SOUTH KOREA: Protesters hold rallies against the inter-Korea summit

Various groups of South Korean protesters held rallies on Thursday (October 4) to denounce the inter-Korea summit as the two leaders of Koreas agreed to seek peace. The leaders of North and South Korea pledged to bring peace to the Cold War's last frontier by seeking talks with China and the United States to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War. The agreement came at the end of the second only summit between the divided Koreas whose war ended with an armistice not a peace treaty. In Seoul, groups of anti-North Korea protesters gathered to hold rallies denouncing the results of the summit. Some protesters clashed with the riot police during a rally. The protesters chanted the deal would only solidify the North's reclusive leader's regime. "We urge abolition of the declaration because it supports North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's regime and does not mention North Korea's denuclearisation or urgent issues like return of imprisoned South Korean soldiers and abductees," said protester Park Chan-sung. Other anti-North Korea protester groups condemned South Korean government, which didn't bring up the issues such as nuclear problems and abductees. "The declaration did not mention denuclearisation and did not discuss return of imprisoned South Korean soldiers and abductees. The declaration's name include the word 'peace' but it does not embody any details on realization of this peace. So we oppose to this false peace declaration," said protester Bong Tae-hong. Near the presidential office building, family members of those abducted by North Korea held a rally condemning the government. They chanted that the government betrayed them. The armistice that concluded their fratricidal battle was signed by China, North Korea and U.S.-led United Nations forces, but not by South Korea. U.S. President George W. Bush has said he can discuss a peace treaty once the North scraps its nuclear weapons programme. Giving a lift to the talks, China announced late on Wednesday that North Korea had agreed with regional powers to disable its nuclear facilities -- a source of atomic weapons material -- by the end of the year, a major step in normalising relations with the outside world. The two agreed to work together to implement that pact. ENDS.

ITN Source | October 4, 2007

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