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| Korea Protests: 'You Can't Win Over the People' |
| [Opinion] Seoul resident Ida Grandas shares her thoughts on 50+ days of demonstrations |
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Ida Grandas (jezaky)  |
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Published 2008-07-03 17:04 (KST) |
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There is a sentence I cannot get out of my head. For a week, it is the only thing that comes up when I read the news, talk with friends, or walk through downtown Seoul where the streets are filled with police buses and people protesting beef imports and government policies.
Last week, I was discussing the protests in Korea with a friend. Both of us have been following the conflict between the people protesting in the streets and the Lee Myung-bak administration from somewhere in between, talking to supporters of both sides in an attempt to try to understand what is going on.
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FROM THE SECTION |
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| My friend, who is a public official, couldn't understand the Lee administration's actions.
"They are not trying to find a solution," she said, pointing at the container wall that that was put up on June 10 and the crackdowns of protesters.
She called for the administration to try to listen to the people, to try to find a solution. Then she said the sentence that I cannot get out of my head:
"You can't win over the people."
Since we had that conversation, measures taken against the protesters have hardened. The government has said it cannot tolerate "violent, illegal rallies." They have tried to hinder the protest by encircling Seoul City Plaza -- where the candlelight vigils usually start -- with police buses. As a result, the protesters tried to push the buses over, and the police used water cannons against them.
When the trade unions were going on strike against the resumption of beef imports, privatization of public companies and the Grand Canal construction project, the Lee administration warned them, saying that they won't tolerate such an illegal and political walkout. Prosecutors are issuing warrants to arrest the ringleaders.
Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han has said that authorities may have to use tear gas to prevent more clashes between protesters and police. Tear gas has been banned since 1999 in South Korea.
The people organizing through the Internet are also being targeted. Prosecutors are trying to find Internet users who initiated and promoted the boycott against companies advertising in the three main conservative newspapers -- Chosun Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo -- all which support the president. They are said to commit "cyberviolence."
Meanwhile, in Mongolia, the government has been fighting violent protests in the capital Ulan Bator. There's a heavy troop presence and a curfew is in place. President Nambaryn Enkhbayar allowed the police to use force including tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against the protesters.
In Mongolia, people took to the streets when the opposition Democratic Party rejected the results of the election held on Sunday. Frustration over the election became a lightning rod for tension over corruption and a growing gap between the rich and poor, as reported by the BBC recently.
I don't have a solution to what is happening in Korea or Mongolia. All I know is that I don't believe in the way the leaders are trying to solve these respective situations.
As my friend said, a leader is there to listen to the people. When there is a conflict, their job is to solve it, through communication, through understanding and in a peaceful way; even when the protests turn violent.
The leaders of nations are not the power-holders, it is the people. No matter how hard leaders try to control the people, they are the ones who in the end will decide.
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©2008 OhmyNews
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