“Against the GTX-C Silver Horse Penetration Society, reduce the speed of the design and avoid it.”
Recently, the neighborhood around the home of Chung Eui-sun, the chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, has suffered from a series of protests by uninvited guests. When the Eunma Apartment Reconstruction Promotion Committee demanded a change in the GTX train route and there was no income from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the preferred negotiator, they went to Chairman Chung.
Residents of this place complain of severe stress due to loud voices, criticism, and startling flag phrases that echo all the time.
The protesters are not concerned about the suffering of the citizens, but instead deliberately cause inconvenience to the citizens, such as noise and traffic obstruction. A large number of citizens are suffering because of the reckless protests that citizens took hostage in common residential areas to fulfill their demands, just because they are neighbors of entrepreneurs.
Citizens living in a residential area in Hannam-dong, Seoul, suffered from hundreds of people chanting and chanting for more than two weeks from the 12th.
Hundreds of people got off the big buses and marched on the road holding pickets and banners that read Eunma Apartment Reconstruction Promotion Committee, blocking the passage of citizens.
They stopped all over the place and, following the man with the microphone, shouted ‘oppose money horse piercing society’ in a loud voice. At the slogan of shouting, everyone shouted together.
Some sections were filled with protesters, making it impossible for vehicles to pass. Even on a slightly wider road, the vehicle had to slow down carefully because of them.
These protesters were recruited by the Eunma Apartment Reconstruction Promotion Committee and took a tour bus every day to protest in a residential area in Hannam-dong. The reason is the justification for opposing the passage of the GTX-C route under Eunma Apartment.
Disregarding the official opinion of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that there is no problem with safety, and explanations from construction experts and builders, they recklessly demand improvement, and selfish rallies around the home of Chairman Chung Eui-haul, not the Y The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which is in charge, and Hyundai E&C, which is the priority negotiator.
The protesters say they want to express their voice to Chung Eui-seon, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, but the time of the protest is already a time when office workers are working in their offices. Only the citizens of Hannam-dong, who have nothing to do with GTX, suffer.
Citizens complain that the harsh slander and protests they encounter every day are extremely stressful and that their children’s education is adversely affected. An employee at the area’s villa management office said, “As they interfere with the lives of local residents, we receive dozens of complaints from residents.”
This was not the only nuisance demonstration that took place in front of a businessman’s house in a residential area with ordinary citizens as hostages.
In 2020, a civic group called the National Movement to End Corruption held several rallies in front of Shinsegae Chairman Lee Myeong-hee’s home in Hannam-dong, Seoul, asking for the construction of a free badminton court. It is argued that since there was a badminton court in the past on the site that E-Mart bought, E-Mart should take responsibility. They recklessly protested in front of the company chairman’s house with demands that the company could not make even if they wanted to because administrative permission was not given by the district office.
In May 2020, a civic group held a so-called samgyeopsal gluttony fight, drinking and grilling pork belly in front of the home of then-Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics in Hannam-dong, Seoul. He even played guitar and sang. Civil servants were sent to neighbors’ complaints, but they didn’t care.
In 2019, there was a protest by the Hanwha Aerospace Metal Workers Union in front of the home of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon, and a nationwide metal workers union protest held in front of the home of Asan Foundation Chairman Chung Mong-joon in 2018.
Earlier this year, about 150 members of the courier union KCTU held a resolution meeting in front of CJ Chairman Lee Jae-hyeon’s house in Jangchung-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, urging the CJ Logistics union to resolve the strike.
In May, minority shareholders, led by the Korea Equity Investors Association, protested the drop in stock prices in front of NHN Chairman Lee Jun-ho’s home in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, shouting slogans, ‘apology to shareholders’, raising eyebrows from neighbors. A number of similar protests were held in front of Hanwha Chairman Kim Seung-yeon’s home in Gahoe-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, protesting the drop in stock prices.
Directors are no exception. When the Sangam-dong area of Mapo-gu was selected as a candidate site for a new metropolitan resource recovery facility in Seoul, civic groups opposed to it held a protest in front of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s home for about a month from September. The residents of Jayang-dong had to suffer from the noise of the protesters who started at 6 in the morning.
At the city council on the 18th of last month, Seoul City Council member Kim Hye-young said, “It is absolutely impossible to sympathize with protests that come to the house where the mayor lives, not Mapo-gu or Seoul City Hall, to disturb the nearby residents.” I hope it spreads and settles down,” he harshly criticized.
As ‘excessive nuisance’ protests continue, there is a growing voice that a culture of protest should be established that respects the freedom and rights of other citizens along with fierce criticism. The opinion that a reasonable and persuasive standard should be prepared for protest culture is gaining strength.
A citizen living in Hannam-dong said, “Protesters must know that if their rights are important, the rights of residents here to live their daily lives as usual at home are also important. No one has the right to disturb the silence of another’s privacy.”
Reporter Jeong Jin-soo of Donga.com brjeans@donga.com
