HomeKorea: Street vendor driven to take his life by officials
By Kim Heung-Yeon: Chairman of the National Street Vendors’ Federation of Korea
At around 3.20 pm on August 23, 2002, a Korean street vendor named Park Bong-Gyu poured petrol on himself and attempted self-immolation in protest over the government’s crackdown on street vendors in the downtown area of Seoul. He died of third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body. Park was a street vendor who sold tools in downtown Seoul to support his five children until the crackdowns by the district administrative office. When his wares were confiscated, first on August 21st and then again at 2pm on the 23rd, he visited the district office to protest.
Park had already sent a protest letter to the recently elected mayor of Seoul - Lee Myung-Bak - demanding to know why the mayor was not keeping his campaign pledge to help the poor. At the district office he asked, “Why are you tramping on poor people?” “Give me back my things!”, he added.
The authorities’ response was, “Who are you to protest when street vendors are illegal in the first place? Get lost!”
In desperation Park poured petrol on his body and lit the flame that killed him.
General public opinion is that Korea’s national status has improved, with enhanced national competitiveness and economic growth since hosting the World Cup. However, the gap between the haves and the have-nots has increased. The anger and discontent of the urban poor grows even greater as more and more of them get trapped in unstable livelihoods and absolute and relative poverty brought on by unemployment and casual employment.
The street vendors in Korea face continuous threats to their livelihoods. The government continues the cruel oppression that ultimately drove Park to his death. This is a clear violation of human rights and the Kim Dae-Jung government and Lee Myung-Bak Seoul administration must be held responsible for the desperation that drove Park to set fire to his body.