Biker gangs: resistance or liberation?

Outlaw motorcycle gangs ride on the March 1 Independence Movement Day and Liberation Day. They take Japanese culture, from where motorcycles originated from, with the concept of resistance and liberation. Japanese biker gangs protested police crackdown and held demonstrations surrounding police headquarters, eventually getting a permit for motorcycles over certain highway stretches. They were youths who stood up against the unique Japanese psyche that hates to interrupt or inconvenience others. Emulating them, Korean biker gangs used the two national holidays to demonstrate their resistance and liberation. It is nonsense, however, that they took the resistance of Japanese gangs on the day when Korea gained independence from Japanese colonial rule.

Unlike their predecessors, today’s biker gangs in Korean, 80 percent of whose members are teenagers, seem to ride just for the sake of riding. A middle school dropout who was arrested Thursday said, “When car drivers who feel threatened by my riding swear, I feel so superior and they seem to pay attention to me.” What the bikers want from people by driving against the flow of traffic or over the median is a sense of superiority and people’s attention. A policeman in charge of biker gangs said, “Most of them are unfortunate youths without a parent or parents. Even if they have parents, they don`t come to the police station to take their children home.”

The sound of police sirens is also part of the attention paid to the young motorcyclists. Chasing them will only give them more thrills and is risky. Police used to catch them at the scene but are now focusing education and post-event investigation. Officers are going to where the gangs often gather and give them snacks to encourage them to follow the law. Police have even developed a paint gun to leave traces so that they can catch the gangs afterwards. Recently, police have begun to take pictures of driver’s licenses and then confiscate the relevant motorcycles.

A company worker who used to be part of a motorcycle gang said, “After riding a Harley Davidson, I no longer need a reason to take a daredevil ride. You look fancier when you have all the safety gear and move in line.” In the past, outlaw biker clubs used to ride expensive motorcycles. Today, many of them ride cheaper versions such as those used in delivery or scooters. For police to seize the bikes of delivery workers or youths who have scooters is dangerous. This is why Koreans hardly see biker gangs riding on national holidays.

City Desk Reporter Shin Gwang-yeong (neo@donga.com)