For over a week, tens of thousands of mostly women students in south
Korea have courageously fought against the fascist terror and repression
of the US-backed government of the Republic of Korea. The students are
demanding reunification of their country and the removal of US troops and
weapons from the Korean peninsula.
The violence against the students erupted when authorities banned and
attacked the start of the "pan-national youth rally," an annual event to
highlight the struggle for reunification and against US imperialist
occupation. The students planned to march from their campuses in the
south to the border with the north. A grand "unification festival" with
students from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was planned.
The south Korean authorities, with full US political and military
backing, outlawed the festival and unleashed thousands of police and
troops against the students. Yonsei University, in Seoul, a main site of
the struggle, was put under siege and then stormed by troops, using
helicopters and armored vehicles, tear gas and other chemicals, to
forcibly remove the students.
Over 5,500 students have been arrested and over 1500 injured, while
thousands more continue to resist the police onslaught. Police have
arrested 15 of the 33 "most wanted" student leaders, 189 students on
charges of violating the fascist National Security Law, and over 3,000 on
charges of staging violent demonstrations. In addition to arresting
student leaders, authorities have claimed they will disband the umbrella
group of student councils, Hanchongryon, representing 169 of south Korea's
200 univers ities.
Thinking people fully support the just struggle of the students
and salute their courageous efforts in the face of the US-backed fascist
repression. Their demand for reunification is a patriotic demand,
reflecting the heartfelt desire of Koreans north and south. We vigorously
condemn US imperialism for its crime of forcibly dividing Korea and
maintaining this division through occupation of the south.
The criminal hand of US imperialism can be seen behind the repression
by south Korean authorities. For example, the authorities have justified
their fascist terror by claiming that Hanchongryon, representing the
majority of south Korean universities, is a "pro-North Korean
insurrectionist force" which "has subscribed to the North's revolutionary
strategy to communize the South."
Anti-communism is the justification used by US imperialism for its
aggression and suppression of the peoples worldwide. It was used to
justify the war against Korea and Vietnam, installing fascist regimes in
Chile, Brazil, and elsewhere, intervention in Nicaragua, the embargo of
Cuba and many other crimes. Wherever the US wants to impose its dictate
and domination, anti-communism is used.
Americans are also familiar with use of the "red" scare during the
McCarthy era, and its use since that time to justify government
infiltration and wrecking of communist and progressive organizations.
Anti-communism is the flag of fascist repression by the US, at home and
abroad.
The US-backed puppet government of south Korea is using this same
excuse to justify the violence against the students--for demanding
reunification and exercising their democratic rights of freedom of
conscious and association.
US interference can also be seen in the numerous military exercises
conducted in the south in July and right during the attacks on the
students. These included a 5-day combat-ready exercise in and around
Seoul; large-scale joint landing exercises, using air and naval forces;
and sending a huge armed force into densely populated areas of Seoul,
where troops fired guns and tossed hand grenades day and night. At the
height of police attacks on the students, the US and south Korean armed
forces began a 13 -day simulated war exercise.
Despite this massive show of force, the Korean people will not be
intimidated, as the heroic resistance of the students firmly shows.
US imperialism has a long history of criminal activity in Korea,
dating back to its occupation of the country after World War II and its
war of genocide from 1950-53. The US forcibly divided the country at that
time, and continues to occupy the south with 36,000 troops. The US erected
and maintains a massive wall at the 38th parallel, a hateful reminder of
US interference.
All Americans have a duty to oppose US occupation and interference in
Korea and support the just demands of the students for removal of US
troops and weapons and peaceful reunification and independence of Korea.
The Koreans are a single nation. They have lived on the same land and
shared the same culture and language for thousands of years. Peaceful
reunification of the nation is desired by the peoples north and south. The
US has no right to interfere and the Koreans have every right to resolve
this question on their own.
US Imperialism Out of Korea!
Support Korean Struggle for Reunification!
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
