Among the things you may see in Seoul, demonstrations can be quite a spectacle. This one took place on Chongno street in front of Pagoda Park. The white cloud is, of course, tear gas. |
Paramilitary riot police confront a student demonstration in front of Pagoda Park on Chongno Street. |
University students gather near City Hall to demonstrate. The riot police fence them in to keep them from obstructing the busy street. |
At the gate of Yonsei University, student demonstrators stand waiting for the paramilitary riot police to come stop them. The demonstrators are holding iron bars that they use to whack the riot police with. They also use molotov cocktails. Many demonstrations that take place are over and done with in an afternoon. This one, in the summer of '96, was a particularly serious one. It was led by a student group with ties to North Korea. Most demonstrations in Korea are rather organized, and property damage generally does not take place. In this one, the students burned down a university building, and the government considered using the army to stop the demonstration. |
..these are all paramilitary riot police (chuntu kyungchal) massing in the streets to quell the Yonsei students' demonstration. This is in the entertainment district of Shinchon, just in front of the university's main gate. CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS OF SHINCHON HERE... |
..the paramilitary riot police get in formation to fight the students. Actually they are not police at all, but rather military conscripts of basically the same age as the students. I had heard from Koreans that the biggest and strongest draftees are sent to the riot police. |