Violent Anti-US Beef Protests Continue In Seoul

» by GI Korea

The violent anti-US beef protests that have been paralyzing downtown Seoul continued on Thursday night, June 27th. The usual anti-US groups that have largely been abandoned by mainstream Korean society, continued to destroy property and assault Korean riot policemen.

Courtesy of another reader tip I have pictures of the June 27th protests. The number of protesters appears to be the usual 5,000-6,000 people that compose the anti-US groups that have been left protesting ever since most of the Korean public abandoned the movement when Korean President Lee Myung-bak implemented new US beef import regulations that seems to have largely addressed public fears of being killed by US beef:

As usual these anti-US protesters were assaulting the young Korean conscripts that compose the country’s riot police:

It just continues to piss me off how Korean society allows this people to bash in and assault young men that are conducting their mandatory service to the nation for about $40 a month. When I look at these young guys I think of the KATUSA soldiers I once led and how I would never allow people to treat them like these riot police are treated. No young men should be should be subject to this and is a national disgrace.

The protesters much like the night before, tried to move the buses blocking the path to the Korean Blue House by using ropes. Notice how one of the protesters has a police shield. I doubt the policemen handed it to him, which probably means he assaulted a policemen to get it:

In a new tactic the protesters even used sandbags stolen from a construction site to make an artificial hill to go over the buses with:

Looking at the age of the protesters in this picture, there is a high likelihood these are probably Hanchongnyun members:

I will give these people credit for teamwork that’s for sure:

The police tried to fight against the protesters by using what appears to be pepper spray:

It appears the spray had little effect as the mass of protesters kept pushing forward against the riot police:

As the protesters kept pushing forward they began to throw bottles filled with urine at the riot police:

Should anyone forced to do mandatory service for their nation be subjected to having urine thrown at them? What a disgrace.

It also makes me wonder what this guy with the water gun is shooting at the police? Is it water or urine?:

Once on top of the bus the protesters held up a banner saying Korean President Lee Myung-bak is fighting against the citizens of Korea:

And finally of course there were more injuries due to the violent protesters:

In response to this violence Korean President Lee Myung-bak has announced he is going to arrest the protest leaders and put die in the water cannons:

Police are getting tougher with protesters against U.S. beef imports.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Friday it will seek arrest warrants for eight protesters on charges of masterminding illegal demonstrations.

It is the first time that the police is seeking arrest warrants for leaders of the candlelight protests against U.S. beef imports.

The police also announced it will fire water cannons with colored water at violent protesters to make it easier to arrest them. [KBS Global]

I doubt this will do much, what the Korean authorities need to do is arrest people who assault policemen and destroy property. The people that assault policemen should be fined and jailed. It is a disgrace that these people are allowed to assault these conscripted riot police the way they are. The people destroying property should be arrested and then instead of sending them to jail, fine them the cost of the damage to property. If these people start getting hit in the pocketbooks I think the violence in these protests will drop dramatically.