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Nuclear dump protest flares into fierce riot
BUAN, North Jeolla ― Authorities sent 8,000 riot police yesterday to this southwestern city after violence erupted over night following the government's rejection of residents' pleas for an early vote on the fate of a nuclear waste disposal facility in the region.
Early yeaterday morning, a mob destroyed a community center, gutted government emergency vehicles and attacked ambulances carrying injured police from the scene of the violence. Police said yesterday they were bracing for more attacks.
Buan residents began the protest Wednesday afternoon. The demonstration clashed with police late into the night.
As many as 100 protesters and police officers were injured in the clash in which protesters threw hundreds of Molotov cocktails, wielded steel bars, scythes and iron chains. The demonstrators set fire to gas containers, which then exploded.
The crowd tried to enter a county office and other county facilities, but police halted them. The protesters then set fire to the office and community center. About 30 riot police and 70 protesters were hurt in the melee, some with serious injuries.
According to police, Park Yong-sik, a 21-year old police officer, was hit in the eye with a firebomb and may have been permanently blinded. He was sent to a nearby hospital but administrators there turned him away, fearing a possible attack by residents, police said. While Mr. Park was being sent to another hospital by ambulance, angry protesters stopped the vehicle, broke into it and repeatedly hit the four officers inside, including Mr. Park.
Anger has been growing in Buan. Residents have staged several protests since the government first announced its nuclear dump plan in July. Over the last two months, there was a lull when government officials and residents agreed to hold a referendum on building the facility. On Monday they failed to reach an agreement on a timetable.
Opponents of the nuclear waste facility wanted a vote to take place before the end of the year. The government ruled that out Monday, a decision that led the residents to take to the streets Wednesday.
Observers said Buan residents thoroughly distrust the government and suspect officials are trying to drag out the negotiations until there is a better chance of winning a referendum over the issue. "We gained nothing but lost time while we were talking to the government," a Buan farmer, identified only as Mr. Kim, said yesterday. "We want to advance on the Blue House riding on our cultivators."
Another resident warned "Buan is on the verge of exploding. Residents think no official, or anyone who is related to the government, should enter the county."
The police yesterday announced that they would thoroughly punish the protesters who used violence.
by Jang Dae-suk, Seo Hyung-sik <iamfine@joongang.co.kr>
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