A Day at the Protest
We have found that Korea has a lively democracy. It seems there are multiple protests any given day near the Blue House, the home of the President. Apparently the new president is a Protestant and has been accused of religious discrimination by the Buddhist community. The Buddhists organized a protest in front of City Hall on 8/27 and invited the faithful from across the country to join in. I have seen two numbers for the estimated attendance, so the crowd was somewhere between 60,000 and 200,000. At any rate, it was the largest gathering I have ever been in the middle of. They had 5 of the jumbo television screens scattered around with a concert-like audio system because there was no way most people could see the stage.
At any rate, since I was an American that could pass as a business man (silly people) the staff at nearby hotel thought nothing of letting me ride the service elevator to the top floor - all the guest elevators were shut down for security. I was able to take these pictures from the birds-eye view. Isn’t it cool how the pathways left for egress make a peace sign? After all the speeches the masses marched through downtown Seoul to the main temple. I can guarantee you have never seen such an orderly progression of so many people through an incredibly crowded city.
We have found that Korea has a lively democracy. It seems there are multiple protests any given day near the Blue House, the home of the President. Apparently the new president is a Protestant and has been accused of religious discrimination by the Buddhist community. The Buddhists organized a protest in front of City Hall on 8/27 and invited the faithful from across the country to join in. I have seen two numbers for the estimated attendance, so the crowd was somewhere between 60,000 and 200,000. At any rate, it was the largest gathering I have ever been in the middle of. They had 5 of the jumbo television screens scattered around with a concert-like audio system because there was no way most people could see the stage.
At any rate, since I was an American that could pass as a business man (silly people) the staff at nearby hotel thought nothing of letting me ride the service elevator to the top floor - all the guest elevators were shut down for security. I was able to take these pictures from the birds-eye view. Isn’t it cool how the pathways left for egress make a peace sign? After all the speeches the masses marched through downtown Seoul to the main temple. I can guarantee you have never seen such an orderly progression of so many people through an incredibly crowded city.
1 comment:
Mark, very cool pictures and posts. I have sent a couple of e-mails so if you did not get them let me know, I may have the wrong address. I am glad I finally got the blog address it is fun to follow your adventure.
Paul
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