Anti-US rallies may mar Trump’s visit to Seoul
Saturday night was supposed to be a time to celebrate the first anniversary of the massive candlelit protests that eventually helped oust corruption-tainted former President Park Geun-hye. But some anti-U.S. groups used the gathering as an opportunity to promote their own propaganda.
“No Trump, no war,” was one of the key messages shouted at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square by some anti-U.S. groups. Led by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the country’s second-largest umbrella trade union, they vowed to do all they can to mar U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit to Korea next month.
They called Trump a threat to peace on the Korean peninsula, saying they will follow him and stage protests during his visit.
Trump is scheduled to meet with his Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, Nov. 7, and deliver a speech at the National Assembly the following day.
The groups said they plan to stage a protest in front of Cheong Wa Dae when the two are supposed to have dinner there and hold another rally when Trump speaks at the Assembly.
The KCTU has a history of anti-U.S. protests. On Oct. 14, its members gathered near a Busan hotel, where the U.S. Navy held a party to celebrate its 242-year history, chanting messages such as “U.S. troops go home!”
Ban Trump’s Crazy Action, another anti-U.S. group consisting of young people, said last week that it will visit New York, Washington and Los Angeles to hold anti-Trump rallies from Oct. 25 to Nov. 1 to block his visit. It later added that one of its members was detained at JFK Airport and others were also denied entry before they got on a plane to New York.
Some conservative groups, including the Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea (LHUK), have criticized the anti-U.S. groups’ actions, which they say do nothing but damage the national interest.
“The Korean Peninsula is in danger of a nuclear war because of the regime in North Korea,” the LHUK said. “Yet the anti-U.S. groups have insulted the U.S. head of state and damaged the South Korea-U.S. alliance.”
Their anti-U.S. messages have also been criticized by left-wing groups, which consider them “too radical.”
Most Koreans regard the U.S. as their crucial ally in terms of national defense.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs early this year, 72.2 percent of Koreans said they believe the Korea-U.S. military alliance was good for national defense. When asked which country they would help if a war between the United States and North Korea broke out, only 2.3 percent said they would side with the North.