Hundreds of activists mobilized throughout the US in opposition to the expansion of the “Freedom Shield” military exercises, joint war games conducted annually between the US and the Republic of Korea. In protests organized by the “US out of Korea” campaign, spearheaded by anti-imperialist Korean diaspora group Nodutdol, activists with the campaign called for “the end of US military aggression of all forms against the Korean people.”
“While the South Korean people are locked in a battle for their democracy during President Yoon Seok Yeol’s impeachment crisis, the Trump administration is moving forward with extremely aggressive war drills in Korea called Freedom Shield,” said Notudol member Winter Oh. “This March 1, hundreds of thousands of people in South Korea mobilized against President Yoon and Freedom Shield. We stand in solidarity with the South Korean people’s call to end all US-South Korea joint military exercises, and we further demand an end to the US military occupation in Korea.”
Demonstrations took place in four US cities: New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Protesters used chants such as “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air, US out of everywhere!” and held signs with slogans including “No to Asian NATO,” “Stop the war machine,” and “End the war games”.
In New York, over 100 activists rallied in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, outside the United Nations headquarters. Speakers included Korean survivors of the US’s bombing of Hiroshima in Japan, who gave first hand accounts of the catastrophic impact of US imperialism. Member of European Parliament Marc Botenga, of the Workers’ Party of Belgium, also spoke at the rally outside the UN, speaking to the need to move away from militarism and towards peace.
Hundreds also gathered at the Comfort Women memorial in San Francisco, dedicated to women who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese Army during World War II. Speakers represented organizations who have endorsed the US out of Korea campaign including BAYAN, Palestinian Youth Movement, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
150 demonstrators took to the streets of the Korean diaspora neighborhood of Koreatown, Los Angeles, and in Seattle, activists staged a vigil outside of the Republic of Korea Consulate in Seattle to honor the life of Gil Won-Ok, a survivor of sexual slavery by the Japanese Army.
“While Trump calls for peace, his rhetoric is overshadowed by war threats,” said Manolo De Los Santos, executive director the People’s Forum, an endorsing organization of the US out of Korea campaign. “The forthcoming US war games on the Korean Peninsula pose a grave risk not only to global peace but also to the sovereignty and dignity of the Korean people. On March 1, we must unite in solidarity with the Korean people and their movements, affirming our commitment to peace and a future without occupation.”
