Issue and Opponent: In 2016, the South Korean government, led, at the time, by President Park Geun-hye, proposed protest bans and increasingly used a Cold War-era national security law to make certain kinds of speech illegal. Amnesty International organized this action in response to the growing crackdowns on rights, especially free speech, in South Korea.
Dilemma Action: Amnesty International recorded 120 protesters, and on February 24 projected the life-size hologram “ghosts” on a transparent screen facing an old palace gate at Gwanghwamun Square, just outside of the Blue House where protests had been banned, including the express denial of Amnesty International’s application to protest. Photos and voice and video recordings, submitted online, were compiled into 30 minutes of marching and chanting “Promise us democracy! Promise us freedom of assembly!”
Outcomes: The government did not grant a permit for a live protest in the same location. It did approve a “cultural festival”, but the ‘Ghost Protest’ went ahead as scheduled and without any government response. The dilemma action received widespread, international media attention, and drew a crowd of at least 100, despite threats that any demonstrators or supporters would be detained. Though not part of a larger campaign, this demonstration, and the structure therein, were in response to government crackdowns on other peaceful protests throughout 2015. There were widespread protests later in 2016, but this action was not directly related to the inciting incidents for those protests.