On a tour of Dorasan Station near the border Wednesday, US President George W. Bush faced several sets of mixed demonstrations, both for and against his stance on North Korea. Anti-US shouts by radical student activists and Anti-North Korea shouts by Korean War soldiers echoed all day in Manyangdan near the Yimjingang and Yimjingak areas.

Some 1000 members of the Korea Veterans Association's Seoul and Gyeonggi branches joined a rally for "security" at around 1:00pm, shouting out military slogans, "Bush, secure war-less peace" and "Kim Jong Il, choose peace." "We are worried that the North tries to make bad use of Bush's strong warning towards it as a chance to heighten anti-US sentiment," said Choi Han-min aged 47, president of KVA's Seoul branch, insisting that it was North Korea who was responsible for the 'axis of evil' remark and South Korea-US should strengthen their alliance with this as an opportunity.

In Yimjingang Station, 500m from the KAV rally, fourteen student protesters from the Federation of Korean University Student Councils were detained at around 12:20pm in the middle of staging a protest with signs saying "The US should not oppose the June 15 declaration." The riot police canceled another rally against the Bush administration's hard line policy on the North by the Democratic Labor Party, supposed to be held at 8:00am in the same place.

Some 600 members of the Committee for National Salvation, comprised of six organizations including the Vietnam War Veterans Association chaired by Choi Myeong-shin issued a statement against the sunshine policy at a rally in front of the War Memorial, Yongsan. The statement said, "We urge President Kim Dae-jung to awake to the fact he is standing idle by anti-US forces."

In the heart of Seoul demonstrators protested against import US rice, the "unfair" revision of SOFA, and the building of an apartment building in Yongsan base. Some 1,500 farmers staged an anti-Bush rally in Maronnier Park, Seoul at 1pm, insisting "no rice import, no Bush's visit to Seoul." At around 3:00pm, they headed to Jongmyo Park, Jongro, to join some 5,000 people from some 600 organizations, but riot police intercepted them and confiscated anti-US symbols such as home made US flags in which a skeleton was pictured.

At around 8:50am, six student activists of the Federation of Korean University Student Councils were detained as they tried to climb the building complex in Yeouido housing the Boeing Corporation's offices in a protest against President George W. Bush's visit. While around 3:30pm, some 250 students from KUSC tried to block the 8-lane road on Bush's route in Namyeoung-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, but were dispersed in 30 minutes.

Some 60 Korean People's Action members held an anti-Bush rally at 9:00am in Okin-dong, Jongro-gu, Seoul, in front of Byeomhae temple in by Gyeonbuk Palace subway station and tried to deliver a letter of protest to Cheong Wa Dae, but police stopped them.

(Kim Joon, kjoon@chosun.com )