‘Remembrance of Two Middle School Girls’ - About 50 Candle Gatherings

On June 13, exactly a year after the death of the two middle school girls, Hyo Soon Shin and Mi Sun Shim killed by a U.S. armored vehicle, there were memorial events held in about 50 places nationwide including the public square in front of Seoul City Hall.

In the great candle march in ‘Remembrance of the Two Middle School Girls / National Independence / Anti-War Peace Rally’ held in the public square in front of City Hall starting at five in the afternoon, 15,000 people gathered around on top of 25,000 people nationwide to participate in the memorial.

The event held in front of Seoul City Hall included the ‘folding of 10,000 paper cranes to be sent to Hyo Soon and Mi Sun’ along with singing performances by Chi Hwan An, Hae Cheol Shin and Goddagi.

Joyang Middle School (Gwangjeok-myun, Yangju-gun, Gyeonggi Province), the school these two girls attended, planned to hold a one year memorial service with the participation of teaching staff and students in the morning but when the press gathered, the school replaced the open memorial service with a silent prayer in classrooms before the start of 5th period.

The 2nd Division of U.S. Army located in Garueng-dong, Uijeongbu, also held a memorial service at its headquarters with the participation of Division General John Wood and other regional commanders. This memorial service lasted for an hour including the singing of hymns, a memorial address by Gen. Wood, and prayers for the deceased and their families. On this day, 2,000 members of the National Street Vendor General Union joined the memorial service held in front of City Hall after holding its own ‘National Street Vendor Rally’.

Moreover, 3,000 students of the Korean University Student Association Union held its own memorial gathering at Jongmyo Park at five in the afternoon and later moved to City Hall.

The Police doubled its security at the U.S. Embassy, the 8th Division Army and the Ambassador’s Residence and prepared for unexpected situations by placing 10,000 policemen within the city limits.

Before the candle gathering, ‘the National Countermeasure Committee on the Deaths of the Two Middle School Girls (Joint Representatives including Guen Soo Hong and many others)’ had a press conference concerning the nationwide candlelight march in front of the KT building next to the U.S. Embassy at eleven in the morning.

Moreover, a Candle Monument was erected on the sidewalk in front of Kyobo Book Store located in Jongro-1-ga, Jongro-gu, Seoul to commemorate the 1-year anniversary of the death of the two girls and the 200 days of the candlelight march.

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