[Opinion] Police Lines

The “International Seminar on Protest Rallies” was held on July 25 at the Federation of Korean Industries headquarters. Japanese riot police representatives showed video footage of protests in which they faced wooden sticks, Molotov cocktails, and rafts before the 1970s, when ideological protests were the norm. In contrast, today’s protesters are more respectful of police. There has not been a violent rally in Japan since 2003.

The police line symbolizes the line where “one’s freedom stops where others’ freedom starts.” U.S. police categorize protests violating police lines as “riots.” The police quell protestors who violate police lines with clubs, tear bombs and even firearms, if necessary. In France, it is illegal for protestors to use weapons like Molotov cocktails. French police arrest protestors who cross police lines and sometimes charge them for the damage they cause as well.

When New York’s transit union staged a three-day illegal strike in late 2005, prosecutors sought $3 million in damages. Germany legislated a law that stipulates masked protestors shall serve one year of jail time when some trade unions attempted to stage a protest in masks to avoid damage payments. Advanced countries are expanding the police line to preserve crime and traffic accident scenes, block the escape of criminals, protect crowds, and maintain order in disaster zones, destroyed buildings, or areas under threat of bomb attacks.

Although Molotov cocktails have disappeared from Korean protests, the number of injured police officers increased from 621 in 2004 to 893 in 2005 and 817 in 2006. According to a Korea Development Institute report, social costs incurred from illegal protest rallies reached 12.3 trillion won in 2005 alone, which amounts to 1.53 percent of the country’s GDP. It appears that liberal and conservative groups still try to show off their power on the street. The traffic congestion and noise that their rallies create is annoying. But what is more concerning is the chance that the rallies have to escalate into violence. However right their arguments are, the government should respond firmly if they violate the police line.

Huh Moon-myung, Editorial Writer, angelhuh@donga.com