Week 9: Post your Blog Entries as Comments to my Main Post Each Week

Post by Sunday at midnight.

[If you want to see Korean social movement collective action after class on Monday, go to Myeongdong Cathedral, May 10, 2010, after 2 p.m. Or every day around 7:30 p.m. next week--indefinitely it seems. The below article describes why:]

1. Mark Whitaker

2. The Showdown begins: Daily Catholic masses to be held in downtown Seoul (Myeongdong Cathedral) in protest of Pres. Lee's Unpopular River Dredging; Lee Government Moves to Pass Martial Law Legislation (ostensibly for all of downtown Seoul) and Militarize the Canal Dredging

3. Below are several articles. Read them for their mutual implications.

First, this is another good example of something we have talked about in researching social movements: religious organizations as mobilization bases typically being the only brave groups versus a repressive polity. It's a battle for cultural legitimacy that the state is bound to lose if it attacks them.

Second, it's a good example of the ongoing interaction between social movements changing the institutional/symbolic forms of their public action versus the state's repressive actions. As both 'sides' adapt to each other over time, we will talk about this state/movement interaction as the term 'cycles of protest' ideas later. Social movements are always involved in rising or falling cycles of protest involving state/movement interactions as the main dynamic. Movements fail to occur randomly in time in other words.

BACK TO MY FIRST POINT:

For instance, in the 1980s, Catholic and Buddhist churches (particularly Cardinal Kim, the only Korean-born Catholic Cardinal) protected the labor movement and democratization movements against South Korea's dictatorship. Once more the religious movements become the rallying point, as the only brave groups publicly, symbolically, with the "cognitive liberation" (and resources, mobilization networks, and symbolic culture) to protest against Lee Myung-bak's 24-hour-a-day river dredging.

It will be interesting to see if the guiltless use of state violence under President Lee (against the rights of assembly or any democratic opposition) continues to repress this social movement strategy as well. This is the line however beyond which repression may not work anymore? We shall see.

We talked about symbolism 'weapons' that social movements have since they are typically powerless against state violence. Instead, social movements attempt to change the symbolic meanings already loved and juggle symbolism of them with themselves to gain adherence, reassociations, and supporters by association.

It's important to understand the symbolism: to have these daily masses at Myeongdong (which is shrine to religious martyrdom in Korean history against a repressive Chosun Dynasty) is an analogy hardly lost on the current Korean public either since Myeongdong has been a rallying point against dictatorship in the very recent past in Korea--less than 25 years ago: Quote about Myeongdong:

"The Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Myeongdong, commonly known as Myeongdong Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Seoul, South Korea, located in the Myeongdong neighborhood of Jung-gu, Seoul. It is a neighborhood landmark and a symbol of Christianity in Korea and of political dissidents....In 1900 the relics of the Korean Martyrs who died in the 1866 persecution were moved to its crypt from the seminary in Yongsan-gu.

The initial name of Jonghyeon Cathedral (종현성당, 鐘峴聖堂) was changed to commemorate the 1945 liberation from Imperial Japan and changed to the present Myeongdong Cathedral.

Roman Catholic clergy were among the leading critics of South Korea's military rule in the 1970s and 1980s, and Myeongdong Cathedral became a center of Minjung political and labor protest as well as a sanctuary for the protesters; indeed, it was nicknamed the "Mecca" of pro-democracy activists. Catholic and future President Kim Dae-jung held a rally at the cathedral in 1976 to demand the resignation of President Park Chung Hee, and some 600 student-led protesters staged a hunger strike inside in 1987 after the torture and death of university student Park Jong-chol.

Even in the years since democratization, the government has been reluctant to enter the cathedral to arrest protesters, making Myeongdong too popular a protest spot in the views of some priests and worshipers. The cathedral attempted to ban protesters who did not have prior approval in 2000 after a demonstration in which telecommunications unionists beat female churchgoers and vandalized church property."

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Daily Catholic masses to be held in protest of Four Rivers project

picture: http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/417794.html

The masses, which will be held in a central Seoul location, are expected to have a significant impact on the movement against the Four Rivers project

» Catholic priests and believers hold a mass to protest the Lee Myung-bak administration’s Four Major Rivers Restoration Project at a construction site for the project in Dalseong County, Daegu, April 20." 　


Catholic priests and believers are planning to hold daily life and peace masses calling for an end to the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project at Myeong-dong Cathedral starting on Monday. Since these masses are scheduled to take place daily in the heart of Seoul amid rising religious opposition to the Lee Myung-bak administration’s Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, the impact is expected to be considerable.

The Catholic Alliance to Stop the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project announced its decision to hold life and peace masses attended by priests and believers nationwide at Myeongdong Cathedral every day at 7:30pm. After the masses, the priests plan to hold all-night prayer vigils.

The alliance explained the rationale of the masses, saying that priests have continuously demanded the government end the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, which runs counter to preserving the order of God’s creation and destroys a wide array of living things, and reconsider the project, but the government has not changed its attitude and pushed through with construction. Accordingly, priests disappointment connected to their faith and conscience, believing they could not longer just sit and watch, they said.

The Catholic Alliance to Stop the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project is an alliance of [different SMI/SMO] groups such as the Justice and Peace Committee and Committee for Environment, both under the Catholic Bishops Conference of Korea (CBCK). In March, the alliance issued a position statement by CBCK calling for an end to the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. The 15 dioceses plan to convene life and peace masses in an alternating fashion nationwide. The Life and Peace Masses for the Suspension of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project and the Preservation of the Paldang Organic Farm masses, which have been held for 68 days at Dumulmoeri, Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, will be held separately.


Alliance executive committee member Kim Jae-wook said since the Lee Myung-bak administration has not extended the courtesy of listening to the bishops’ position statement. Regarding this as a failure of promotional activities, the priests have decided to hold daily masses. He said until the administration changes its attitude, the masses would continue on.

In addition, the Catholic Alliance to Stop the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project has decided to hold a 10,000-person mass, attended by priests and believers from all over the country, at Myeong-dong Cathedral at 2 p.m. on May 10.

Meanwhile, in light of the National Election Commission’s (NEC) recent moves to designate civic groups’ anti-Four Major Rivers Restoration Project events, even placards placed in front of church gates, as violations of election law, attention is focusing on how they will respond to these masses.

In response, an official from the Catholic Alliance to Stop the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project said the church activities to see the project brought to an end are a realization of biblical teachings [our terms: 'frame amplification' and 'frame transformation' very much here], and that there is a good deal of public consensus, as over 100 thousand signatures have been collected from the Seoul archdiocese and Suwon diocese alone.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/417794.html

[2]

And this is, I think Lee's response which is typical and running to true form: if the Catholic Alliance posted their notice on April 26, the Lee Government posted its notice to Koreans by May 5: this it the first time the military will be used on a South Korean construction project since the dictatorship:

Military to be deployed to assist [sic] with Four Rivers construction

Observers cite this as the first large-scale deployment of military labor for a government-led construction project since the time of military dictatorship
　　

» Bulldozers dredge the South Han River near the Iho bridge in Yeoju County, Gyeonggi Province, April 4. 　[image]

The Lee Myung-bak administration has announced plans to deploy members of the military to assist with the construction for the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, which is currently facing strong public opposition.

According to an official document of cooperation between the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM), obtained by Democratic Party Lawmaker Ahn Gyu-back of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, the ROK Army Second Operations Command and Busan Regional Construction Management Administration concluded an agreement for army engineers to provide support for construction along Area 35 of the Nakdong River. To do this, the Defense Ministry assembled a unit centered on the 1117th Engineer Group of the Second Operations Command, which it will deploy from June to next November. The task of the army engineers will be to take the sediment soil removed during deep dredging of the riverbeds and moving it to a different location.

Some 117 military engineers and 72 units of equipment including 50 dump trucks, will be deployed to the site. Military engineers will billet in a location near the construction site. The Defense Ministry has budgeted some 2.75 billion Won ($2.47 million) for equipment and billeting. The Busan Regional Construction Management Administration will support the costs.

As a display of military labor force being directly deployed to a government-led national construction site, it will be difficult for the move to avoid criticism as an inappropriate military mobilization of the sort that has been difficult to spot since South Korea’s democratization after military dictatorship.

According to a report submitted by the Defense Ministry to Lawmaker Ahn on military deployments to national construction sites, the army was deployed as a major source of construction labor force to national projects during the military dictatorship, such as the construction of the Seoul-Busan Highway (1968 to 1970), Uljin-Hyeon-dong Road (1982 to 1984) and Seoul Beltway (1991 to 1994).


During a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh, a Ministry of Defense official said for the purpose of contributing to a national project, the ministry had accepted a request to participate in the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, and it would also assist in training the army engineers for their own duty.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

[3]

And they are going to plow under a very successful organic farm area outside of Seoul and pave it over. The Catholic Alliance group is opposing this with collective action as well:

[Editorial] Organic farms over bicycle paths

It seems that the Lee Myung-bak administration has at last made the decision about the fate of the Paldang Organic Farm. We are speechless that the government is willing to plow over an organic farm on which fresh vegetables are raised and pave it over with bicycle paths and a park. The Paldang Organic Farm supplies chemical-free vegetables to Seoul-area residents. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) says it is forcing through measures to appropriate land to build a park as a part of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project on the organic farm around Paldang in Gyeonggi Province. One can only be stunned by the never-ending rash behavior of the Lee administration.

To begin, we are shocked by the idea of turning up land being used for environmentally friendly farming to build recreation facilities. It is a vulgar attitude that does not leave nature wholly as it is and digs it up to transform it into artificial structures. Moreover, the Paldang Organic Farming Complex is a central supplier of environmentally friendly vegetables to Seoul and other areas around the capital. The farmers there have spent decades farming without pesticides to turn the land into an organic farm, boosting the soil fertility. We do not know how the idea of destroying this place to build a playground is even possible.

The district the government says it plans to forcefully appropriate is the venue for the IFOAM Organic World Congress that is to be held in September 2011. Paldang is just that symbolic as an organic farm on a worldwide scale. President Lee Myung-bak also visited the farm when he was a presidential candidate in September 2007, and encouraged the farmers, saying organic farming was an alternative of the South Korean agricultural industry. He drove a fertilizer distributor and even showed off his closeness with the farmers. Now he is stubbornly trying to kick them off their land. Does he also intend to break this campaign promise, claiming he is allowed to say anything during an election?

There is also no direct relation between the plan to build a park on the Paldang Organic Farm and the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. They are not dredging the bottom of the Han River as it hugs the farm, and they are not building any new dams. MLTM appears as if it will also appropriate this land under the policy of banning in principle cultivation along the riverbeds of the four major rivers. Completely paving over riverbeds to build eye candy or recreation facilities should not be the main priority. If there is concern about polluting the river water, one should guarantee the living of farmers farming along the riverbeds by properly regulating the pollution.


Even when viewed from a purely utilitarian perspective, it is much more profitable to use this area as a place to produce environmentally friendly produce for people in the capital area and as a place where people can learn about and experience the ecology. There are plenty of places to build bike paths or parks besides this particular location. We hope the Lee administration immediately ends its plan to forcefully appropriate the Paldang Organic Farm and turn it into a park.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/418603.html

[4]

[Editorial] Lawmakers must reject proposal for martial law during G-20 Summit

The upcoming G-20 Summit [in November 2010] is not the first major international event held in South Korea.

Two events hosted by South Korea during which world leaders gathered together include the 2000 Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the 2005 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

The only difference is the fact that the G-20 summit is the largest in terms of the international standing of the participant nations and the scale of the meeting.

However, judging from the way the Lee Myung-bak administration and ruling Grand National Party (GNP) have been behaving, you would think it was the first international event held since the founding of the nation, so great is the fuss they have been making. Making matters worse is the apparent attitude that there is no need to concern themselves with fundamental citizens rights or the Constitution when it comes to this event. The government and ruling party created a special law for “G-20 security and safety,” the contents of which constitutes an excessive infringement of the basic rights of citizens, and the GNP independently forced it through the National Assembly’s House Steering Committee a few days ago.

If this legislation passes, major areas of downtown Seoul will come under the control of the chief of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) for a period of close to three months, and assemblies and demonstrations will be limited according to his discretion.

Naturally, the G-20 summit must be carried out securely and successfully, but there is no reason to prepare to the extent of creating a special law limiting citizens’ fundamental rights for the sake of this summit. The success of the event depends on how thoroughly the organizations charged with security and safety prepare and perform their jobs. It is unreasonable to argue that it is impossible to hold the event because of the inadequacy of laws currently in place. We have never heard of any advanced nation creating a special law because it was holding an international summit meeting.

Even more shocking is the fact that the Lee Myung-bak government is freely stating that it wants to mobilize the military to maintain public order. The PSS has even proffered a concrete description, stating, “We will have them wear comfortable clothing, such as civilian clothing, rather than military uniforms.” In essence, they are saying that they plan to hold the summit under a proclamation of martial law. It is frightening even to imagine the sight of soldiers dressed in civilian clothes fomenting an atmosphere of fear among the citizenry. One cannot help being concerned that this summit will not result in the enhancement of South Korea’s standing, but the nation becoming an international laughing stock.

The process of the law’s enactment has also been carried out through nothing but deceit and expediency. Reportedly, the PSS, which prepared the law, carried out a “contracted legislation” process, using ruling party lawmakers in order to skip over the whole process of a Cabinet council deliberation, advance announcement of proposed legislation, and deliberation in the Ministry of Government Legislation. In light of the fact that this legislation will potentially violate the fundamental rights of citizens, it requires hearings and in-depth National Assembly discussions, yet this entire process has been omitted. This legislation should be discarded.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/418406.html