Demonstrators use ropes to pull on police buses that were used as barricades, during a demonstration at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Nov. 14. The police set up three layers of barricades to keep protesters away from the Blue House. (by Kim Bong-kyu, staff photographer) |
Demonstrators have criticized police for excessive response to anti-government gathering
During massive demonstrations on Nov. 14, to prevent demonstrators from reaching Gwanghwamun Plaza, the police fired multiple water cannons from all directions. From the onset, they aimed the high-pressure water cannons directly at the demonstrators. People who were hit by the water, which was mixed with capsaicin and coloring agents, were knocked to the ground or driven to the sides of the road as they coughed and wheezed. The demonstrations were sparked by frustration with the South Korean government, led by President Park Geun-hye, over issues ranging from state-issued history textbooks to labor reform, from unemployment among the young to the soaring cost of rice, clashes occurred in various parts of Seoul as the police cracked down on the demonstrations. Direct fire from point-blank range, even after they‘re down The clashes began after the main rally at Seoul Plaza ended around 4:30 pm and demonstrators began their march. The protesters confronted police, who had set up vehicle barricades on the street in front of the Seoul Finance Center and the intersection in front of the Jongno District Office. Around 5 pm, the police started to fire water cannons directly at the demonstrators in an attempt to force them to disperse. On several occasions, witnesses saw the police keep firing water cannons at people who were already on the ground. One instance was when the police fired a water cannon for about 20 seconds at Baek Nam-gi, 68, around 7 pm. Baek, a farmer, had collapsed after being hit by a water cannon that was about 10 meters away at the intersection in front of Jongno District Office. Another instance was around 5:35 pm when the police fired a water cannon for more than 30 seconds at a man in his 30s who was on the ground in front of D Tower at Gwanghwamun. The man, carrying a camera, had been running away from the water cannon when he tripped over a rope tied down by protesters trying to pull over the vehicle barricade. The man was bleeding from his head, but he could not get up because of the water cannon. Lee Su-jeong, press secretary for the People’s Camp for Rising Up and Fighting, who organized the demonstrations, criticized the use of excessive force by the police. “The police fired water cannons directly at protesters for six hours, from 5 pm until 11 pm. They didn‘t even do this during the mad cow demonstrations in 2008,” Lee said. “Excessive use of water cannons is murder”Baek Nam-gi, a farmer from South Jeolla Province, is moved by demonstrators after being knocked down by a police water cannon during a demonstration at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Nov. 14 (Newsis) |