'Ban on Urban Gatherings' Sparks Opposition from Moon Jung-won Task Force Over Protest Site Removal: "Starting Point of Moon Jae-in Regime's Fall" (Summary)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-gi] "Cruel Moon Jae-in, we must judge him" "Instead of consolation, why violent demolition?" "We will not stop fighting" "The Korea Racing Authority killed him. Punish those responsible"

On the morning of the 27th, Jongno-gu, Seoul, dismantled the memorial protest tent for the late jockey Moon Jung-won, which had been set up in front of the Gwanghwamun Government Complex. The administrative enforcement, which began around 8 a.m., was completed in about two hours. During this process, five union members were detained. The Citizens' Countermeasures Committee for the late jockey Moon Jung-won (hereafter Citizens' Committee) held an emergency press conference after the administrative enforcement and announced that they would continue their struggle against the government.

Myung-sook, deputy head of the fact-finding team of the Countermeasures Committee, said, "Even when we told them that the bereaved family was inside the tent, they showed no concern and used violence. It was much worse than the violence used to drag grandmothers and grandfathers out in Miryang," adding, "The private demolition team threw people around, and men dragged female citizens out, but the police just stood by. We will testify to the anti-human rights and violent nature of the Moon Jae-in government, and there is no chance of winning the general election," she warned.

Although Jongno-gu also dismantled tents of other groups that day, some pointed out that these cannot be equated. Yang Han-woong, executive committee member of the Jogye Order Social Labor Committee, said, "The family was inside the tent. Was this tent something that had to be forcibly torn down? Talking about fairness and COVID-19 regarding the tent next to it is not comparable," adding, "There is a history of staying on the cold floor for months. The Blue House must have known before the tent was torn down. This is really unacceptable," he said.

There were also opinions comparing this to cases that occurred under previous administrations. Kim Tae-hyun, leader of the Social Revolution Workers' Party, said, "The Park Geun-hye administration mobilized private thugs and violent police to demolish the Ssangyong Motor laid-off workers' citizen memorial at Daehanmun just like today," adding, "Two years later, the Park Geun-hye administration collapsed. The Moon Jae-in administration will also collapse. The tollgate union case is similar. Why is the Moon Jae-in administration so cruel?" he criticized.

Jo Ji-won, head of the Railway Customer Center branch of the Railway Union, also said, "I think the plan to demolish the memorial, which has nothing to do with the country being shaken by COVID-19, is despicable," adding, "Many people are dying due to numerous irregularities in the Korea Racing Authority, as much as from COVID-19. Why is there no interest? We will proceed with the candlelight march next week, which was postponed due to COVID-19. Please watch over us," he said.

The Citizens' Committee carried the empty bier of jockey Moon Jung-won and marched to the Blue House around 11 a.m., and announced that they would continue the struggle by setting up the memorial again in the future. The Public Transport Workers' Union began a sit-in protest at the election campaign office of former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon that day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.