Students Protest S. Korea Deaths

[Dao Van <daotb@yahoo.com>]

Students Protest S. Korea Deaths


SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- About 1,000
students marched through downtown Seoul
today in the biggest protest yet against alleged
killings of civilians by U.S. forces at the start of
the Korean War.

On Sept. 30, The Associated Press reported
accounts by American veterans, corroborating
those of South Korean villagers, that their unit
killed hundreds of civilians at No Gun Ri,
South Korea, during the early days of the
1950-1953 war.

``We protest the No Gun Ri massacre!'' students
chanted in a park. They waved hundreds of
small yellow flags with the same message. Two
dissident leaders had their heads shaven in
protest.

The students later marched along one lane of the
eight-lane main boulevard winding through
downtown Seoul's busy Chongno and
Myongdong commercial districts. Traffic
backed up and frustrated drivers honked th! eir
horns.

Students distributed leaflets. But most
pedestrians paid little attention.

Police did not intervene. No clashes were
reported during the protest rally and march that
lasted 2 1/2 hours.

In a report Thursday, the AP quoted ex-GIs,
Korean witnesses and U.S. military documents
as saying that U.S. Army officers ordered the
destruction of two strategic bridges in early
August 1950, killing hundreds of civilian
refugees streaming across them.

Today's protest was organized by South Korea's
largest student group, Hanchongryon. Earlier
protests against alleged killings of civilians by
U.S. soldiers during the Korean War drew
dozens of demonstrators.

Hanchongryon, which is known for its anti-U.S.
views, has led violent street protests in the past,
but its influence has decreased sharply in recent
years.

The government outlawed the group because it
supported the ! withdrawal of 37,000 U.S. troops
based in South Korea as well as other key
demands made by communist North Korea.

Today's protesters reiterated their demand that
Washington withdraw U.S. troops to ease
tension on the divided Korean peninsula.

They also demanded that South Korea abolish
its National Security Law, which forbids
activity that is deemed beneficial to North
Korea. Students say the law is used to suppress
political dissent.

The two Koreas are still technically at war
because no peace treaty was signed at the end
of the Korean War. Their border is the world's
most heavily militarized.

^CAP-NY-10-16-99 0547EDT

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