Tuesday, June 10, 2008

After math of a huge rally

Hello and good morning from Seoul. Well last night was the biggest rally ever. The organizers of the rally estimated there were 400,000 that attended (just in Seoul) while police say it was only 60,000; so who knows where the truth is. June 10th also marked the 21st anniversary of the move toward democracy; so there were other civic group also rallying. A colleague and I decided to check things out first hand and went down to ground zero. As you may have seen on tv they moved containers in to block the streets; there were people everywhere, with signs and the infamous candle. We walked around for about an hour then had dinner at TCIFridays - I had a good ol Australian hamburger and fries. When we got back to the hotel the ralliers had moved in that area as well. I went to the roof top to get a better view of the situation; I asked some of the other people up there what the crowd was chanting - "Impeach the President!" Most of the cabinet has put in resignations; is it too little too late for the Korean people? Not sure, but time will tell. I read this morning that business owners are asking for an end to the rallies. So maybe with some pushing from the community the rallies will die down and the Koreans will reconsider the beef import situation. Ok, well I better get to work. Have a great day and I will write again soon.

4 comments:

Kellie said...

Fagsy!! So you didn't pick up a candle and participate?? I can't imagine that kind of crowd. I wouldn't handle it well at all. Stay dry!

wegrit said...

I'm the one who studies revolution, how come I don't get to be the one observing the riots? I'm a bit jealous!

How's the language barrier? I imagine it's probably a lot like Prague where a good number of people speak at least some English. Better yet, how's your Korean?

Tony said...

Yeah,South Korea is experiencing some very "interesting times" as the Chinese say. Looks like the current government of South Korea is gonna get the boot!
Sucks about the project though! Hope you are well and getting through those boring evenings. I hope you get your luggage soon too!
What did you think of the Rally?
As for tanning, head for a tanning shop if its gonna rain all the time.
Over here it has warmed up, but it will start raining again soon. Not much to report except petrol prices are increasing and everything costs more.
I love you hun.
Take care of yourself.

Wendi said...

Sounds like things are going pretty good, other than the riots. Are you liking the project you were assigned? Don't really know much. Be safe and will talk w/ you later.