Demonstration

I had a meeting at Seoul station this afternoon, where a lot of people come and go and also is famous for its good qualification to gather people and make them pay attention to various kinds of demonstration. As for today, a group of people protested against the government's decision to ease the restriction on the capital region's development. Apparently, these people came from the provinces, mostly in South and they could no longer stand the excessive centralisation of all the infrastructure, materials, capital, labour etc.

FTA Destinations

The second round of KR-EU FTA negotiations started today in Brussels and I found this ad board about KR-US FTA on the underground. Metro has been a conventional window to publicise the Korean government's affairs so you can still find a small sticker encouraging the public to report a suspect espionage, and for other forms, there are tax payment, using public transport etc. I'm normally uncomfortable with these, and this recent ad on KR-US FTA didn't make me dream of colourful destinations of KR-US FTA.

Each number and colour on circles refers to five metro lines in Seoul indeed, but this time the destinations to which we are led are not specific locations but expected results from the Agreement. Let us see in details: Line no. 1 'USA: the market of 1,700 billion USD (the world's largest)'; Line no. 2 'Export: 2.3 billion USD increase (average yearly in the next 10 years)'; Line no. 3 'Agriculture: 2.03 trillion KRW support (for five years since '05)'; Line no. 4 'Foreign Invest: maximum additional 3.2 billion USD (average yearly in the next 10 years)'; Line no. 5 'Public Welfare: 2 trillion KRW increase (expected in 2018).

Since I haven't thoroughly researched the recent and current FTA negotiations, it's a little early to comment my own opinion. Looking at this poster, however, I became rather negative about all the results the government is promising. I don't think we are so ignorant to be manipulated by large numbers.

Korea-US FTA 한미자유무역협정

Early this morning, South Korean and the US agreed on revision of their free trade agreement and about 24 hours later, it is scheduled signing of the FTA in Washington, D.C. The Korean Alliance Against the FTA gathered at Gwanghwamun Crossroads where link to the US Embassy in Seoul and 14,000 combat police were commited in case violence occurs.

I used to only blame the police due to their brutal and excessive force against demonstrator, however, since having the critial view on the order and obedience structure, I've come to consider the combat police as kind of victims of this structure. It's true that protesters are our family, neighbours and colleagues, but the combat police are also our sons and brothers.

오늘 이른 아침 한미FTA 추가 협상이 타결되었고,

약 24시간 후면 워싱턴에서 협정문 서명식을 갖게 된다.

한미 FTA 저지 범국민운동본부는

미국대사관으로 이어지는 광화문 사거리에 집결하였고

폭력사태에 대비해 14,000명의 전투 경찰이 투입되었다.

시위자들에게 가하는 잔인하고 과도한 진압때문에

예전에는 전경들만 일방적으로 비난을 했었는데,

명령과 복종 체제에 대한 비판적 시각을 갖게 된 이후로는

전경들도 이 체제의 희생자란 생각이 들게되었다.

시위참가자들도 우리의 가족이자 이웃, 직장 동료인 것은 사실이지만,

전경들도 우리의 아들이자 형제인 것이다.