Police invade Daechuri and Doduri, demolish over 60 houses

22,000 riot police and 450 contracted construction workers and thugs invaded and occupied the villages of Daechuri and Doduri today at dawn. Police demolition equipment managed to wipe out 68 of the 90 houses that the Korean Ministry of Defense had threatened to destroy, but villagers successfully defended some houses.

The Ministry of Defense had promised to only destroy empty houses. But several squatted and renovated houses, as well as one long-term resident's house, were knocked down. A backhoe also destroyed a farming warehouse with expensive farming equipment inside, including a 100,000 USD tractor.

Children from Daechuri were unable to go to school today, because of the police lockdown of the the roads leading to town. In the village, police controls kept elderly residents from entering their homes and fields, and 10 residents received minor injuries at the hands of the police and their contractors. Some of the contractors also insulted (“bitch”, etc) elderly residents who were fighting to stop the demolitions or to reach their homes.

Many outside supporters were kept from entering the village by tight police checkpoints over the past several days, and 21 were arrested this morning trying to enter to defend the village. But despite their overwhelming numerical disadvantage and several arrests in Daechuri, villagers and supporters struggled all day to defend the village. The police's first target in Daechuri was the Human Rights house. Several human rights activists had tied themselves to the lookout tower on the roof of the building and threw out the ladder, and residents barricaded the building to keep the cops from coming up. But the police eventually managed to enter, and dragged out and arrested the activists before smashing up the house and all of the beautiful murals that it contained.

But around 40 other people who climbed onto the roofs of other buildings kept the police from destroying 13 houses in Daechuri. At one house right at the entrance to town, police stood off for hours with two people sitting on the pointed top of the house's sloping roof. The house was surrounded by villagers. After several failed attempts to force the two activists down, police promised to let them go free (and then destroy the house) if they came down on their own. But villagers already learned during previous attacks what a cop's promise is worth, so they stood their ground and insisted that the police leave. Eventually the police were forced to give up and leave the house standing and activists free.

Residents will probably now try to regroup after today's demolitions, and continue preparing their harvests and getting ready for any future attacks. Residents and supporters across Korea will also continue organizing for the national march in Seoul on September 24 (and supporters in other countries will continue preparing solidarity actions for the same day).. Hopefully there will be plenty of solidarity actions on September 24 in other countries too....