Demonstration After-Action Review

UPDATED Dec. 23rd; scroll down for more pictures.

Adrian Hong promises to post pictures from today’s rallies soon. He has special thanks for two particular groups:

I want to particularly commend the 30 folks in Houston that stood out
in the pouring, pouring rain for more than an hour, and the Chinese
American fraternity brothers from Rutgers University came out in force to the
NYC protest, and helped us for the first time to shout slogans in accurate
Chinese!

Rev. Douglas Shin wrote from Seoul links to these photographs. According to the Chosun articles, which should be translated by tomorrow, about 100 people attented, a modest number to be sure, but then again, it’s been very cold there.

The Chosun has also printed a photo from the demonstration in Tokyo.

And where was I, you ask? In bed with the flu, either sleeping in a Nyquil-induced haze or tending to the Baby-Man, who got the bug from his dad–flu shot notwithstanding.

If you were there, your photos, links, and comments are also welcome. When I have the full roundup, flu permitting, I will publish a post on NKZone.

UPDATES, Dec. 23rd., special thanks to Eileen. Pictures from Washington. . .

London . . .

Tokyo . . .

. . . and Toronto, where the local Korean press reports that 200 people attended.

Eileen also reports that some activists also turned out in Prague at the last minute.

One Australian reader who attended the Seoul protest gave his assessment of the turnout, expressing his obvious disappointment: “It was freezing but I don’t think that was the reason turn out was low. The real reason: South Koreans just DON’T GIVE A [expletive].” I followed up and asked whether the press estimates were accurate, and also asked him to give an estimated breakdown of the nationalities of those present. “I agree that there were about 100 there. Out of that I guess about 30 were media. The remaining 70 was something like 20 each North Koreans and Korean-Americans, and the regular South Korean faces making up the [rest of the ] 100.”

Now that we have blogs, it isn’t just the media reporting on the public; now, it also works the other way around. One reporter approached our correspondent with some questions. He asked her what paper she was from, and when she said, “OhMyNews,” he responded, “you’ve got to be kidding.” His regret for this response was short lived. The reporter later approached his Korean wife with some choice loaded questions about defectors who exaggerate their stories, and who really knows what it’s really like in NK, after all? Well, the North Koreans know. Somehow, I doubt she interviewed any of them.

One has to expect that in these times, the South Koreans will follow, not lead. Korea’s vindication in history will have to come from the Korean diaspora, particularly those who form the core–but by no means the entirety–of LiNK’s members. In most locations, it looks like the turnout was modest, and that’s probably to be expected for a new movement still building its base. On the other hand, that base is clearly spreading its tentacles in the U.S. and Europe, judging by the first-time protests in places like London, Prague, Houston, and San Francisco.

Judging by the pictures, their street theater skills are improving, too, and it may have helped explain a modest increase in media interest, mostly outside South Korea. The demonstrations were covered in the L.A. Times, Modesto Bee, and the A.P. Wire. The Korea Times ran a story, and the Chosun Ilbo published a story in its Korean language edition. The L.A. Times coverage was the most comprehensive, added a few locales not reported elsewhere:

About 100 protesters, holding bilingual placards, chanted, “No Olympics in China in 2008” and “Comply with U.N. International Refugee Treaty.” Then they submitted a petition to the consulate general through a receptionist. Similar protests were held Wednesday in Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Toronto, Canada; the Philippines; South Korea; Japan; and countries in Europe, according to Suzanne Scholte, a spokeswoman for the International Campaign to Block the Repatriation of North Korean Refugees, a coalition of human rights groups.

In Washington, eight senators and congressmen issued statements condemning China’s policy. Rep. Thomas G. Tancredo (R-Colo.) said he would introduce a resolution when Congress convenes in January calling on the International Olympic Committee to change the venue of the 2008 Olympics. “We are all aware of China’s forced repatriation of North Korean refugees and seizing of humanitarian workers, despite China’s knowledge that these refugees face imprisonment, torture and even possibly execution upon their return to North Korea,” Tancredo said in a statement.
. . . .

The Rev. Douglas Shin of Los Angeles, who is working with refugees in Seoul, estimates that at least 100 North Koreans are repatriated every week. Some weeks, the number reaches 500, he said.