Tens of Thousands March in Seoul, Calling for Ouster(축출) of President
The police on Saturday fired water cannons and tear gas at thousands of protesters shouting for President Park Geun-hye’s resignation while marching toward her office in Seoul in the largest antigovernment demonstration here in several years.
Tens of thousands of people wearing plastic raincoats filled a City Hall plaza in downtown Seoul, brought together by a host of antigovernment grievances(여러가지 반정부 불만들로 하나가 된), including Ms. Park’s recent decision to replace privately published(민간) school history textbooks with a uniform, government-issued text(동일한 정부가 내는 교과서).
The crowd, many of whom chanted “Down with Park Geun-hye!” and “No to layoffs!” surged down(몰려 왔다) a 10-lane boulevard(10차선 대로) toward Ms. Park’s presidential office, the Blue House, several blocks away. Officers blocked the marchers with barricades they built using 700 police buses linked together across the main street and other roads leading to the presidential compound(대통령이 있는 영내).
While police water cannons blasted their ranks(줄을 흐트렸다), demonstrators tried to create breaches(돌파를 하려고) by tying ropes to buses and pulling at them. Buses were coated with cooking oil to stymie(꼼짝못하게 하려고) protesters who tried to climb over. Riot police officers armed with plastic shields(플라스틱방패로 무장한 폭동진압경찰들) also guarded the roofs of the vehicles, repelling(쫓아내면서) protesters, some wielding(휘두르는) steel pipes and bamboo sticks as they approached the buses.
There were no immediate tallies(집계) of the number of people injured on either side. Water fired from the police cannons contained liquid tear gas and blue paint to help identify protesters for later arrest(나중 체포를 위해 시위자들을 찿도록 액정 최류탄과 청색페인트를 담고 있다). Some protesters were knocked down by the water blasts(물대포로 쓰러졌고) and were dragged away by colleagues(동료들에 의해 끌려갔다).
Ms. Park, who left early Saturday for international meetings in Turkey and the Philippines, has recently seen her approval ratings(대통령지지율) fall after her decision on the history textbooks.
Student protesters on Saturday said that the new textbook, to be issued by the government by 2017, would whitewash the legacy(유산을 호도하다) of Ms. Park’s father, former President Park Chung-hee. Mr. Park was accused of collaborating with the Japanese colonial forces(일본 제국군에 협조했다) in the early 20th century, and in 1961 he seized power in a military coup(군사 쿠테타로 권력을 장악했다) and ruled South Korea as the leader of a dictatorship until his assassination in 1979. The country’s conservative elites have credited him with guiding South Korea’s economic growth during his rule(보수엘리트들은 박정희를 남한의 경제성장을 가져오도록 이끌었던 분이라 점수를 주고 있다).
Many of the protesters on Saturday were unionized workers who detest labor reforms pushed by Ms. Park(박근혜가 미는 노동개혁을 혐오하는 노조원들). Labor groups said the changes would benefit only the country’s powerful family-controlled conglomerates(대기업), known as chaebol(재벌), by making it easier to fire workers. The government said the changes were needed to help companies compete better with low-cost industries in China and to create jobs for young people.
Protest organizers said as many as 130,000 people joined the rally(집회) on Saturday, making it the largest such gathering under Ms. Park’s government. The police put the number at 68,000.
During a news conference, Han Sang-gyun, the leader of the main labor group, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, warned against a widening gap between the rich and the poor in South Korea, saying that the chaebol were “wallowing in cash(현금속에서 뒹글다)” while an increasing number of workers were forced to work on poorly paid temporary contracts.
Scuffles erupted(난투극이 벌어졌다) when plainclothes police officers(사복형사) tried to detain(잡다) Mr. Han under a court warrant(법원명령) that allowed them to arrest him for organizing illegal protests in the past. Mr. Han escaped into a nearby building and later showed up at the main rally, calling on the crowd to march on the Blue House, which he called “the heart of an unjust government.”
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저도 이 현장에 있었지만, 30여년 전 1980년대처럼 시위현장도, 경찰도, 심지어 New York Times 기사도 달라진 게 없습니다. 단지 세가지가 달라졌습니다. 춥게 차에서, 길바닥에서 먹는 우리 사랑스런 젊은이 전투경찰들 도시락 질이 좀 나아졌다는 것과(저도 배고파 '좀 줄래요?' 할 뻔 했어요), 그들이 착용한 장비들이 맨질맨질 더 좋았다는 점, 광화문에서 청와대까지 5겹 방어망으로 쳐진 수백대 경찰버스들과 차벽이 더욱 완벽한 모습이라는 점입니다. 버스들 틈이 막대기하나 들어갈 수 없을 정도입니다. 이런 배치작전을 완벽하게 성사해 낸 경찰만큼, 겁쟁이 장군들이 날뛰는 군대가 작전과 무기도입을 제대로 한다면 이 나라는 국방비 1/5은 아낄 수 있을텐데요. 전쟁나면 경찰이 군대보다 더 잘 싸울 거 같아요.
그리고 궁금한 게 왜 그렇게 죽어라고 청와대까지 "진격"하려고 하는지. 그녀를 끌어내려구요? I think we can just stand and shout, which is enough to intimidate the privileged villains, plotters destroying Korea, past and present. And we can cast votes.
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