Huge Drums and Mad Cows

It is the 10th of June. 21 years ago the Korean military government finally stepped down after intense public protest and the first democratic elections were held in South Korea.
Thousands of people have gathered in front of the stage today to celebrate this anniversary, but also to protest against the free-trade-agreement with the US. They feel betrayed by their president, who has signed the controversial agreement, because it includes the release of the import ban on US beef--what will bring the Mad Cow disease to Korea, people fear. On a popular poster, a cute Korean child is standing crying and helpless in front of an approaching ship full of menacing cows with skulls and bones symbols on their heads. This might be a slight exaggeration of the possible danger, as only 3 people have died from the human form of the disease in the United States since its discovery.

However, the sentiments are running high amongst the protestors, mostly young people from high school or the early semesters of university. Nobody knows who is behind the campaign, but the fact that it is mainly very young people who flock to the demonstrations in masses might suggest that a powerful interest group is aggravating people's fears intentionally to weaken the president.

In Seoul, the government has entrenched itself behind walls of shipping containers in fear of the demonstrators. Still, almost nobody has been injured (one Korean newspaper reports of 11 people injured alltogether), with tens of thousands on the streets thats incredibly few. In contrast, the police here in Gwangju are sitting around the peaceful demonstration looking bored. The mood is cheerful, it is a giant festival.

Then the drumming starts. The stage simply erupts in a sudden thunderstorm of sound. It is like nothing I have ever experienced. Five drummers hit their impressive instruments in perfect synchrony. Amplified through the huge soundsystem, the beats shake the ground and fire up the crowd. To top it, the drummers then dunk their sticks into gas and ignite them before continuing to play. I catch a shower of gas, because I too close trying to take some pictures. The effect is majestic, for a short while it seems as if a firestorm is sweeping over the stage.

The crowd is ecstatic. Frenetic applause accompanies the musicians from the stage. Now two speakers take the stage and hold a fiery speech in Korean, of which I unfortunately understand nothing. I try to find somebody who speaks English, but I soon give up as it is futile. In between they animate the people to do a mexican wave with their protest candles, as it is getting dark. It is remarkable there appears to be no violence at all. At demonstrations of this kind and especially this huge size, in my hometown Hamburg there would be intense clashes between armored police and hooded protestors, the police probably using water cannons to disperse the crowd. There might be something true about the cliche of the Confucian mindset and its ideal of collective harmony...

FTA