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| Korea |
| Roh stern on protesters |
| 2003-05-21 |
| President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday ordered legal action against members of a banned student group, who staged a rally in Gwangju Sunday, delaying his attendance at a ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of a pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city. Roh gave the instruction during a meeting with his senior secretaries and advisors at Cheong Wa Dae. "Those who insult and make someone a target of overthrow because of differences in views should be punished in accordance with the law," Roh was quoted as saying by his spokesman Yoon Tae-young. "Stop making fun of me!!" Top law-enforcement officials came forward with pledges to take stern measures against the illegal protest by anti-U.S. students. Justice Minister Kang Kum-sil defined the demonstration as an act that lacked the blessing of the general public and instructed the prosecution to thoroughly investigate and punish active participants. Government Administration and Home Affairs Minister Kim Doo-kwan also said students can never be exempted from taking responsibility for violating democratic rules. unless they attack GIs Police began searching to arrest 10 identified leading members of the outlawed student group. Police officials said they are also trying to name about 120 students who have been implicated in illegal acts at the protest scene by photographic evidence. About 1,000 students held a rally at the front gate of the May 18 National Cemetery for the victims of the pro-democracy uprising to protest what they called President Roh's humiliating act of diplomacy during his U.S. visit last week. Are they upset that Comrade Roh didn't b!tch slap President Bush to display Korean Pride? Their protest kept the presidential motorcade waiting in a nearby street for some time. Disaster! President Roh and First Lady Kwon Yang-suk entered the cemetery through a rear gate to circumvent the protest, and the ceremony started 18 minutes late. Riot police were eventually called in to dispel the students. The National Police Agency sent inspection officials to Gwangju yesterday to look into a charge that the local police had been negligent in performing their duty of guarding the ceremony. Sunday's demonstration constituted a slap in the face for the Roh administration, which has shown a lenient attitude toward the banned student group named Hanchongnyeon or the Federation of Korean University Students' Councils. In March, President Roh expressed sympathy with the plight of Hanchongnyeon members placed on a wanted list for a long time and asked Justice Ministry officials to work out measures to ease their predicament. That was before they made fun of him. Justice Minister Kang subsequently met families of leading Hanchongnyeon members on the wanted list and promised to consider discussing with the prosecution ways to help them. The new Hanchongnyeon leadership elected in March appeared to be responding to Roh's sympathetic approach by suggesting they will seek to revise their pro-North Korean and anti-U.S. platforms. But the protest in Gwangju resulted in hardening the Roh administration's stance on the group. Government Administration and Home Affairs Minister Kim said the demonstration will prove to be an obstacle to a recent move to legalize the student group which was outlawed in 1997. Storm the American Chamber of commerce... get suspended sentences; throw stones at US GI's... slap on the wrist; have unscheduled violent demostrations against America... no big deal; insult or delay Comrade Roh... BE AFRAID! |
| Posted by:ZeroAngel |
| #7 Did a hilarious McClellan impersonation, I hear... |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-21 16:47:11 |
| #6 VAMark: I don't think you entirely get it. Right or wrong, for better or for worse, the south of my great, great grandfather was invaded by (essentially) foreigners whose stated goal and purpose was to break it, economically and culturally, to the point where it could no longer resist the federal government. The end result was that the entire Southeast was plunged into something of a dark age which was to last for about 100 years. Over the last 30 years this region, long the poorest and most isolated portion of the United States, has been faced with a new wave of immigration from the Northeast, long the richest. I am a child of that immigration, with a father from Long Island and a mother from the Everglades, and believe me the Southern Heritage movement should not be simply dismissed as a bunch of rednecks nostalgic for segragation (none of us are). There is nothing wrong with wanting to keep your culture intact and unassemelated, nor is there any sin in not trusting a federal goverment that, historically speaking, recently destroyed your country. Personally I like Lincoln, though. Probably the funniest president we've ever had. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2003-05-21 14:11:11 |
| #5 Important to note that regionalism is very strong in South Korea, and that Kwangju (Gwangju) lies in the Southwest -- the least prosperous and (supposedly) most discriminated-against part of the country. The division goes back to the Three Kingdoms period, when the SW formed the kingdom of Paekche. |
| Posted by: closet neo-con 2003-05-21 13:25:32 |
| #4 Highlander - Any generalization has its exceptions. It may be a hijacking of the symbols of Bobby Lee and great granddad's gallantry (I didn't grow up in VA, so sue me), but a goodly number of the "displayers of the glories of Southron history" I know are precisely looking to signal their disagreement with Lincoln, the Warren Court, MLK, LBJ, etc., etc. I've found that's the safest thing to assume until demonstrated otherwise. Of course YMMV. |
| Posted by: VAMark 2003-05-21 13:12:44 |
| #3 Don, me lad, can't let you implication pass without comment. There may indeed be some Americans who demonstrate their beliefs as you assert. Without going into great detail about the ACW and its antecedents, displaying memories of the rebellion does not mean that the displayer thinks that Lincoln was wrong or that he was right. And persons who think Lincoln was wrong may not demonstrate the point with displays. I trust that you are not implying that displayers of the glories of Southron history are, in effect, contradicting Lincoln. I think that the analogy to Korea is a bit stretched. |
| Posted by: Highlander 2003-05-21 11:14:14 |
| #2 Gwangju. In 1980, demonstrators against the then military government of S.Korea revolted. The Korean government sent in the troops to put the revolt down. About 230 of the citizens were killed in the fight. The Korean military unit which was employed to carry out the action had been part of the Combined Field Army [corps] under American command. The American command released the unit from its command to the Korean government which was then the controlling authority for the action. When the military handed over the government to civilian authorities in later years, the action in Gwangju was a big stumpling block in the transition. Many in Gwangju have never forgiven the government, even the new one for the action in 1980. Then again, a hundred and forty years later, there are those Americans who still think that Lincoln was wrong and are ready to demonstrate the point with daily displays of memories of that rebellion. |
| Posted by: Don 2003-05-21 09:17:31 |
| #1 I cant wait until our troops are out of there. |
| Posted by: g wiz 2003-05-21 09:13:06 |