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Civic activists on Thursday organized surprise protests at the site of annual joint Korea-U.S. military drills demanding an end to the ¡°war exercises.¡±
A landing drill as part of an exercise dubbed Reception Staging Onward Movement and Integration (RSOI) at 9 a.m. on Mallipo Beach, in Taean, South Chungcheong Province was disrupted by some 20 protesters blocking the path of armored vehicles. They included members of a group calling itself the Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification.
The demonstrators spent some 50 minutes at the site, wielding pickets with such slogans as, ¡°Stop pre-emptive strike exercises against North Korea which prevent the establishment of a peace framework on the peninsula.¡± Some tackled U.S. soldiers taking part in the training to calls of ¡°Yankee, Go home!¡± and ¡°Stop the war exercises.¡±
Police admitted they took precautions against protests from fishermen and local peace activists but were caught off guard by activists ¡°from outside¡± who interrupted the drill ¡°unexpectedly.¡± Police say they will consult with the military before deciding whether to book them for obstructing officials.
¡°It was a very precarious situation where the protesters could have been hurt standing right in the way of amphibious vehicles that were making their way up the beach,¡± one officer with the Marines who took part in the drill said. ¡°It¡¯s very regrettable that some activist groups denounced the military and interrupt regular training exercises.¡±
The Korean military and U.S. Forces Korea have held the RSOI exercises designed to ensure smooth deployment of U.S. reinforcements from outside Korea since Saturday. They last for about seven days.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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