Two sides of the Yongsan incident

I saw the film “Two Gates” Thursday, a documentary about the deadly 2009 demonstration against redevelopment in Seoul`s Yongsan district, on the day of the movie’s release. By showing both the residents who opposed the district`s redevelopment by hurling firebombs from the rooftop of a building and police officers who were mobilized and braved fire to catch them, the documentary takes no sides. By crossing interviews of the attorneys of the protesters and court testimonies of police commandos, the film focuses on the fears of the protesters and police who were assigned to apprehend them. The statement of one officer made viewers recall the lives of those locked in the building`s watchtower. He said, “Though we feared that we could die, we weren’t in a position to request a stop to the operation.” The theater fell silent. The coffee cup of the person seated next to me was filled with tissues used to wipe away tears.

The focus of the final verdict made two years ago on the incident was firebombs. The bone of contention was who was responsible for the fire that claimed the lives of five protesters and a police officer. Citing half of the 172-page ruling made by two lower courts, the Justice Ministry blamed firebombs thrown at police by the protesters for the tragedy. Judges also recognized that police at the time were carrying out normal duty. This is why the leaders of the protest received four to five years in prison. The movie digs deep into the dreariness of the ruling that was busy identifying who was right and wrong. Screenings of the documentary have been selling out daily, leading experts to predict that the movie will have social ramifications similar to “The Crucible,” and “Unbowed.”

The movie, however, does not question the justification of the protest. The protesters climbed to the watchtower with 400 firebombs and 40 bottles containing hydrogen chloride, in addition to 10,000 golf balls and 3,000 glass marbles to launch with 20 slingshots. Such projectiles fired at police officers trying to apprehend the protesters fell onto the eight-lane road nearby and sidewalks. Golf balls penetrated the windows of passenger cars and residential homes. Firebombs set several stores on fire.

Unsatisfied with their compensation money, the protesters asked the government to help them run businesses in other places. The redevelopment plan was devised eight years before the incident, and 80 percent of the 439 tenants in the building moved out. Just 26 tenants, or 6 percent, climbed to the watchtower to fight to the end. Had their request been accepted, the other 94 percent of the tenants who left willingly would have been considered to have reached a foolish compromise. The movie never asks if the protesters were forced into the watchtower or chose to enter it. The Yongsan incident was a tragedy caused by a clash between an extreme struggle for the right to survive and the public power sent to stop it.

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