• Korean Security Journal
• /
• no.24
• /
• pp.125-146
• /
• 2010

The G20 summit is the premier forum for international economic cooperation and it will be held in Seoul in November 2010. However, protests are expected during the Seoul summit, as a part of the deepening global war against capitalism. The Korean Police need to deal with these protests effectively in order to provide security to the participating leaders and make the meeting run on wheel as planned. The current study attempts to analyze the death of Ian Tomlinson who died in the context of a heavily policed protest during 2009 G20 London summit. There are number of unique features regarding this incident, such as the public scrutiny of police conduct through video footage, the police use of excessive force, and the process to hold the police to account for misconduct. This incident caused serious damages to the public's faith in the British police. Based on the analysis, this study found that during the G20 London summit British police had the problems such as the lack of the clear standards on the use of force, improper training in the use of force, poor communications with the media and protesters, inappropriate use of the close containment tactic, and the failure to display police identification. Therefore, this study suggests the inducement of peaceful protests, the adoption of a set of standards on the use of force, public order training that is more directed and more relevant to the public order challenges facing the Korean police, improvement of the communication with the media and protesters, enhancement of individual officer's accountability as public order policing strategies for G20 Seoul summit meeting. However, the most fundamental principle is that Korean police must place a high value on tolerance and winning the consent of the public.