Extension of presence in Iraq opposed

The Pyongyang Times

Recently, south Korean newspaper Hangyore carried an article entitled “No to lengthening the period of troop presence in Iraq”.

Noting that the south Korean Defence Ministry decided to postpone the period of the Jaitun unit pullout from Iraq until the end of 2005, the article said that the decision is irresponsible, dangerous and against the desire of the people. Now the troop pullout from Iraq has become the trend of the times and, therefore, the decision of the south Korean authorities to prolong troop stay is as good as making the south Korean people aggressors, it noted.

The Seoul District Federation of University Student Councils under the south Korean Federation of University Student Councils (Hanchongryon) published a statement on October 17 to urge the government to withdraw the decision on the extension of the stay of south Korean troops in Iraq.

The anti-troop dispatch national action committee set October 17 as the day of international joint action against war and held a rally in Maroni Park, Seoul, to demand the withdrawal of south Korean troops from Iraq and discontinuation of the war by the US. The rally was attended by more than 1,000 members of the organization and foreigners. Jon Kwang Hun, co-representative of the anti-troop dispatch national action committee, and Kim Ha Yong, executive member of the organization, told the rally that the US war in Iraq brought about a tragedy. They said that if there is any weapon of mass destruction in the world, it is none other than in the US and if there is any terrorist organization in the globe it is just the Bush administration, and it is time to stop the Iraqi war that serves the interests of the US, calling for making concerted efforts to bring US President Bush to trial.

In another development, the people for opening the door to peace and national reunification, the reunification solidarity, the association of lawyers for democratic society, the Phyongthaek action committee against the expansion of the US military base and other civic organizations held a press conference on October 19 and denounced the authorities for having railroaded the disgraceful draft agreement on the move of the US military base in Ryongsan at a state council meeting. In a statement they released at the conference they pointed out that the move of the US military base in Ryongsan is pursuant to the new US military strategy, but according to the draft agreement the south Korean authorities are to bear the total expense for the move of military base and supply a large area. The pass of that humiliating bill is intolerable, it said, and strongly demanded that the humiliating agreement on the move of US military base be fully reexamined.

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