- On October 15, members of the People for Peace and Reunification, the South Headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification, the Solidarity for Realizing the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration and the Society for Supporting the Prisoners of Conscience of the Family Movement for Realizing Democracy called a joint press conference in front of the US military base in Ryongsan, Seoul, to condemn the US for forcing south Korea to increase the war drill expenses.
A press release there exposed that the compulsion of the increase of the war drill expenses upon south Korea is the revelation of the US intension to further intensify war drills against north Korea.
It also held that such joint military exercises as “Reception, Staging, Onward-movement and Integration” and “Ulji Focus Lens” are all aggressive war drills against north Korea incurring only military tension on the Korean Peninsula.
The appropriation of the war drill outlays by the south Korean authorities to such joint military drills is the expression of its admission to the illegality of the aggressive military drills and its positive participation in them.
The press release urged the US military to stop forcing south Korea to increase the war drill expenses and to drop the aggression acts against north Korea.
- On October 15, the People for Peace and Reunification made public a statement, demanding the dismantlement of the “UN Forces Command” and the conclusion of a peace treaty.
The statement said that a practical guideline for realizing peace on the Korean Peninsula, co-prosperity of the nation and the country’s reunification was provided between the south and the north of Korea, and all the fellow countrymen are positively supporting it and turning out in a nationwide struggle to safeguard peace by the concerted efforts of the nation without any interference from the outsiders.
It condemned the US and the south Korean authorities for continuing the farce of “the transfer of the right
to control of the war-time operation command to the south Korean military”, deceiving
the people.
The statement disclosed that the US plot of “the transfer of the right to control of the war-time operation command” is nothing more than a trick to further grasp the military control over south Korea.
It accused the US of its undisguised assertion to transform the “UN Forces Command” into a pivotal combat command for war-time supports and of intensifying the war crisis on the Korean Peninsula incessantly.
The statement clarified that the People for Peace and Reunification would stage active struggle including mass rallies and 10,000-people signature campaign to dismantle the “UN Forces Command” and the conclusion of a peace treaty without the US forces,.
- On October 16, civic organizations including the South Headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification and the People for Peace and Reunification held the 97th anti-US solidarity rally in front of the US embassy in Seoul demanding the liquidation of the subordinate military relations between the US and south Korea.
Speakers at the rally, referring to the US and the south Korean authorities’ moves to convene the 15th south Korea-US meeting for security policy initiative and the annual security consultation, disclosed that those meetings that would discuss the matters of the “transfer of the right to control of the war-time operation command”, the coordination and the strengthening of the role of the “UN Forces Command”, the expansion of the US military base in Pyongtaek and the dealing with the environmental pollution of the returned US military bases, etc, would inevitably result in a positive backup of the US military hegemony as they were in the past.
The speakers indicated that the most belligerent forces who dampen the ever-growing reunification enthusiasm of the Korean nation are none other than the US.
They demanded the end of the subordinate military relations between south Korea and the US, which threaten peace of the Korean Peninsula.
They demanded the south Korean authorities stop at once the acts running counter to the peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula and make efforts to withdraw the US troops and conclude a peace treaty.
After the rally the participants delivered a protest letter addressed to the US president to the US embassy.
- On October 16, the representatives of political parties and civic organizations including the Democratic Labor Party, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the Solidarity for Social Progress, the People for Peace and Reunification and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held a rally in front of the Sejong Cultural Center in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, denouncing the government’s moves to extend the period of the troops dispatched to Iraq.
Speakers at the rally condemned the government to extend again the period of the Zaitun unit dispatched to Iraq, due to end by late this year, yielding to the US demand.
A declaration of 368 personages from different social standings opposing the moves to extend the dispatch period was read out.
The participants chanted slogans holding posters reading “the government, stop the trickery for extending the troop dispatch!”, “Submit a withdrawal schedule within the year at once!”, etc.
- On October 19, civic organizations including the South Korean Alliance for Progress, the People for Peace and Reunification and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions called a joint press interview in front of the Defense Ministry building to condemn the 15th south Korea-US meeting for security policy initiative.
A press release made public there indicated that the meeting has been abused for the sake of the US military domination.
It demanded stop at once the meeting which discourages the reunification fever of the fellow countrymen.
It also demanded the halt to the expansion of the US military base in Pyongtaek and the extension of the period of the troop dispatched to Iraq, the dismantlement of the “UN Forces Command” and the renouncement of the aggressive south Korea-US alliance.
After the press interview the members of the civic organizations launched a strike.
