The Hub of Sparkle!

It’s one thing to read about it on the news – it’s entirely another thing to be there. Don’t worry, mom, I’m safe.

While I didn’t read Andy Jackson’s take on the Marmot’s Hole until I was already home (working on another unrelated assignment), I was in the area. I didn’t stay for long, but check out the two-paragraph Yonhap article. Former President Roh’s memorial was apparently torn down by two conservative groups vigilante style, claiming that the police hadn’t done anything about it in the month it’s been there.

Of course there’s pictures, courtesy of yours truly:

Nothing there to see… WTF? The police formed their typical ‘tight’ barrier on the outside, with an inner core of riot police doing… something… They appeared to be struggling against a smaller group of sign-carriers, but I couldn’t get a decent view. A few photographers / videographers were daring enough to get closer – and had the poles / ladders to go with them. Along the side of Deoksugung, across the street from the City Hall under construction. More peaceful than the group by the street, they sang and hit thundersticks. Yes, thundersticks – those things you find at baseball / soccer games.

The main group (facing the street) didn’t have many antagonists, just watchers… This crowd wasn’t exactly a quiet one, but they tended to stay back. One woman started trying to crumple up newspaper and throw it at the po-po, but a few other people got her to stop. I noticed a few people that appeared to be gathering up stuff, including the large portrait of Roh, along with some tables and boards that were apparently part of the display.

I should point out that my personal knowledge of Korean politics is slim, though a reaction this strong by one group of politically active Koreans against another group of politically active Koreans doesn’t surprise me in the least. The Roh memorial has been a politically divisive one since it went up, since the funeral, and has had a group of people loitering around it ever since it originally went up. Presumably that’s been to protect it in some way, but who knows.

Korea, grow up. Move on. You have other, bigger, and more dangerous problems to worry about. Your neighbor to the north. Your economy. Your social standing in the world. Your overworked, underpaid salarymen. Your overworked students who grow up to be the aforementioned overworked and underpaid salarymen. I could go on, but it’s time to move on.

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