' current sense of insecurity than anything else. Hey, by the way, I liked your letter to IHT - it hit the nail on the head. The kneejerk reaction in the US press that any protest in South Korea is nationalist or Anti-American borders on the racist and seems to say more about Americans’ current sense of insecurity than anything else.

]]> by: kotaji http://kotaji.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/reaction/#comment-466 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:28:20 +0100 http://kotaji.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/reaction/#comment-466 Scott, a couple of points in response. First I agree that things are not yet near to the level of Chun Doo-hwan - as I concluded above, the government is currently unable to go to that level and 'return to the eighties', as much as many elements within it and in the broader right would like to. What happened on Saturday night is, as I said, a 'taste' of that style of repression - especially when you add it to the raiding of the offices of various progressive/civil society organisations, attempts to use the force of the law to scare people away from boycotts of rightwing papers and the violent attacks of far right groups (with certain links to the state). The police have been restrained because they have had to be and because they know that they cannot afford to escalate the situation (eg by using tear gas - something so symbolic of the past). As soon as Lee Myung-bak saw a possible opening, he decided to up the ante, although this looks to have been something of a mistake so far. Second, please do not get the impression from anything I say that I am a pacifist or against violence. I see nothing wrong with people defending themselves against police violence, or even at certain times attacking the state. But let's be absolutely honest: using firehoses against water cannons or hitting heavily armoured, baton wielding police is more of a symbolic act of defiance than a serious act of violence. It is interesting to note, however, that this movement has been overwhelmingly peaceful and actually quite different in character to many of the usual confrontations that happen between police and protesters or unionists in South Korea. Nonviolence has been one of the key principles of the majority of participants and chants urging nonviolence have been repeated ad nauseam at most demos. Personally I think that is a somewhat naive position to take when you're faced with the South Korean state, but it would be hard to deny it is true if you've seen the protests up close for the last two months and read about them in the papers (except of course in Cho-jung-dong). Scott, a couple of points in response. First I agree that things are not yet near to the level of Chun Doo-hwan - as I concluded above, the government is currently unable to go to that level and ‘return to the eighties’, as much as many elements within it and in the broader right would like to. What happened on Saturday night is, as I said, a ‘taste’ of that style of repression - especially when you add it to the raiding of the offices of various progressive/civil society organisations, attempts to use the force of the law to scare people away from boycotts of rightwing papers and the violent attacks of far right groups (with certain links to the state). The police have been restrained because they have had to be and because they know that they cannot afford to escalate the situation (eg by using tear gas - something so symbolic of the past). As soon as Lee Myung-bak saw a possible opening, he decided to up the ante, although this looks to have been something of a mistake so far.

Second, please do not get the impression from anything I say that I am a pacifist or against violence. I see nothing wrong with people defending themselves against police violence, or even at certain times attacking the state. But let’s be absolutely honest: using firehoses against water cannons or hitting heavily armoured, baton wielding police is more of a symbolic act of defiance than a serious act of violence.

It is interesting to note, however, that this movement has been overwhelmingly peaceful and actually quite different in character to many of the usual confrontations that happen between police and protesters or unionists in South Korea. Nonviolence has been one of the key principles of the majority of participants and chants urging nonviolence have been repeated ad nauseam at most demos. Personally I think that is a somewhat naive position to take when you’re faced with the South Korean state, but it would be hard to deny it is true if you’ve seen the protests up close for the last two months and read about them in the papers (except of course in Cho-jung-dong).

]]> by: King Baeksu http://kotaji.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/reaction/#comment-463 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:48:16 +0100 http://kotaji.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/reaction/#comment-463 Uh, I was there on Sat. night and I can assure you that the protesters were on the whole just as violent as the police if not more so. Sure, the police used water cannons, but then the protesters had two fire hoses going themselves, which they used on the police for two hours straight. Sure, the police hit a few protesters after warning them to disperse for like 3 or 4 hours, but then the protesters hit many police, too, and I personally saw several police with bloody faces or beiing mobbed on by protesters. I'm sorry, but the police have been dealing with this siutation for two months now and have been exceptionally restrained more often than not. Comparisons with Chun Doo-hwan-style repression are hyperbolic, especially since tear-gas has not even been used once so far. The Hankyoreh even compared Sat. night with Gwangju, which is just absurd, IMO. Uh, I was there on Sat. night and I can assure you that the protesters were on the whole just as violent as the police if not more so. Sure, the police used water cannons, but then the protesters had two fire hoses going themselves, which they used on the police for two hours straight. Sure, the police hit a few protesters after warning them to disperse for like 3 or 4 hours, but then the protesters hit many police, too, and I personally saw several police with bloody faces or beiing mobbed on by protesters. I’m sorry, but the police have been dealing with this siutation for two months now and have been exceptionally restrained more often than not. Comparisons with Chun Doo-hwan-style repression are hyperbolic, especially since tear-gas has not even been used once so far. The Hankyoreh even compared Sat. night with Gwangju, which is just absurd, IMO.

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