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Monday, June 19, 2000
Riot police clash with protesters at Koon-ni
By Jim Lea
Osan bureau chief
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea - South Korean protesters demanding the closure
of the U.S. Air Force's Koon-ni bombing and gunnery range clashed Saturday
with riot police at the facility.
A protest spokesman said 20 proteste rs - activist students and labor
unionists from the nearby Kia auto plant - were injured.
Korean police would not confirm whether arrests were made or if anyone
was injured. U.S. Air Force officials had no information on possible arrests
or injuries.
The range is to reopen Monday after being closed for about one month.
It first was closed to investigate the emergency drop of six 500-pound bombs
by an Osan A-10 pilot who experienced engine trouble, then as a goodwill
gesture during last week's historic inter-Korean summit meeting.
Police said about 6,000 riot squadsmen were on duty Saturday at the facility,
and that about 1,000 protesters showed up. A spokesman for the Maehyang-ri
Countermeasures Committee, the group that sponsored the protest, said about
3,000 people took part.
The spokesman earlier had predicted 10,000 protesters would occupy the
range.
Police had set up roadblocks early Saturday and were searching vehicles
headed in the direction of the range, apparently looking for weapons. Some
motorists interviewed on television complained that they were caught in
a huge traffic jam for as long as four hours.
About 100 protesters reached the main gate of the facility shortly after
noon. Riot police wearing padded uniforms and helmets with face masks formed
walls with their shields, standing four-deep in front of the gate and on
the road along the facility's outer fence. Protesters carried signs written
in English, which said, "Close Koon-ni!" and "Americans get
out of Korea!"
They were joined by several hundred others who apparently reached the
gate by crawling over hills that border three sides of the facility. A number
of people began hurling rocks and clods of dirt and attacked the police
cordon with bamboo poles. Riot squadsmen retaliated with nightsticks, and
the cordon at the gate held firm.
South Korean television showed some protesters lying beside the road
that passes the range, bleeding from head wounds.
There were reports that some protesters got through the barbed wire
outer fence and were quickly corralled by police. Police and Air Force authorities
could not confirm those reports early Sunday.
The area was quiet shortly after dawn Sunday, but some riot police still
were in the area.
Koon-ni range for years has been a source of irritation for area residents.
The Defense Ministry has said the range cannot be moved because there is
no other place to put it, and that it cannot be closed because it is vital
to maintaining U.S. pilots' readiness.
Of the 238 families living in the Maehyang-ri area, 206 have agreed to
a Defense Ministry plan to relocate them. They now are negotiating with
the ministry over the cost of that relocation.
An elderly resident working in a small garden not far from the range
Sunday indicated that not all village residents are protesting.
"I have lived here a long time, and the airplanes do make a lot
of noise," she said, identifying herself only by her family name, Kim.
"But after awhile you get used to that. Some people say their houses
have been damaged by the planes, but I don't know if that's true. Mine has
not.
"After awhile, you just accept it and try to live your life,"
she said. She added she does not intend to relocate from the area "because
I'm too old and I've lived here too long.
"But I'm very tired of having so many policemen here and so many
people who don't live here coming to fight with the police. It's very embarrassing
to see all this on television. I wish everyone who doesn't live here would
go away and leave us alone."
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