Ji-Seon Koh
GreenKorea United
This is my honor to have a chance to meet the poeple here in Japan.
Last June, one of Korean young men, Kim Seon-il, was kidnapped
and killed in Iraq. The demand was to withdraw the Korean troops
from Iraq within 48 hours. Thousands of Korean people held “candle
light vigil” praying for his safe release across the country. However,
we could not save his life. My government did not withdraw the sending
of troops and failed to attend to him. We watched the picture of
him crying. He appealed to us: “I do not want to die. I want to
live. President Roh, you are making a mistake”. It was a source
of unspeakable sadness for his family and the Korean people. This
feeling of sadness and shock is the same for the many Koreans who
have opposed that U.S. unjust invasion in and deployment of Korean
troops to Iraq.
My government has given the priority to national interest and sending
the troops. I'd like to ask you.
What is more important than a person’s life? I believe that the
people here would understand how we felt because you have experienced
the disastrous atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Around
the world, there are only a few countries which support the unjust
Iraqi war by U.S. Disgracefully, Korea is one of them.
After the death of Mr.Kim, the Korean people, especially young people
protested against sending the troops by demonstrating in front of
the U.S Embassy in Korea, the National Assembly, and the military
base.
There was a fast of days by several representatives from the left,
one to the point of exhaustion. Despite their efforts, the government
sent troops without informing the Korean people. On August 3, the
Korean soldiers went to Iraq.
We are opposed to deciding people's life by a few politicians.
Who decided to drop the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Who were the thousands of people, suffering and dying?
Iraq is not the only place to have this happen but also around
the world. As U.S. forces have been relocated in Japan, the deployment
is going on in Korea, either. In Pyoungtaek, U.S. bases have been
expanding because of the strategic location, which is possible to
check North Korea and China at the same time. The Korean government
intends to give the land to U.S. without the agreement of the people,
living there. But we do not accept giving the base for U.S. militarism
and imperialism any more. We have bought “1 pyoung field” (#pyoung
: one of the unit) not to give it to them, called “peace field”
. This Sunday, on August 8, we will have the unveilling of ceremony
for that, giving our voice against the expanding of U.S bases.
Now we have to finish the war and people's agony. We have to abolish
nuclear weapons. It is not the time to drop the bomb but to interact
each other in language.
Thank you for your attention.
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