Demonstrations Denouncing Constitutional Court Increase

Shocked by the Constitutional Court’s judgment that the special law for capital relocation is unconstitutional, residents in Chungcheong areas and some civic groups are organizing rallies and preparing lawsuits.

The tentatively named: “Emergency Committee for the Abortive Capital Relocation Plan in Yoengi and Gongju” held a rally yesterday at 1:00 p.m. at Jongchon-ri, Nam-myeon, Yeongi-gun, Chungnam, and 200 participants called for the continuation of the relocation plan.

The residents of this area said that they would demand damages against the government, complaining, “After the capital relocation plan was announced, we bought alternative farmland with loans from financial institutes in order to continue farming. Now that this plan has been nullified, we will be inundated with enormous debts.”

Some participants wrote a pledge in blood and tonsured to protest against the decision of the Constitutional Court.

Moreover, civic groups located in the Chungcheong area are scheduled to have an emergency meeting today at 2:00 p.m. at Cheongju, Chungbuk, where they will discuss possible countermeasures. They also plan to organize a rally on October 28 at Daejeon Station Square, where about 10,000 participants are expected to gather.

In addition, Nosamo, a pro-President Roh Moo-hyun support group, and other local alliances decided to hold a rally to denounce the judgment today 4:00 p.m. near the Constitutional Court located in Jongno-gu, Seoul. About 1,000 people are expected to participate.

Before the demonstration today, Nosamo will hold a news conference, which they are calling “The 10 million nations’ declaration,” to propose a national petition calling for the impeachment of the judges of the Constitutional Court.

However, Nosamo has no plans to organize candlelight rallies because national frustration and anxiety are not that strong compared with that of the presidential impeachment incidents last March.

Ki-Jin Lee doyoce@donga.com needjung@donga.com