Massive candlelight protests draw one million nationwide
Up to a million Korean citizens from all walks of life participated in candlelight protests held on the 21st anniversary of a pro-democracy uprising, with a total of 118 candlelight protests held across the country on June 10.
There was tension in the air in downtown Seoul on the afternoon preceding one of the largest mass protests in the country in over 20 years. Up to a million citizens from all walks of life participated in candlelight protests held on the 21st anniversary of a pro-democracy uprising, with a total of 118 candlelight protests held across the country on June 10. Meanwhile, the nation’s riot police had mobilized its largest force ever in preparation for the events of the night to come.
The main event, a candlelight march, estimated by the organizer to have been attended by up to one million people, began at 7 p.m. with simultaneous demonstrations held at Seoul’s City Hall and along Sejong Avenue. Protesters were demanding that the government renegotiate the U.S. beef agreement and called on President Lee Myung-bak to resign.
The People’s Countermeasure Council against Full Resumption of Imports of U.S. Beef Endangered with Mad Cow Disease, which organized the Seoul demonstrations, said, “The Lee Myung-bak government has already been judged by the millions participating in the demonstrations.”
The council, in a statement issued earlier in the day, appealed to protest participants to display self-restraint even if provoked by riot police, saying that citizens have up to this point insisted on keeping to principles of non-violence and peace and should continue to do so. The council also formed a voluntary service team to maintain order against any sudden flare-ups.
Police issued an alert throughout the nation and mobilized the entire nation’s riot police force, going into emergency mode. Some 30,000 riot police officers were mobilized at major protest sites nationwide, with almost 20,000 riot police officers deployed in Seoul alone.
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