U.S. Military Drills Escalate Tension

Head of Progressive Group Speaks Out

Han Chung-mok, a co-chairman of the Aug. 15 event titled `Anti-war, Peace, Reunification March,` said the group has been saying for month that it would host the event before the City Hall and it is a mere coincidence. “We are not considering changing the venue, but we will try to avoid any collision,” said Han.

“If the police draws the line, we already told the authorities, we will stick to the police line,” he continued to say. “We are set to host a cultural event to deliver our messages of peace, avoiding any collision.”

“The training of U.S. Stryker Brigade is an act of escalating tension in Korean Peninsula, apart from the ongoing efforts for the six-party talks,” Han pointed out. “The Aug. 15 event will include a Korean folk music performance by some 1,000 people, a choir for peace by 815 and a candle light demonstration against U.S. war threat,” said Han, adding the event would deliver messages of peace to the world.

“I found it hard to call the protest a violent demonstration, watching unarmed students climb up the armored vehicle with the national flag wrapped around their bodies,” Han said of the controversial protest by progressive students group Hanchongyron. “It was there way of expressing grave concern over escalating war tension in Korea.”

podragon@donga.com