A little outside the usual realm of this forum, but I would argue it is heavily adjacent. At the very least there are a couple solid roof shots.
Korea has been in a state of civil unrest lately. The government announced its intention to rewrite history, literally, but reclaiming the duty of writing grade-school textbooks. They want to introduce labour reforms allowing companies to hire new employees on a "temporary" basis for up to four years. Rice prices are falling, leaving farmers disenfranchised. And they still haven't gotten safety right, after 2014's catastrophic Sewol ferry disaster. Plus a bevy of other causes.
There was a big protest in November, in which the police laid the smack down and fought back hard, using water cannons to put one elderly farm labourer into a coma from which he still hasn't awoken. The police sought to ban this latest protst, on Saturday, December 5, and President Park Jr warned that they would take stern measures
against protesters wearing masks, claiming that this is how terrorists operate. Well, the Supreme Court said no to the police and the rally was on.
1. In preparation, I...well maybe you know a bit about me.
2. I got some practice in where the police park their riot police buses.
3. At previous protests, the police would park buses bumper-to-bumper to create bus walls.
4. Anyone around?
5. So, onward to the protest. I saw a familiar face on my way there.
6. Thanks to the president's comments, masks were going to be everywhere.
7. Here's the view from my go-to roof for protests and World Cup games. Right as I got in position, I saw two hotel workers coming toward me. I whipped out my camera, fired off three shots, palmed one of my cards, and complied with them. The elder of the two was very kind and maybe sympathetic to either reporters or protesters, so I was fine.
8. Down among the protesters, I encountered many people masked like me.
9. That is basically the paper version of my mask.
10. Just as
President Park warned us, here's a masked Jihadist.
11. Masked dancers led the terrorist attack.
12. Traditional Korean masks mixed with Anonymous and Avengers.
13. Korean aristocratic Janus.
14. Oh look, there are people on top of City Hall. Maybe I could too?
15. A long way to get there.
16. Korean cats protest against the government controlling history.
17. Here's how it looks from old City Hall. The big dead zone in the bottom is an unfortunately timed skating rink under construction.
18. In this direction past the Salvation Army Christmas tree, you can see the south gate of the city.
19. And in the opposite direction, the main palace in front of the presidential palace, the Blue House, with the blue roof.
20. A pretty pleasant roof, just me and the journalists.
21. Police up the wazzoo in every direction.
22.
23. One more Anonymous, probably no affiliation.
24. Who are they looking at?
25. Rooftoppers! Or, Kia employees on strike.
26. We marched, and the police gave virtually no resistance. Unlike the previous protest, everyone went home safely and feeling a sense of accomplishment.
27. Anyway, I hope this wasn't too off topic. I've found the skills I've learned urban exploring have been very convenient for getting around a major protest in a foreign country, and there's no reason you can't be urban exploring in front of thousands of people not paying attention to you.