Korea Burning
Nov 17 2005
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Korea Burning Introduction The continuing US presence in South Korea (more than 35,000 US troops) is the background problem; the elections (December 19th) set the stage, the death of two teenage girls ignited the frustration, anger and despair among the Korean masses. The result: Demonstrations, vigils, pickets, every day in many Korean cities. The Presidential elections South Korea, a predicted standoff between hardliner Lee Hoi-chang of the Grand National Party and sunshine policy follower Roh Moo-hyu of the Democratic Millennium Party revolved around the attitude South Korea should develop, as a nation, towards the problems and behaving of the North. Connected to this debate is the question to what extent South Korea is able to autonomously decide its position is the fragile peace talks with the North. The push from Bush, backed by the presence of 37.000 US troops on Korean soil, leaves the Korean government mere puppets at times. Anger among the crowds in Korea is growing. Demo's against the US presence and against US aggressive policies towards North Korea are daily now and growing in numbers of participants. A vigil of 50.000 people burning Bush-pictures and shouting anti-US military slogans is a sight that Korean city centres are rapidly getting used to. The election campaign offered a stage to the discussion on US presence, but it was the death of two everyday teenage Korean girls, Shin Hyo-soon and Shim Mi-sun, that ignited the anger and frustration among the Korean masses. In this ASEM Watch, an overview is given of what happened over the last period in South Korea and why. Contents
In memory of Shin Hyo-soon and Shim Mi-sun Acquittal of two US soldiers leads to massive protests, Bush apology Since last Thursday, nearly daily protests have taken place in front of US military bases all over South Korea in response to the recent acquittal of two US soldiers involved in the deaths of two South Korean schoolgirls last June. The source of this new wave of anti-US protests is a tragic accident on June 13th in Hyochon Village near Camp Red Cloud, 15 miles north of Seoul. Shin Hyo-soon and Shim Mi-sun were walking to a friend's birthday party when they were struck and killed by a 45-ton armoured US military vehicle. The extremely bloody pictures of the scene were quickly circulated around the country, prompting a few conspiracy theories. Some talked seriously about an act of revenge for the lost soccer game by the US team during the World Cup. The decisive moment of the nation-wide outrage was the immediate claim of innocence made by the USFK and the plan to bring the two suspected drivers back to the US After some months of militant protests across the nation against that plan, the US military finally agreed to hold the trial in South Korea, but only in a US military court. Thursday's decision was exactly what everyone here expected: the acquittal of the vehicle's driver, Sgt. Fernando Nino, by a US military court in Dongducheon. He was found not guilty of negligent homicide. Afterwards, the response was also expected: more then 700 protesters tried to storm Camp Casey and clashed with 1,800 riot cops. "We demand the withdrawal of US troops-they're murders!" protesters shouted. "We cannot accept the verdict, which was made unilaterally according to the unfair Korea - US Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)," said Kwon Yeong-gil, presidential candidate of the Democratic Labour Party. On Saturday, the same US military court unsurprisingly acquitted the second soldier involved in the incident, Sgt. Mark Walker. The two US servicemen left Korea for the United States Wednesday, Yonhap reported. Meanwhile, presidential candidates from every party each declared that, if elected, they will change, as ruling Millennium Democratic Party candidate Roh Moo-hyun put it, the "deeply unjust SOFA." Also, more than 1,000 high school students and other youth gathered in front of Yongsan base in Seoul and demanded the complete withdrawal of the US military from the Korean Peninsula. According to the South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo, a group of students threw Molotov cocktails over the gate of a US base in Daebang-dong on Monday. "Other Koreans found less violent ways of expressing their protest against the non guilty verdict," JoongAng Ilbo reported on Tuesday. In Shinchon, a university area, and also in downtown Seoul, many shops, pubs and restaurants have refused to serve Americans until the Nino and Walker are tried in a South Korean court. Near Seoul's City Hall, a western-style bistro put a sign on its window saying, (Americans are not welcome!" A group of student activists cut a barbed-wire fence and entered a US military base on Tuesday, staging a protest against the acquittals, JoongAng Ilbo reported on Wednesday. Fifty three university students broke into Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi province, around 1 p.m. after cutting wire entanglements surrounding the US 8th Army's 2d Infantry Division headquarters. The students shouted anti-American slogans, demanding that the acquitted GIs be retried in South Korean courts. "There was no violence, however, and after 30 minutes, all the intruders were arrested by the police." so the South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo. And yesterday, international and domestic press wires reported that US President George W. Bush officially apologized for the deaths of the two schoolgirls. "Just this morning, the President sent me a message asking me to convey his apologies to the families of the girls, to the government of the Republic of Korea and to the people of Korea," US Amb. Thomas Hubbard said in a press conference. Statement on the death of two middle-school girls run over by an American armoured vehicle The Human Rights Committee of the National Council of Churches in Korea strongly demands that the USFK make its utmost efforts to establish specific policies and guarantee the disclosure of the truth, to ensure full protection in any future such cases. On June 13 of this year, middle-school students Shim Mi-Sun and Shin Hyo-Soon were crushed to death by an armoured vehicle of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) during a training exercise in Uijongbu, Kyonggi Province. In every case of accident or crime involving the US military forces in South Korea, the USFK have tried to suppress rather than accurately reveal the true facts of the incident. In the investigation process, the Korean prosecution and police have excluded and ignored the opinion and feelings of the bereaved families, only protecting the US parties. The high-handed attitude of the USFK has caused imbalance of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). Under the unequal terms of the agreement, Korea has had no jurisdiction over many cases such as that of Yoon Kum-Ee, a young woman killed by a US soldier, and that of Cheon Dong-rok who was electrocuted to death by a high-voltage wire on a US military base. We cannot imagine the pain of the victims and suffering of the bereaved families. Civil and human rights groups are demanding revision of the SOFA, and the eradication of crimes by US troops in Korea. They have established the National Task-force Committee and held demonstrations in front of the US Embassy in downtown Seoul and the US Second Infantry Division in Uijongbu, Kyonggi Province. Urging disclosure of the truth, punishment of the Commander of the US Forces in Korea, and acknowledgement of responsibility for the homicide, they are requesting that the USFK waive jurisdiction of the case, and that an apology be issued by President Bush. With the bereaved families and the National Task-force Committee strongly speaking out, the USFK prosecuted Sgts. Fernando Nino and Mark Walker for the homicide. On July 19, Daniel R. Zanini, General Commander of the Eighth United Stated Army, expressed his sadness and acknowledged responsibility in this case, during the inauguration of Russel L. Ohnore as new General Commander of the US Second Infantry Division. Russel L. Ohnore also expressed his regret and apologized for the "terrible accident". After the accident, soldiers of the US Second Infantry Division raised a fund of only US$10,000 to give to the bereaved families. By providing this small amount of money, the USFK tried to close the case. In its report of July 20, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea announced the decision to give compensation in the amount of 196,260,000 Won to the family of Shin Hyo-Soon, and 195,450,000 Won to the family of Shim Mi-Sun. According to the terms of SOFA, the proportion of this compensation to be paid by the US military and the Korean government is 75% and 25%, respectively. In view of the earlier attitude of the USFK, this is regarded as a tremendous achievement gained through the continuous and determined efforts of civic and human rights groups. The Human Rights Committee of the National Council of Churches in Korea strongly demands that the USFK make its utmost efforts to establish specific policies and guarantee the disclosure of the truth, to ensure full protection in any future such cases. The USFK must waive its jurisdiction and allow the Korean authorities to jointly conduct the investigation. Further, the two countries must work together to revise the SOFA in the very near future. In addition, US President George W. Bush should officially apologize for the death of the two young girls, declaring respect for world peace and the dignity of lives. We strongly urge the Korean government to take positive action to formulate just policies and seek adequate means of protecting civilians from injury during military training exercises in Korea. (Rev.) Paik Do-Woong (Rev.) Kim Jeom-Myung South Korean opposition to US military presence Korea to rethink US forces accord The public is furious over the deaths of two schoolgirls South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has called for revisions to an agreement with the US military, which allows it jurisdiction in criminal cases involving its forces in South Korea. There have been violent protests in the country since the acquittal two weeks ago of two US soldiers whose vehicle crushed two schoolgirls to death in June. President Kim on Tuesday condemned "indiscriminate anti-Americanism", but said the accord, which governs the legal status of US troops, needed to be revised. There was public anger over the US military's refusal to allow the US soldiers to be tried in a South Korean court. The issue will be raised on Thursday when South Korea's Defence Minister, Lee Jun, meets the US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, in Washington. Protests Protesters have staged sometimes-violent demonstrations since the acquittal of the US soldiers in a US military court. In Seoul on Tuesday, 20 Catholic priests, sitting in a park near the US embassy, continued a hunger strike protest for a second day. Meanwhile, 31 bipartisan MPs submitted a draft resolution to South Korea's National Assembly, demanding the revision of the accord, known as the Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa). The Sofa was most recently revised in December 2000 and changes put into place in April last year. But President Kim noted that the protests over the US soldiers highlighted the need for further thought on the agreement. "With this incident as a lesson, the two sides must work more closely to improve Sofa further and develop the Korea-US alliance in a future-orientated direction," Mr Kim was quoted as telling his cabinet in a transcript released by his office. The acquittal of Sergeant Fernando Nino and Sergeant Mark Walker on charges of negligent homicide has transformed simmering resentment against South Korea's US military presence into fierce protests. Protesters have been calling for the withdrawal of the 37,000 US troops stationed in South Korea. Bush apology Last week US President George Bush sent a message of regret over the deaths of the girls, but critics said it was not enough to stem public anger. Some restaurants and pubs in the South Korean capital are refusing to serve Americans. Analysts say that while the soldiers' acquittal acted as a catalyst for protests, anti-American sentiment in general is on the rise. They trace this to the hard-line stance towards North Korea adopted by President Bush which many in the South feel is heightening tension on the Korean peninsula. Why South Korea's vote counts South Korea's electoral result has significant international implications given that the country has the world's 13th largest economy and stands on its last Cold War frontier. In particular, it could affect the United States' policy towards North Korea, one of three states that President George W Bush has called an "axis of evil". The main candidates articulated different approaches to dealing with North Korea, the world's last unreformed Communist regime. Lee Hoi-chang of the opposition Grand National Party represented the traditional approach of containment. The basis of this approach is the maintenance of a close military and political relationship with South Korea's traditional partners, the US and Japan, while making no concessions to bring North Korea to the negotiating table. By contrast, Roh Moo-hyun, candidate of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, represented the alternative approach pioneered by outgoing President Kim Dae-jung. His so-called "Sunshine Policy" of constructive engagement made conciliatory gestures, including economic incentives, in the hope of bringing North Korea to the negotiating table. President Kim was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his efforts. The high point of this policy was the historic summit between President Kim and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in June 2000, followed by the reunion of relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Hopes faded Those dramatic events, however, did not result in the major improvement of inter-Korean relations that many South Koreans hoped for. The North Korean leader did not pay a reciprocal visit to the South. Neither did the North permit further reunions of separated relatives in significant numbers Even worse, the Sunshine Policy became badly misaligned with the more hawkish US strategy towards North Korea introduced when President Bush came to power in 2001. Emboldened by the US shift, Mr Lee and the conservative camp accused Kim Dae-jung's government of appeasement by making wholesale economic and political concessions to the North without receiving any tangible concessions in return - notably on human rights, or the North's vast military apparatus. Events reached a head in November when the US decided to suspend oil shipments to North Korea in response to North Korea's reported admission in October that it had a nuclear weapons programme. With the nuclear threat as North Korea's sole bargaining counter, sanctions have heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula. Roh as a middle man North Korea has already threatened to reactivate the nuclear facilities mothballed under a 1994 Agreement, a move that is sure to bring it into further conflict with the US. Bridging the gulf between Stalinist Pyongyang and the hawkish Bush administration will prove a major challenge for Mr Roh. The US has already shown great irritation with President Kim Dae-jung's persistence with the Sunshine Policy and with his unwillingness to take a tougher stance towards North Korea. With the absence of breakthroughs after the 2000 summit, it is easy to overlook the concrete but subtle changes in North Korea's relationship with the world over the past five years. During those years, North Korea has established diplomatic relations with all European Union countries. It is on the brink of doing so with Japan. And it has formally accepted the need for Chinese-style economic reforms. With the South Korean economy much stronger and significantly restructured since he took power in February 1998, President Kim, despite being blighted by post-summit disappointment and by political scandal, has left promising foundations for his successor to build upon. But Mr Roh must first break the deadlock between Pyongyang and Washington. If he succeeds, 2003 may be significant not only for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, but also as the beginning of the end of the world's last Cold War standoff. Dr Tat Yan Kong is Lecturer (Assistant Professor) of Political Science at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. |
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See also
- The Blood of Innocents and Our Liberation-An Asian Testament
- Crime and impunity
- In this edition of ASEM Watch we present two articles of analysis on the recent Summit between North and South Koreaand the implications and enjeux of possible Korean unification.
- Security Special:
- A Regular Bulletin Produced by the Transnational Institute
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