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S Koreans stage huge anti-US rally
About 50,000 South Koreans have rallied in the capital Seoul in protest over the deaths of two teenage girls killed by US servicemen in a road accident.
Saturday, 14 December, 2002, 13:24 GMT
S Koreans stage huge anti-US rally
About 50,000 South Koreans have rallied in the capital Seoul in protest over the deaths of two teenage girls killed by US servicemen in a road accident.
Several thousand riot police prevented the protesters from marching on the US embassy.
The BBC's Caroline Gluck, in Seoul, says it was the largest demonstration since the two soldiers, whose armoured vehicle hit the girls, were acquitted of negligent homicide by a US military court last month.
Protesters want the soldiers retried in a South Korean court and are demanding changes in an agreement that governs the rights and conduct of about 37,000 US troops in the country.
Another demand appeared to have been met when US President George Bush expressed his regret over the deaths in a telephone conversation with South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung on Friday.
But his words failed to appease the crowd which marched through Seoul on Saturday.
Many called for a public apology.
"We cannot accept it as a direct apology to the Korean people. We demand him to apologise in the capacity of the US president instead of whispering personal sadness on the phone," said protester Chai Hee-Byeong.
Carrying candles in mourning, demonstrators cheered and applauded when speakers demanded more South Korean jurisdiction over US troops.
There were also angry words for President Kim Dae-jung, who was called a "US puppet".
Large US flags were held aloft by the crowd and torn apart.
Base entered
In other protests, two students in the city of Daegu, 320 kilometres (200 miles) south-east of Seoul, broke into a US military base and climbed on to a 30 metre (100ft) water tank.
There were no reports of violent clashes or casualties.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Mr Bush had "pledged to work closely with the South Korean Government to prevent such accidents in the future".
Mr Bush said the American people cherished their strong alliance with South Korea and President Kim Dae-jung had said South Koreans appreciated the peacekeeping role of US troops, Mr Fleischer added.
The current Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) currently requires that American soldiers charged with crimes while on duty in South Korea be tried in US military tribunals.
Our correspondent says the government has opened talks with US officials to improve the code, but their efforts so far have not calmed the public mood.
S Koreans stage huge anti-US rally
About 50,000 South Koreans have rallied in the capital Seoul in protest over the deaths of two teenage girls killed by US servicemen in a road accident.
Several thousand riot police prevented the protesters from marching on the US embassy.
The BBC's Caroline Gluck, in Seoul, says it was the largest demonstration since the two soldiers, whose armoured vehicle hit the girls, were acquitted of negligent homicide by a US military court last month.
Protesters want the soldiers retried in a South Korean court and are demanding changes in an agreement that governs the rights and conduct of about 37,000 US troops in the country.
Another demand appeared to have been met when US President George Bush expressed his regret over the deaths in a telephone conversation with South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung on Friday.
But his words failed to appease the crowd which marched through Seoul on Saturday.
Many called for a public apology.
"We cannot accept it as a direct apology to the Korean people. We demand him to apologise in the capacity of the US president instead of whispering personal sadness on the phone," said protester Chai Hee-Byeong.
Carrying candles in mourning, demonstrators cheered and applauded when speakers demanded more South Korean jurisdiction over US troops.
There were also angry words for President Kim Dae-jung, who was called a "US puppet".
Large US flags were held aloft by the crowd and torn apart.
Base entered
In other protests, two students in the city of Daegu, 320 kilometres (200 miles) south-east of Seoul, broke into a US military base and climbed on to a 30 metre (100ft) water tank.
There were no reports of violent clashes or casualties.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Mr Bush had "pledged to work closely with the South Korean Government to prevent such accidents in the future".
Mr Bush said the American people cherished their strong alliance with South Korea and President Kim Dae-jung had said South Koreans appreciated the peacekeeping role of US troops, Mr Fleischer added.
The current Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) currently requires that American soldiers charged with crimes while on duty in South Korea be tried in US military tribunals.
Our correspondent says the government has opened talks with US officials to improve the code, but their efforts so far have not calmed the public mood.
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December 14, 2002, was declared "National Sovereignty Reclamation Day" by Koreans protesting the killing of Shin Hyo Soon and Shim Mi Son by U.S. armored vehicle and the fraudulent military trial in which they found the two soldiers not guilty. Over 100,000 people coverged near Seoul City Hall and held a candlelight vigil. In addition to vigils held in over 50 cities in south Korea, there were vigils held in Japan, Russia, France, Germany, England, Ireland, Sweden, Austgralia, Canada, and in numerous cities in the United States. An international one million people candlelight vigil is called for December 31.
http://www.iacenter.org/korea-teens6.htm#dec14
More Links On Korea From The IAC
http://www.iacenter.org/korea_top.htm
http://www.iacenter.org/korea-teens6.htm#dec14
More Links On Korea From The IAC
http://www.iacenter.org/korea_top.htm
I agree. We should leave, and let the South Koreans delight in the massive invasion from the North that would occur almost instantly thereafter.
the U.S. is maintaining those troops as a larger plan of empire building, not just a slap in the face of Korea.
Korean take it personally--and nationalistically--while they should see America as the global, number one, capitalist lackey and henchmen. The only way to stop unnecessary deaths is to end ALL militarism--American, European, N & S Korean, Japanese, Chinese, etc. etc. These protestors should also be demanding the end to both the South and North Korean militaries and the resources used instead to feed the famine ravaged North.
These rallies, having experienced them myself, remind me of the Nuremburg rallies in Nazi Germany in their nationalistic fervor. These "sheep" don't seem to realize that capitalism mantains its hegemony by divide-and-conquer, using devicise "identities" like nations, race, religion, ethnicity and so on. These Korean patriots are making NO critique of the system of social relations all of us on the planet live under. Instead, they seem to be saying the U.S. soldiers should endure the tortures and "guilty until proven innocent" of their own archaic, Napoleanic/Confusian legal system. And they seem to prefer their own Korean ruling class to the hierarchy where theirs comes under the thumb of Americas--INSTEAD OF DEMANDING THE END TO THE CLASS SYSTEM AND ALL RULERS.
They could garner overwhelming international solidarity if it wasn't just about nationality, but about the system whose military oppresses people all over the world.
END ALL CAPITAL, AND YOU END ALL UNNECCESSARY DEATHS BY ITS WAR MACHINE.
Tae Il
Korean take it personally--and nationalistically--while they should see America as the global, number one, capitalist lackey and henchmen. The only way to stop unnecessary deaths is to end ALL militarism--American, European, N & S Korean, Japanese, Chinese, etc. etc. These protestors should also be demanding the end to both the South and North Korean militaries and the resources used instead to feed the famine ravaged North.
These rallies, having experienced them myself, remind me of the Nuremburg rallies in Nazi Germany in their nationalistic fervor. These "sheep" don't seem to realize that capitalism mantains its hegemony by divide-and-conquer, using devicise "identities" like nations, race, religion, ethnicity and so on. These Korean patriots are making NO critique of the system of social relations all of us on the planet live under. Instead, they seem to be saying the U.S. soldiers should endure the tortures and "guilty until proven innocent" of their own archaic, Napoleanic/Confusian legal system. And they seem to prefer their own Korean ruling class to the hierarchy where theirs comes under the thumb of Americas--INSTEAD OF DEMANDING THE END TO THE CLASS SYSTEM AND ALL RULERS.
They could garner overwhelming international solidarity if it wasn't just about nationality, but about the system whose military oppresses people all over the world.
END ALL CAPITAL, AND YOU END ALL UNNECCESSARY DEATHS BY ITS WAR MACHINE.
Tae Il
I'm glad to hear from the inside - someone who has been to these - what it's like.
Down with all flags! Imagine if there were none.
Down with all flags! Imagine if there were none.
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