|
Two outlawed pro-Pyongyang groups -- the South Korean chapter of the Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification and the Korean Federation of University Student Councils -- will capitalize on a festival marking the sixth anniversary of the June 15, 2000 inter-Korean summit as a venue to promote anti-American sentiment. The four-day festival starts Wednesday in Gwangju.
The alliance will hold a rally to mark June 15, Korea People¡¯s Day, and launch campaigns for independent unification and peace at Gwangju¡¯s Chosun University on Wednesday. ¡°The grand festival takes place amid a confrontation between the Korean people and the U.S. and must therefore be a place where the will of the Korean people for further mutual cooperation is shown,¡± the alliance proclaimed in flyers handed out before the rally.
The flyer features an article from the chairman of the group¡¯s North Korean chapter which says, ¡°The target of our anti-war campaign to promote peace is the U.S. Forces in Korea which is forcibly occupying the South. The troops are destroying the lives of the Korean people and peace on the Korean Peninsula.¡±
The KFUSC, meanwhile, is planning an event for unification and a pilgrimage to the May 18 National Cemetery in Gwangju, which commemorates the democratic uprising there. In guidelines sent to university student councils, the group says, ¡°It is important to encourage the public to sympathize with our anti-American struggle¡± by commemorating the June 15 Joint Declaration. Proposed mottoes are, ¡°Siding with the U.S. will only lead to war and poverty¡± and ¡°The Korea-U.S. alliance will lead to ruin for the Korean people.¡±
The conservative group Citizens United for a Better Society is up in arms. ¡°Some feel that the June 15 Joint Declaration itself was produced without seeking public consensus, and any event celebrating it and the inter-Korean summit by pro-North Korean groups does not have the support of the public,¡± it said in a statement. ¡°If the events are abused as a place for anti-American propaganda, they will never help establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and are against the national interest.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
