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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 29, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
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KOREA'S "VIEQUES": THOUSANDS DEMAND: YANKEES GO HOME!
By Andy McInerney
n a fierce display of anti-imperialism, thousands of
Koreans clashed with riot police on June 17 in Maehyang-ri,
south Korea. Their target was the U.S. Air Force Koon-ni
bombing range, occupied by the Pentagon since the Korean
War.
Auto workers from the Kia Motor Co., steeled in labor
battles over the past year, joined with students and
community residents at the 4,000-strong demonstration. They
chanted "Yankee go home" and "This is our land! Drive out
U.S. troops!"
The slogans reflected the fact that there is a mature
anti-imperialist movement in Korea. That movement has
fought against the U.S. occupation for decades.
With thousands of riot police guarding the base, about 500
demonstrators broke through the fence and headed toward the
facility.
"Destroy the base," they chanted. At least 20
demonstrators were wounded in the ensuing battles.
Residents of Maehyang-ri have long suffered from the
Pentagon's bombing practices. Over the years, at least nine
Koreans have been killed as a result of the exercises.
In 1968, four local children were killed as they played
with an unexploded bomb.
In May, six U.S. bombs landed near the homes of Maehyang-
ri residents. Six people were injured and houses were
damaged in that "accident."
That incident opened a new wave of protests against the
Pentagon occupation of Korean land. The Pentagon arrogantly
offers to relocate part of the village rather than move its
base.
On June 19, after a short reprieve during the north-south
summit, the Pentagon resumed bombings and strafings with F-
16s. Hundreds of residents and students again clashed with
police.
"We will enter the range and defend it with our bodies,"
one veteran activist warned.
The struggle over the Koon-ni range comes amid growing
anti-imperialist sentiment across Korea. A number of
atrocities committed by U.S. occupying forces have been
widely publicized in recent weeks.
On June 16, a U.S. soldier was sentenced to eight years in
prison for killing a bar hostess--although he remains in
U.S. protection while he appeals the verdict.
Three weeks earlier, a U.S. officer was arrested with his
father for raping a bartender in Taegu. In May an Air Force
captain was caught smuggling cocaine into Korea.
And on June 8, Petty Officer 1st class James Fuhrman was
sentenced to life in prison for murdering his Korean-born
wife and son. Fuhrman burned the bodies after the 1998
murders.
These outrages come at the same time that hopes have been
raised about better relations with the socialist north.
Millions are questioning the need for the 37,000 U.S.
troops that have remained in the south since 1953.
The militant June 17 demonstration came the same day that
56 Puerto Rican activists were arrested at the Pentagon's
training grounds in Vieques, a small island that is part of
Puerto Rico. Since a civilian was killed April 19 last
year, Puerto Ricans--both in the nation occupied by U.S.
imperialism since 1898 and in the United States--have waged
a mass campaign against the U.S. Navy's presence there.
U.S. imperialism's far-flung empire, with bases in every
corner of the world, is like a castle built on sand. Its
strength is also its weakness: It is vulnerable to popular
resistance at any point and at any time.
The Pentagon bombings put U.S. imperialism in a direct,
headlong confrontation with the residents of Maehyang-ri
and their allies in the powerful, militant labor and
student movements.
The gain in consciousness is already being felt. "We can
make it without the U.S. troops," Maehyang-ri farmer Park
Song-Rim told the French News Agency on June 19. "They
should leave without delay."
- END -
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