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Mar. 29  2024
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Food stand workers march in Seoul

Between 4,000 and 5,000 food stand workers and other members of the urban poor marched through the streets of downtown Seoul last Tuesday to protest government plans to shut down all food stands, or "pojangmachas," when South Korea hosts the World Cup in May.

Source  :  BASE21


By Terry Park/Staff Reporter
parkterry@hotmail.com

Seoul, Korea--Between 4,000 and 5,000 food stand workers and other members of the urban poor marched through the streets of downtown Seoul last Tuesday to protest government plans to shut down all food stands, or "pojangmachas," when South Korea hosts the World Cup in May and June.

The reason for the government's decision to close down the street stands, which provides quick, low-priced food such as fish cake, chicken shishkabobs, and "dokbokki," which is a spicy pasta-like snack popular with young people, is their fear that foreign guests will consider them "dirty." But for the owners of the street stands, many of whom are women in their 40s and 50s and slave away to feed the working masses of Seoul during the day and drunk revelers at night, this is their only source of income.

Shinchon district, which is heavily populated with students attending nearby Yonsei, Sogang, and Ewha Womans Universities, hip cafes, restaurants, and clubs, was taken over for most of the day by the protestors. Drumming groups accompanied the demonstration, as well as riot police. There was some shoving between police and protestors, but no serious scuffles or injuries occured. The day ended with a rally at Yonsei, featuring music and dancing.

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