Mr. Lee
 
by Jing Zhao; September 11, 2003  

Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico: On the first day of the 5th ministerial meeting
of the World Trade Organization, a number of events were planned to
demonstrate against the meeting, including a march organized by Via
Campesina. 

The march was supposed to protest the fact that agriculture is included
within the purview of the WTO¡¯s jurisdiction, the way that the WTO has
handled that topic and the existence of the WTO itself as a legitimate
institution. No one at the march, however, expected it to be the scene of a
suicide. 

That, however, is exactly what happened today as a video taken by the
Independent Media Center clearly reveals Mr. Lee Kyung-hae using a Swiss army
knife to stab himself in the chest. His death came during an attempted
life-saving surgery at Cancun¡¯s General Hospital. He was 56 years old. 

The march was organized by Via Campesina, which is an international network
of organizations advocating rights for small rural farmers. At approximately
11:00am (local time) this morning, the march started and attracted some
10,000 people. 

It did not take long for a clash to erupt between the police and the
protestors. A large barricade topped with barbed wire was erected this
morning and the demonstrators were less than happy to find it there. Rocks
that were thrown over the fence were thrown back by police, landing randomly
amongst bystanders in the crowd of the demonstrators. Pepper gas was sprayed
and the scene was tense. 

Several banners were hung over the barricade and Mr. Lee climbed on top of
the fence, emotionally gesturing towards the crowd. A symbolic coffin was
lifted by protestors from the Korean Organization of People¡¯s Action (KOPA),
who attempted to force it through the barricade. 

¡°The coffin is a part of a traditional Korean ceremony that we used to
symbolically represent the death of the WTO,¡± said Ji-Young Park, a member
of the organization. 

It was during this tense point of the march that Mr. Lee turned towards the
police and proceeded to stab himself, as footage shot by the Independent
Media Center clearly reveals. A demonstrator atop the fence bellowed,
"medico, medico, medico!" as press swarmed around Lee as he lay on the ground
bleeding. 

It took more than several minutes to finally clear the all the media that had
enveloped Lee with clicking cameras and live video feed shots. Finally, Lee's
body was hurriedly carried to an ambulance and whisked away to Cancun's
General Hospital, where he would die in the midst of failed surgery. 

Representatives from KOPA described Mr. Lee as a, ¡°quiet, sensitive man,¡±
during an emotional scene in front of the hospital where Mr. Lee died, where
other protesters present started to chant, ¡°We are all Lee.¡± 

Indeed, Mr. Lee had a humble background, as he came from a family who
suffered through rural poverty. After having struggled as a poor farmer for
many years, Mr. Lee became involved in activism as an advocate for farmers
and eventually became the president of the Korean Advanced Farmers
Federation. 
Mr. Lee attracted attention in Europe this past February when he put up a
tent in front of the WTO headquarters in Geneva, staging a solo protest
against Mr. Stuart Harbinson, who is the chairperson of the Committee on
Agriculture in the WTO. Mr. Lee had one placard that said ¡°WTO Kills
Farmers,¡± which coincidentally he also had on hand when he was on top of the
fence today before he stabbed himself. 

A little bit over two years ago, Carlo Giuliani was killed at the hands of a
young Italian policeman during anti-corporate-globalization protests in Genoa
and his funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of people in Italy. His
death was a matter of controversy and importance for some time and will
always be known as the first fatality since the anti-corporate-globalization
movement first came to prominence in 1999 following massive protests in
Seattle against the WTO. 

Similarly, Mr. Lee¡¯s death may have additional ramifications, rather than
being a mere rallying point for the anti-corporate-globalization movement.
Anonymous sources who have had contact with an observer in the South Korean
delegation to the WTO ministerial revealed plans in the work for a walk-out
tomorrow. That walk-out could have a domino effect as South Korea is far from
being the only country that is disgruntled with present negotiations. 

Whether or not that walk-out does happen, today¡¯s death is sure to have a
lasting impact, as actions are already being planned for tomorrow in
commemoration of what Mr. Lee¡¯s Korean friends termed, ¡°the maximum
sacrifice one could undertake to show his dedication to the cause and the
movement against the WTO.¡± 

Jing Zhao
US-Japan-China Comparative Policy Research Institute 
San Jose, CA 95133-1839 USA 
http://cpri.tripod.com