President Yoon Suk-yeol and Police Chief Yoon Hee-geun Resignation Demanded
Trash and Cigarette Butts Pile Up After Protest
Some Union Members Say Violent Performances "Too Extreme"
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) called for the resignation of President Yoon Seok-yeol during simultaneous general strike victory rallies held at 15 nationwide bases at 2 p.m. on the 5th. As radical performances took place, some union members expressed concerns that the actions might have been excessive. After the event, some union members participated in cleaning efforts, but nearby citizens voiced complaints about illegal dumping and other issues.
A member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions is seen striking a photo of President Yoon Seok-yeol attached to ice with a hammer during a nationwide simultaneous rally held in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, at 2 p.m. on the 5th. Photo by Tae-won Choi skking@
In Seoul, the KCTU Seoul Regional Headquarters and Sejong Chungnam Headquarters held a rally in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, occupying two of the four lanes of Tongil-ro for about 150 meters and the sidewalk from Seodaemun Station. The rally participants were estimated by the organizers to number nearly 2,000. Despite the scorching sun with temperatures reaching 29 degrees Celsius, union members repeatedly shouted slogans such as "Labor oppression, democratic massacre, Yoon Seok-yeol must resign," "We have returned to the era of military dictatorship," and "Yoon Hee-geun, the police chief, is a dog of the regime."
They also condemned the police’s prohibition orders against the KCTU rallies and the ban on nighttime cultural events in front of the Supreme Court as union suppression. Yoon Jang-hyuk, chairman of the Metal Workers' Union, stated, "The legal cultural events of irregular workers in front of the Supreme Court were blocked twice at the source, forcibly suppressed, and violent arrests occurred. We will respond with a general strike. The July general strike struggle, which will continue until the 15th, will become a fuse that expands into a candlelight rally that ousted Park Geun-hye." Kim Chang-nyeon, head of the Northern Metropolitan Area Headquarters of the Construction Workers' Union, raised his voice, saying, "Since last year's Cargo Solidarity struggle, the Yoon administration has disparaged the legal union activities of the Construction Workers' Union as organized crime, coined the new term 'Geonpok,' and is suppressing union leaders by deploying the police."
As radical symbolic acts proceeded, one union member muttered self-deprecatingly, "Isn't this too extreme?" Toward the end of the rally in front of the police agency, the KCTU attached photos of President Yoon and others to large blocks of ice and performed a demonstration by smashing them with a large hammer. Union members struck the heads in the photos, and even after the ice fell, they did not stop hammering. When the bottom of the ice broke, the MC elicited a response by saying, "Yoon Seok-yeol’s legs are broken."
Around 3 p.m. on the 5th, a cafe in front of the Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. The owner posted a note asking not to throw trash at the outdoor standing bar and then closed the shop door. Photo by Tae-won Choi skking@
After the rally in front of the police agency ended around 3:30 p.m., some union members took part in cleaning, but nearby merchants and building managers complained about damages caused by the rally. Mr. A, who runs a cafe on Tongil-ro, closed his shop less than an hour after the rally began, saying it was impossible to do business. Around 2:40 p.m., he posted two A4-sized notes with a nervous expression on the cafe’s outdoor standing bar, saying, "Please do not leave trash here." About ten minutes later, Mr. A said, "On days like this, customers don’t even pass by. It’s better to just close the business," and shut the shop.
Kim, a 63-year-old female building manager nearby, was fed up with the indiscriminate smoking and illegal dumping by rally participants. Despite stickers indicating a "No Smoking Area" in the building’s parking lot, dozens of union members gathered in groups of three to five and smoked. After smoking, they usually discarded their beverage bottles and cigarette butts on the ground before leaving. Kim complained, "Whenever there is a protest, trash and cigarette butts pile up like mountains in front of the building." She added, "Not only the trash, but even though there are restrooms provided by the police, they seem too lazy to walk there and keep asking me to open the restroom door, which is very exhausting."
The KCTU declared a two-week July general strike struggle on the 3rd. Accordingly, large-scale rallies with up to 55,000 participants per day have been reported for the 6th, 8th, 13th, and 15th. Separately, candlelight rallies are also scheduled to be held across the country on the 7th, 11th, and 14th.
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