"The Textbook of Protests": Teacher Gatherings Like a Go Board, Even Police Give a Thumbs Up

From Start to Finish, the Yeouido Rally Was 'Orderly'
Approximately 300,000 Gathered for the 7th Memorial Rally

In Yeouido, Seoul, a teacher 'memorial rally' attended by hundreds of thousands ended in an orderly manner, drawing attention to the reviews from police officers dispatched to the scene.

About 300,000 people gathered for the 7th National Teachers' General Rally Memorial held on the 2nd. According to the organizers' estimates, there were 200,000 teachers attending the rally, and when adding the number of teachers' families and general citizens, up to 400,000 people gathered.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, many teachers demanding the normalization of public education participated in the '0902 500,000 Teachers' General Rally Memorial Assembly' held on Gukhoe-daero, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

After the rally ended, posts reviewing the dispatched police officers appeared on the anonymous workplace community 'Blind.'

A person A working at the National Police Agency posted a message titled "Wow, teachers' rally really." In this post, A said, "Putting aside the content of the rally and other issues, it was neat itself," and added, "They selected their own order maintenance personnel to control the crowd, arranged seats precisely, took all the trash with them, there was no extension of the rally time, I wish I could only attend rallies like this."

After the rally ended, review posts from dispatched police officers were uploaded on the anonymous worker community 'Blind'. [Photo by 'Blind']

Person B, also affiliated with the National Police Agency, said, "I wish all protests were like the teachers' rally," and added, "It was a hot day, and if they hadn't kept order, it would have been hard for everyone, but they had their own order maintenance personnel and cleaned up all the trash. As expected, it was a rally by teachers whom we can trust and feel at ease with."

They continued, "Although the shade was cool, it was a hot day under the sunlight, but they kept order well and held the rally only for the designated time, so I am very grateful," and said, "If all protest culture in Korea were like this, the police riot squad might not be needed. I support the teachers' law-abiding rally."

About 300,000 people gathered at the 7th National Teachers' General Rally Memorial held on the 2nd. According to the organizers' estimates, up to 400,000 people gathered when adding the 200,000 teachers attending the rally to the number of teachers' families and general citizens.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Person C, also from the National Police Agency, commented, "Not this time, but when we went out to Gyeongbokgung Station (for a rally), it was also really orderly," and explained, "Usually, large-scale rallies are dangerous when people start gathering before the rally begins and when they suddenly move all at once after the rally ends, but this time, even though there were many participants, they moved in an orderly manner, so we got home quickly."

In response to this comment, a netizen presumed to be a teacher expressed gratitude, saying, "Thank you for your hard work. Sitting there, I felt that the police officers were working hard and that being seated felt like being safely protected."