2nd Base Protest Ends Without Rioting

Despite the police’s decision to block the protest altogether, “the Pan South Korea Solution Committee Against U.S. Base Expansion in Pyeongtaek” yesterday went ahead with a massive protest. The rally, however, ended without any clashes concerned before.

The committee and protesters simultaneously held rallies in Bonjeong-ri, Paengseong-eub and at Peace and Art Park in Daechu-ri, outside the designated area for a transfer of the U.S. military base after figuring out it wouldn’t be easy to gather at Daechu-ri.

A total of 100 people, including Daechu-ri residents and committee members, held a “Pan National Meeting for Peaceful Farming” at Peace and Art Park in Daechu-ri on the morning of that day.

Six Democratic Labor Party members, such as Dan Byung-ho, Kwon Young-ghil and Chung Young-se, and a Uri Party member, Im Jong-in, claimed that the government should reconsider the relocation of the U.S. military base at the meeting.

About 4,000 demonstrators from the Hanchongryeon, or the Federation of Korean University Student Councils, and the Korean Confederation of Trade Union attempted to enter Daechu-ri in the beginning of the morning but failed thanks to a block from the police. They confronted the police and rallied for about eight hours on a road in Bonjeong-ri, Paengseong-eub, and broke up at about 4:30 p.m.

The police arrested 36 people for using violence in the protest, and two policemen and three protesters who were injured were treated at a nearby hospital.

Kyung-Hyun Nam Se-Jin Jung bibulus@donga.com mint4a@donga.com