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[wylies99]

Opposition parties, civic groups plan massive event against Yongsan crackdown
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/335715.html

Groups will demand government take responsibility for civilian deaths and will rally support to stop controversial ruling party bills
Opposition parties and civic groups plan to stage an event early next month to protest against the recent police crackdown on a demonstration in Yongsan that left five civilians and one police officer dead in a deadly blaze last week.

The liberal Democratic, Democratic Labor and Renewal of Korea Parties, along with the conservative Liberty Forward Party, plan to hold an event in cooperation with other 500 civic groups at 3. p.m. Sunday in the square near the Chonggyecheon stream. They plan to use the event to voice their complaints about the Lee Myung-bak administration�s unilateral style of government, while proclaiming that to be the cause of the Yongsan tragedy. They also plan to use the event to rally support for their efforts to stop the government from rushing a number of pending bills through February�s extraordinary National Assembly session, bills that some critics say would not be beneficial to the general public.


Organizers say the event will start with the party and civic group leaders voicing their criticisms of the government, and many are expected to blame the government for causing the civilian deaths. The event will continue with various memorial events for the victims.



Ahead of the gathering, the lawmakers and civic groups will hold a joint press conference at 11 a.m. on Thursday in central Seoul, during which they plan to call on the government to bring those responsible for the civilian deaths to justice through a fair investigation and promise to prevent such a thing from happening again.


Park Seok-un, one of the event organizers, said, �We will hold legal and peaceful events in which civilians can participate� These events will provide us with a chance to get people behind our demand for the government to apologize for the deaths and prevent the ruling party from railroading the controversial bills.�


With these events, the opposition parties seem to be trying to get the upper hand over the rival ruling Grand National Party in the upcoming parliamentary session to be held beginning Monday.


An Hee-jung, a member of the Democratic Party�s Supreme Council, said, �We alone cannot keep tabs on the ruling party�s audacity. This gathering will provide us with a chance to rally support both from civilians and democracy groups (against it).�


Park said, �We will continue our fight in and out of the parliament, even after the events are over, in cooperation with the opposition parties and civic groups.�


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[wylies99]

[SHANE02]

Well it's more of a cause than fear mongering about US beef at least.

[Crockpot2001]

[McGenghis]

I am about of afraid of Korea as I am of the political mechanisms of an upwardly-mobile carrot.

It is right to be critical of idiocy. You're off the island.

[cwaddell]

When will people start protesting against all these bloody demos? I suggest we start a "No More Protest" demo outside deoksugung at 10am....ah bollocks.

[Captain Corea]

I wonder if all the candles will start a fire?

[DaeguKid]

I dare someone up there in Seoul to make one of those non-sense signs and hold it up in the crowd...like: "Kimchi stains my shirt and I can't get it out! HELP!" or......"U say Dokdo, I say Takashima!"

Anybody else got any useless yet funny sign ideas for a good ole barn burning 'Rean protest?

DK

[GreenlightmeansGO]

[Guri Guy]

How about the anti-American protesters wearing New York Yankees gear?

[NoExplode]

I plan on showing up with a huge sign with that "Crazy Cow" the beef protesters used as their "logo" painted on it.

[wylies99]

[Missihippi]

[sjrm]

"Kimchi to the rescue"
"Death to fans in homes"

[PeteJB]

Sometimes, Koreans behave like kids. They rally around just because rallying seems like a good idea. They don't even know what they are doing, and can't even backup half of their claims in words. I'm sure there is plenty of blame to go around regarding the Yongsan deaths but they chose to focus it all on one thing alone. A Korean might try to dispute this, but, take a look at your own peninsula. It's split down the middle. It's filled with a history of self conflict. Isn't it about time to learn from the mistakes of the past and learn how to do things differently? Some typical Childish behaviour I've come to expect: During the beef protests, my girlfriend refused to buy certain products after seeing they are from America. Ah, I feel sad for the factory workers who have to slave all day to produce that stuff for it to be shunned in such a manner. I bet in a hell they wouldn't turn down such a product just based on where it's from. We should all be so lucky that we have the option to pick and chose what we eat and buy - most of the people in the world have to work hard just to feed themselves.