South Korean civic and interest groups plan to push ahead with rallies before and during next month’s G20 summit despite massive security measures, police said yesterday.
Police have been on high alert as the country prepares to host US President Barack Obama and other G20 leaders at the Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 gathering in Seoul.
South Korea sees the summit as its biggest appearance on the world stage since the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
However, 81 labor and civic groups launched an umbrella protest organization last month to stage a wave of demonstrations against the summit. Other civic and interest groups also plan separate rallies.
Hundreds of residents in an isolated slum area near the venue will hold a rally on Nov. 4 to oppose development, police said. They have erected a 12m high watchtower, vowing to continue their sit-in until the summit.
Families of those conscripted by Japan during World War II plan to stage peaceful rallies urging the US and Japan to enact special laws compensating war victims.
“There is no law to ban registered peaceful rallies, but we will stop any illegal or violent protests especially near the venue,” a police official in charge of G20 security told reporters.
Police have already outlined measures including encircling the venue with 2.2m high security fences. They have formed a special unit to protect G20 leaders.
Under current laws, those seeking to organize street rallies are required to obtain prior permission from police.
However, a special law came into force this month giving police greater power to break up rallies near the venue and hotels designated for visitors.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese