(NOTE: As I write, it is early Sunday evening, July 6th, and I made a final comment in the thread referred to in the previous
post, which I reproduce here as well.)
Gord, as I predicted at the top of this thread, last night was largely peaceful and there were no reports of serious violence
or clashes at the demonstration.
Without the violence meme, the media here lack a compelling narrative to work with today as they did last Sunday. What
they are left with is the reality of the actual issues, whether they or the protesters want to face them honestly or not. The
fact of the matter is that Lee has made significant concessions and even apologized twice to the nation, despite the
protesters' claims that Lee "refuses to listen" to them or compromise. Thus, the only lasting message I can take away
from all this is that the progressive forces here are simply sore losers, and have no one to blame but themselves for their
recent loses in the December and April elections. Everything else is just distraction.
I just made a pass-through at City Hall at 6pm tonight after grabbing a bite to eat, and there were all of 75 or 100 people
milling about here and there in the entire Plaza. The tents had all been cleared away and the only organized group that
seemed to remain was the "Candlelight Church," and they were a rather sorry sight: Their "church" consisted solely of
a small flag and a banner reading "Ch'otbul Kyohoi," on which a half dozen people were sitting forlornly. I asked them
if they expected a large turn-out of demonstrators tonight and of course they said yes, although when I asked a nearby
KBS camera crew the same question they said probably not. The largely empty Plaza was evidence enough for me.
Indeed, for the first time in weeks, the police buses that had been protecting the Kwanghwamun intersection are now all
gone, and the police buses that had been lining Taep'yongno for the past week are also all gone. That suggests to me
that the authorities feel reasonably confident that things are starting to cool down.
It's been hard to predict the direction of this movement over the past two months, but at this point I think it's safe to say
that this thing is nearing the endgame. There may a few largish weekend demonstrations throughout the remainder of
the summer, but I think that last night was a final face-saving hurrah for the protesters, and that the candlelights of this
movement are already starting to flicker out.
What remains for the progressive forces here is to articulate a proactive and compelling agenda for the future, rather than
relying on reaction and negation to attract the citizenry to its cause.
A year ago I wrote that Korea will never have its own "Summer of Love." Let us hope that the bitterness and anger here
subside quickly, so that 2008 is not remembered as Korea's own quite tragic Summer of Hate.
But perhaps it’s already too late for that. |
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A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to City Hall Tonight 
[re] Coda 
