People Gather in Big Cities to Voice Disapproval of Sending Troops to Iraq

On March 22, the first weekend after the United States began its attack on Iraq, anti-war and pro-peace demonstrations were held in several cities around the country including Seoul, Daejeon and Gwangju.

‘The Pan-Korean Committee For the Two Girls Killed by a U.S. Army Armored Vehicle’ held ‘a meeting to censure the U.S. attack on Iraq’ at 4 p.m. on the same day at Jongmyo Park in central Seoul with 2,500 people present.

“As this war is an aggressive war motivated by greed for oil, Korea should not send its army to Iraq,” participants at the gathering stated. They then marched with candles in hand all the way to the YMCA on Jongro-2-ga.

Mr. Kwon Young-gil, representative of the Democratic Labor Party criticized President Roh Moo-hyun, saying “President Roh said he would talk straight with the U.S. before winning the presidential election, but now he is supporting this barbaric war for the sake of national interest. This is no doubt a betrayal of public trust.”

The Daejeon-Chungnam chapter of the National Alliance for Democracy and Reunification of Korea also held an ‘anti-war and pro-peace mass meeting for Daejeon citizens’ at 3 p.m. in the plaza in front of Daejeon Station with 100 or so people in attendance, and urged the government to cancel its plan to send troops to Iraq, saying “The war on Iraq is unjustifiable, and nothing but an act of aggression for supremacy in the Middle East and oil.”

The Gwangju-Jeonnam people`s solidarity and the Gwangju-Jeonnam solidarity for reunification held ‘a meeting to urge the U.S. to stop the war and wish for peace’ in the afternoon in Gwangju Park in Sa-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju with 200 people present, and staged a ‘pro-peace street march’ to Chungjang-ro, Dong-gu.

Gwangju Peace Corps, ‘the Light of May,’ announced on March 22 that we sent a letter appealing to President Roh Moo-hyun and National Assembly members including Mr. Park Gwan-yong, chairman of the National Assembly, to cancel its decision to send Korean troops to Iraq along with ‘flower seeds of peace.

“The intention to solve the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula by sending our army to Iraq is tantamount to subservience to the stronger, leaving our fate and future in the hands of the United States”, said the organization in the letter. “We hope that the flower seeds of peace be planted in the front gardens of Cheong Wa Dae and the National Assembly, and the will to realize peace would blossom like flowers.”

150 or so people including members of the ‘Chungbuk Committee For the Two Girls Killed by a U.S. Army Armored Vehicle’ consisting of 29 NGO`s in Chungcheongbuk-do held a meeting in Cheongju Cheoldanggan Plaza at 2 p.m. Saturday, and insisted that the U.S. should stop invading Iraq and the Korean Government to immediately stop supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq and its plan to send troops there.

In the meantime, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announced that its leaders including Acting Chairman Mr. Yoo Deok-sang, and the leading members in the Seoul metropolitan area would stage an overnight sit-down demonstration in front of the National Assembly on Yeouido starting at 4 p.m. on March 23 in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from passing the resolution to send Korean troops to Iraq.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions argued, “If Korea sends troops to Iraq, there will be no justification for appealing to the international community as to our objections to war on the Korean peninsula and will bring peace to the divided country when the United States tries to go to war with North Korea after the war with Iraq is over.”

The Justice and Peace Committee of the Archdiocese of Gwangju is also planning to start a fasting sit-down demonstration in front of the Catholic Center on Geumnam-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju at 3 p.m. on March 24 to urge the U.S. to stop its aggressive war, object to the Korean Government`s decision to send troops to Iraq, and realize peace for an indefinite period of time.

Jin-Young Hwang buddy@donga.com