Candlelight Vigils Turn Into Anti-Government Rallies

A month-long candlelight vigil has been held in central Seoul. The rally, which has been called, “a candlelight cultural event,” has changed so much over the past month and that it is now called “a candlelight protest.”

▽ Anti-government rally

The slogan for the initial candlelight vigils was “Out, U.S. Beef!” But now the slogan has changed into “Out, Lee Myung-bak!”

Moreover, voices against overall government policies, including the grand canal project and government privatization, are spreading as well. The protesters keep trying to march towards the presidential office, in a show of anti-government sentiment.

Sociology professor Hyeon Taek-soo of Korea University explained, “As the government did not come up with countermeasures to reflect the people’s voices, despite a month of candlelight vigils, the people’s mistrust of President Lee Myung-bak and his administration has deepened.”

▽ Rally of ordinary citizens

Protesters participating in the rally have also become more varied to include housewives with their babies in tow, fathers holding hands with their children, office workers in their 30s and 40s, and senior citizens. In short, ordinary citizens are leading the protest.

In a rally on May 31, in which the largest number of protesters showed up, 34,000 out of about 40,000 were ordinary citizens and college students. Teenagers initiated the candlelight vigils, but only 2,500 of them took to the streets that day.

In initial rallies, teenagers made up almost 70 percent of participants.

However, as education authorities instructed schools to discourage students’ participation in the rallies, the number of teenage protesters markedly decreased. Instead, adult citizens disappointed with government policies replaced them.

In particular, as those in their 20s and 30s emerged as a new force driving the rallies, the protests have become more intensified.

According to police, 545 protesters were arrested from May 24 to the morning of June 2. 80 percent of them were in their 20s and 30s.

Police said, “As more and more of those in their 20s and 30s participated in candlelight vigils, street protests intensified, including sit-in demonstrations and head shavings.”

▽ Seoul Plaza as main venue

The main venue for rallies also changed from Cheonggye Plaza to Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall from May 29 when U.S. beef import safety standards were officially announced by the government.

The Anti-Mad Cow Organization, which organized the rallies, changed the venue for protest to Seoul Plaza, encouraging more citizens to participate.

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