There is something interesting to note on the videos from last Monday's protest at the former elementary school near the Pyongtaek base.

I noted concerning the bigger protest in late February -- the one where the press worried about violence before and praised the civic groups for not using violence afterward --- that the non-violence of that day was not very significant --- because it was crystal clear the anti-US leaders pushing the Pyongtaek issue had told the student and labor unions to stay away.

It was clear the face the civic leaders wanted to put on the protest was that of the middle aged mom, the poor Korean family/locals, and the elderly grandmothers --- as well as non-violence.

That was the same Monday with one crucial difference.

Some university troops were called out. They were positioned to stand guard at the gate and the perimeter of the elementary school grounds -- in the places most likely to see a violent clash with the riot police ordered to move out the squatters.

This makes it very clear how the civic leaders are trying to frame the situation right now.

They want the image to be about old ladies and poor farmers being pushed around at the behest of USFK who wants to take their land for another unwanted US base.

They only want to use a minimal amount of labor or university student union help for the time being.

More than likely, what will happen, and what they are going for, is to use these initial protests as a better selling tool for expressing future Righteous Rage via semi-violent protest.

They want the images of the agjummas being pulled out of the elementary school or their homes (or homes they took over when the real owners sold and left) to give them the cover they believe they need right now to use the violence that is more natural too them.

In other words, I expect in the next few weeks and months to see the university students, and to a less frequent extent the labor unions, called back into action, and for the protests to return to violence --- with the justification given that they tried to use peace, but after witnessing how the poor locals were being oppressed, they had no choice but to fight fire with fire.