Anti-FTA Rally Held Despite Ban

A mass rally was held on Saturday, the first weekend since the conclusion of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, in protest against the FTA, causing severe traffic congestion in downtown Seoul.

Although the Korea Alliance against the Korea-U.S. FTA was notified not to hold a rally by the police, they staged the rally once again at a rally site designated by an affiliated organization of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). This is the fourth time the group has employed expedient means to hold a rally.

The anti-FTA demonstration, which was organized by The Korea Alliance against the Korea-U.S. FTA and KCTU, was held in the afternoon on that day at Daehangno in Seoul, with some 5,000 protesters participating.

After the demonstration, protesters occupied four lanes of the Daehangno road out of the six lanes at around 4:40 p.m. The protesters then marched to Seoul Plaza for one hour and 40 minutes, passing Jongno 5-ga, Jongno 2-ga, Cheonggye 2-ga and Euljiro 2-ga. As they staged a sit-in protest Euljiro 2-ga, traffic in the area was instantly paralyzed.

In addition, the Korea Alliance against the Korea-U.S. FTA staged a candlelight vigil at Seoul Plaza in the evening and held a fund-raising campaign to raise hospital costs for Huh Se-wook, 51, who set himself on fire in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul where FTA negotiations were held on April 1. The police deployed some 15,000 riot police at the rally site.

Three rallies were also held on Saturday at Marronnier Park one after another.

At around 1:00 p.m., the Korea Railway Workers’ Union under the Korea Federation of Public Services and Transportation Workers’ Union of the KCTU held a rally, chanting, “Break the restructuring plan into pieces and win the struggle over the KTX and Saemaeul issues.” The rally was authorized by the police.

However, at 3:20 p.m., a large banner reading, “Rally to Declare the Korea-U.S. FTA Invalid,” was put up on a trailer that was used as the main stage during the demonstration. As soon as the KCTU’s second rally was finished, another anti-FTA rally was held at 4 p.m. at the same site that the Korea Alliance against the Korea-U.S. FTA held a rally. The police did not authorize the rallies of the KCTU and the Korea Alliance against the Korea-U.S. FTA.

Although the two anti-FTA groups asked the police for permission to hold rallies in downtown Seoul, the police did not grant permission as both groups have a history of violent demonstrations and causing traffic problems. In response, the two groups staged demonstrations on the rally sites authorized for affiliated organizations of the KCTU by employing an expedient method.

The police warned the KCTU on March 25 saying, “The KCTU’s rallies have already turned into illegal demonstrations three times. We’ll make sure it won’t happen again in the future.”

creating@donga.com