|
Following the government's firm resolution to crackdown on illegal rallies, police have reinforced security in Buan County, North Jeolla Province, where anti-government rallies are turning into violent attacks against the establishment over a controversial nuclear dump site construction plan.
The National Police Agency has dispatched 15 companies of riot police based in Seoul to Buan, bringing the total police force deployed there to more than 8,000, drawn from 75 companies.
The riot police are now deployed throughout 11 towns in the county, which have a collective population of some 70,000, meaning that police now account for one in every ten people found in those towns.
In addition to personnel, police have added a fleet of special vehicles equipped with modified lighting to facilitate nocturnal operations and water jets to disperse demonstrators.
 | | Leaders of civic groups hold a news conference in central Seoul yesterday, calling for an early settlement to the dispute over the construction of a nuclear waste dump in Buan, North Jeolla Province. |
Thursday night, the police successfully blocked locals from gathering for the daily candlelight vigils that began on July 26.
No violent clashes were reported as police took down banners and forcibly dispersed protesters gathering in alleys.
Meanwhile, civic and religious groups are calling for an early end to the dispute as the tension between the government and residents is escalating on a daily basis.
"The government is largely responsible for the situation spinning out of control," the concerned civic groups said in a statement yesterday, citing the government's refusal to hold a vote to gather the opinion of the locals.
Residents of Buan County, about 250 kilometers southwest of Seoul, have been protesting against the government's decision to build the country's first nuclear waste dump on the nearby islet of Wido.
Daily protests held for nearly four months by residents here opposing construction of the nuclear waste dump were blocked Thursday after the government issued a stern warning against growing violence by demonstrators.
The protests have turned violent in recent weeks with demonstrators using firebombs and steel pipes to fight heavily armed riot police.
On Wednesday, their anti-government rally, which was considered among the most violent ever staged by the residents, left about 100 protesters and police injured, and residents set fire to a local cultural center and other public facilities.
Early this week, Buan residents also occupied a section of the West Coast Highway and held a candlelight rally in front of the Buan branch office of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives.
By Choe Yong-shik
(khjack@heraldm.com)
2003.11.22
|