What a National Disgrace It Is!!
The article
22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations stipulates that the
premises of a diplomatic mission, such as an embassy, are inviolable and must
not be entered by the host country except by permission of the head of the
mission. Furthermore, the host country must protect the mission from intrusion
or damage. The host country must never search the premises, nor seize its
documents or property. Article 30 extends this provision to the private
residence of the diplomats.
Nevertheless,
unfortunately, a shameful incident took place in the heart of Seoul on October
18, 2019 that a handful university students identified as a coalition of progressive
university students held a protest against the U.S. troop presence in South
Korea near the US ambassador’s residence and several students climbed over the
wall into the grounds of the ambassador’s residence with ladders.
It was
reported that the student group had shouted even in the inside of the compound saying”
Stop interfering with our domestic affairs,” “Get out”, and we don’t need U.S.
troops.” They were even holding a banner saying “Leave this soil, Harris”.
The
young students’ inconsiderate behavior has not only violated an international
treaty but also brought an unutterable disgrace to our country writ large. As a
matter of fact, the majority of the fellow countrymen were dumbfounded at the
news.
In this
connection, what we the citizens are seriously worrying about is the reason why
the police officers on guard at the U.S. ambassador’s residence didn’t restrain
the students from climbing over the wall at the early stage. As is often the
case with the police suppression on protests, a responsible police station is
believed to have collected information that a sort of protest would be held at
a certain location in advance. For this reason, the police authorities
concerned with this case can hardly be free from a severe blame.
The
news media report that the police officers on guard didn’t proactively prevent
the student protesters from trespassing the ambassador’s residence because they
worried about possible injury of the protesters and physical contacts especially
with the female students in the course of being arrested.
Consequently,
the police officers on guard wasted more than an hour time to wait for
policewomen’s arrival at the scene that had eventually allowed the student
protesters to broadcast the pictures taken inside the compound through its Face
book account.
Whatever
the circumstances were on the scene, the on-duty police officers should have
strictly barred the protesters from climbing over the wall irrespective of
local conditions whatsoever because the protection of foreign embassy premises and its personnel is
one of the highest priority responsibilities of the host country and what’s
more, the ambassador’s residence is an area of extraterritorial jurisdiction. By
doing so, the people around the world will find the decency of our country.
In
addition, with regard to the current disgraceful incident, I the writer of this
article, would like to attach two photos that show a stark contrast between the two particularly in terms of the ladder
usage.
In the
first photo, the U.S. Marines made amphibious landing at Incheon on September
15, 1950 during the Chromite operation commanded by General MacArthur. The US
soldiers were climbing over the embankment at the risk of their own lives with
ladders to preserve the freedom for the country and people they neither known
nor met before.
In the
second photo, a group of student protesters of the country saved by the US
soldiers 69 years ago were climbing over the wall of the U.S. ambassador’s
residence in Seoul with ladders to hold an anti-America protest on Friday, October
18, 2019.
In
conclusion, I would like to urge our fellow countrymen not to forget what the
United States had done for us. “Let’s not bite the hand that once fed us”.
