We are sad, sad and sad (at the spot of the Yongsan disaster)

<We are sad, sad and  sad (at the spot of the Yongsan disaster)>

 

On January 22, 2009, ‘Women feeling sad and angry at the Yongsan disaster’ had a memorial service to pray for the happiness of the victims in other world at the spot where people burnt incenses and bowed twice (to look back the deceased with affection). Because they could get news only through mass media for the last 3 days, 30 women or so were so desperate and outraged that they dashed to the spot with one breath.

 

We are sad, sad and sad…. We are those who are gathered to mourn and memorize the victims of the Yongsan fire disaster.

One lady living in Ssangmoon-dong (more than one hour away) said “When I went to market, I was so surprised at the news that I dashed to here. It is nonsense to use severe violence against those who are marginalized,” shedding and wiping tears. A woman labor activist, Hahn Myeonghee demanded to dismiss and arrest the designate Police chief, Kim Seokki, saying “the police killed innocent civilians four times: Since the police did not provide proper demolition they kill the innocent people once; since the police took irrational repressive measures, they kill them twice; since the police took their body away, they killed them three times; since the police performed autopsies on the innocent people without any agreement from their family, they killed them four times.”

 

A chairperson of Korean Women’s Associations United (KWAU), Park Young-mi asked strongly “The government said that even one rich person should not be victimized due to the comprehensive real estate taxes, but is it okay to ignore the rights of lessees and kill them?” and claimed “unbiased and impartial people should form a new fact-finding committee, because we can’t trust the investigation by Korean prosecutors.”

 

In the memorial service they placed white chrysanthemums and recite a poem to mourn this tragedy, and they also offered their condolences to the family of the victims. 

 

‘Women angry over the Yongsan fire disaster’ consists of KWTU, Korean Womenlink, KWWA, Women Making Peace, and female civilians.

 

<We are sad, sad, sad.>

Heart-breaking sadness and rage led us to here.

Our neighbors expelled

Under the bright neon slogan of ‘New town redevelopment’,

The world finally killed them, leaving them as wretched dead bodies.

In this society, our hard-working neighbors driven out and killed.

On the eve of a national festival,

While people happily filed off to see their families,

Our slaughtered neighbors cannot meet theirs.

Government power denies the freedom to mourn.

In what era are we now?

Because those who have too much

Neglect those who have nothing,

The world now faces economic crisis.

Under policies and systems that distribute resources unfairly,

We now learn that nobody can lead a happy life.

Now leaders of every country have tried to make policies for the marginalized

And attempted to breed hope through social integration,

What does the Korean government do for people?

Can it kill common people, and tread all over them,

To protect the property rights of those who have too much?

Icicles formed on discarded pipes

Show the shadows of fear among the evicted, attacked at the crack of dawn.

They make us so sad and frustrated.

What are the police trying to hide?

Why have they sealed off the spot?

And why did they try to perform autopsies without notifying families…?

Dead men tell no tales, so the saying goes.

The mean, immoral government tries to shirk its responsibility to the victims.

If they are truly human,

If they are warm hearted,

They cannot do this.

The people!

Who scrambled to survive

But have fallen down again, cold in death,

Those victims, without a penny to their names!

Now,

Please take a good rest,

In a world without demolition

In a world without violence and poverty!

by Kim Mi-ran,                                   
KWAU