![[르포] “The boundary is strict, the atmosphere is calm.” I went to downtown Washington three days before Biden took office.](https://newsimg.hankookilbo.com/cms/articlerelease/2021/01/18/4b1261aa-d22a-42f0-90f9-3913c428cf69.jpg?t=20210117230116 "[르포] “The boundary is strict, the atmosphere is calm.” I went to downtown Washington three days before Biden took office.")
On the 17th, three days before US President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, the National Defense Forces are standing guard while controlling access near the Capitol in Washington. Washington = AFP Yonhap News
In the center of Washington on the 17th (local time) three days before the inauguration ceremony of US President Joe Biden. It was a weekend Sunday when the FBI warned of possible armed protests by far-right groups, but the city was relatively calm. The areas around major facilities such as the White House and the Parliament Building were blocked with iron fences, concrete blocks, various trucks, and heavy equipment over 2m, and heavily armed soldiers and police flooded the streets. However, the alert posture between the soldiers and the police was not overwhelming. As protesters, street vendors, tourists, and Washington residents on a walk increased on the streets, the hope of Americans waiting for the opening of the’Biden Age’ could also be felt.
From the 15th in Washington, roads and subways from the outskirts began to be blocked. 13 subway stations in the city, with easy access to the White House and the Capitol, have been closed and the subway is passing through these stations without stopping. Four of the six bridges that can cross the Potomac River from Virginia and enter downtown Washington have been closed or will be closed prior to the inauguration ceremony, and the other bridges have also been strengthened. The same goes for the road from Maryland on the other side to Washington. After the protests in support of President Donald Trump invaded the Capitol on the 6th, the security guard in downtown Washington was strengthened and the inauguration ceremony of the new president was ahead, so the security was more severe.
On the 17th, near Foggy Bottom in Washington, USA, the National Guard is on the lookout, blocking the street. Washington = correspondent Jung Sang-won
On this morning, when I went up the stairs of the subway station at Foggy Bottom Station 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from the White House, the police stood out from the entrance. As the U.S. Secret Service set up in the center of Washington, right outside the’Green Zone’ and’Red Zone’ for vehicle access control, heading east to the White House, the National Guard with rifles and armed police teamed up at each street. there was.
But it wasn’t controlling people passing by. Barkley, who lives in downtown Washington, explained, “Although there are many soldiers and police, I don’t feel that the situation is urgent.”
When I walked about 10 minutes to arrive at Paragot Park, northwest of the White House, I noticed a stall selling President Trump’s hats and T-shirts. Lydia, who is from El Salvador and runs a flower shop nearby, introduced that she also opened a stall because it was likely to be crowded. When Biden-elect found a souvenir, he brought out a mask and a calendar. “I came to the US to escape communism. Trump was so strong that I liked it. They also wiped out criminals. Biden doesn’t know yet. Still, I wish I could make money.”
On the 17th, citizens are filming people preparing for the protest at the BLM protest site near Lafayette Square, north of the White House in Washington, USA. Washington = correspondent Jung Sang-won
Lafayette Square, the northern entrance to the White House, has still been installed after the’Black Lives Matter (BLM)’ protest last year. However, five protesters who had been playing music from the morning were waving flags and shouting slogans. On the flag there were phrases such as’Trump is off’ and’Police cruelty is also a problem’. A black activist who was guarding the field explained that “even after the inauguration ceremony, we will stay here until our problems are resolved.”
The closer you got to the White House, the more distance you couldn’t pass. When I arrived near the Archives-Naval Memorial Subway Station by showing the foreign press ID, there was a search desk heading to Pennsylvania Avenue. A simple search process leads to the street after passing through a signboard with prohibited items such as explosives, toy guns, firecrackers, and placards. Washington citizens and tourists lined up and passed the checkpoint.
On the 17th, vehicles are controlled on Pennsylvania Avenue, the main road connecting the White House in Washington and the Capitol, and citizens and tourists are walking in the middle of the street. Washington = correspondent Jung Sang-won
Pennsylvania Avenue is an eight-lane road that connects the White House in Washington and the Capitol, about 2km. When the US presidential inauguration ceremony is held, the new president, who has completed his oath in office in front of the Capitol, drives off and walks to the White House while receiving cheers from the citizens. The possibility of a commemorative event on this road remains on the 20th, but the schedule has not been confirmed. Because of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), the number of attendance at the inauguration ceremony has been reduced to around 1,000, and the possibility of large-scale street events being canceled is increasing.
As the vehicle walked in the middle of controlled Pennsylvania Avenue and reached the west entrance of the Capitol, a barbed wire surrounded the Capitol in all directions. Inside, the National Guard, which was deployed from the evening of the 6th, stood on guard. Preparations for the rehearsal on the 18th were in full swing with the American flag hung at the inauguration venue on the west side of the Capitol. The building was closed because of a holiday.
A billboard is running at the Washington bus stop on the 17th, requesting the identification of the protesters who invaded the Capitol on the 6th. Washington = correspondent Jung Sang-won
I returned to the street and headed for the National Mall, Washington’s iconic space, but police controlled the road. The lawn of the National Mall, which is 3km east-west and 500m north-south, attracts millions of people at each presidential inauguration ceremony. The tourists who were walking together took commemorative photos and turned around. On each billboard at a nearby bus stop, the face of the subject of the investigation, who was in a riot at the Capitol on the 6th, was displayed as a big door.
In downtown Washington, 25,000 National Guards are deployed until the inauguration ceremony. If the number of soldiers nearing the size of the USFK (28,500) and the personnel of the police and federal agencies are combined, more than 40,000 personnel will be vigilant. In response to the FBI’s warning of armed protests, the National Guard and police are also being deployed in 50 state legislatures other than Washington, and they are paying attention.
On the 17th, three days before the inauguration of US President-elect Joe Biden, the National Defense Forces pass near the Washington Capitol. The US officials plan to increase the number of state defense forces to 25,000 in Washington DC in case of any possible violence ahead of the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol on the 20th. Washington = AP Yonhap News
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said in an interview with the US NBC that day, “the border is strengthened in downtown Washington, where the federal agencies are concentrated, and that is not the case in the area where 700,000 citizens live.” If there are any, we have plans to respond.” The Washington Post reported that a 22-year-old man with a firearm was arrested at a security checkpoint near the Washington Capitol on that day, and a woman pretending to be a law enforcement officer was caught running away during check-in the day before.
Washington= Jeong Won Correspondent [email protected]
News edited by Hankook Ilbo can also be viewed on Naver
