Well, we accidentally joined a protest and were blessed by a great church experience where we found out that the protest was against the government… long story but I will explain.
This past weekend we had the opportunity to travel through the city of Seoul on a mission and as we were working on our video (B-rolls) we got sidetracked as we stumbled upon a crowd of people carrying South Korean, American, and Israeli flags. Seeing this our plans changed. We got off the bus that we were on and headed over to investigate. As we approached a car ordained with a US and Korean flag a man standing nearby came and started talking to us. He told us that the current president was a communist, that the previous president was taken out of power unjustly, and that democracy in Korea was struggling. This surprised us both but we were curious to learn more. After ten or fifteen minutes of explanation, he asked us if we wanted to drive with him through the city following the protesters path to the national square where the main demonstration would occur. We cautiously agreed and as his governmental looking car drove through the streets adjacent to the protesters we noticed that the majority of them were older citizens.
The protest was well elaborated and organized. It resembled a parade rather than a governmental protest. Many people lined the streets. As we arrived at the square we took a picture with the driver and wished them the best. As we started our separate ways we were stopped by another short yet outspoken old man who began to tell us more about how President Moon is a communist, partially because he communicates with a communist (Kim Jong Un of North Korea), the government is failing, and that young people just don’t care to learn about politics in their country. After awhile we parted ways. He seemed like a genuinely nice old man. As we made our way to the street corner near where the “parade” was passing we were taking another video when a third elderly man came up and explained the brokenness of the government. Throughout this whole experience, protesters are continuing to pass us carrying flags of both the US and South Korea. “Why do we not hear anything in the media about this?” we kept thinking. The activities were massive and they, by all accounts, seemed to be newsworthy but we were also told two things: 1) They do this protest every Saturday and 2) The government is corrupt so they do not allow it to be published in the media outlets. After being confused by all of this we decided to move on from the protests.
After researching and speaking with South Koreans later about the protests they mentioned that it is a small minority of South Korea that actually believes in the protests that are happening. President Moon is not a communist. There is no evidence to support that claim and that people in past years have used the “communist” label, the history, and connotations of the word very loosely.
Long story short the previous president of South Korea was caught in a variety of scandals and was put into jail. She was the daughter of a previous Korean ruler that was assassinated and over the course of her presidency, she began to make some illegal deal with companies such as Samsung (etc). One of the most confusing things of all is that this group of demonstrators was using the South Korean flag as their own political banner. Which is how we (and I am sure others) got involved in the situation in the first place. Also, as my wife and I spoke, Elinis brought up a really good point. From what we understand, the people marching were against President Moon and calling him a communist in part because he met with and had dialogue with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Throughout the demonstrations we had seen posters celebrating both President Trump AND this former Korean president. The people at the rally support the U.S. government but President Trump himself visited North Korea and spoke to Kim Jong Um. This brought a little confusion and inconsistency into the situation as we thought about what the protesters stood for. If they were against President Moon and labeled him a communist because he had conversations with North Korea but then applauded President Trump’s policies, despite President Trump’s continued communication with North Korea, things didn’t seem coherent.
Care. Equip. Share. 