A protest letter to US President Bush
adopted at the 77^th Anti-US joint rally on Feb. 14 2006

1.Stop the plan to turn the United States Forces in Korea (USFK) from a defensive force into an Asia-Pacific regional offensive force, and cancel the demand that the Republic of Korea (ROK)-United States defensive alliance be turned into an offensive alliance.

Last January 19 the Korean and US foreign ministers held what they referred to as “strategic consultations” and released a so-called joint statement on the “future of the alliance”.

The centerpiece of this joint statement is the USFK’s strategic flexibility, that is, full approval for changing of the USFK into an Asia-Pacific regional offensive force and turning the ROK-US defensive alliance into an offensive alliance.

This means that you have largely achieved your country’s ambition, which seeks to mobilize not only the USFK, but also the South Korean military, to launch a preemptive strike against North Korea, and to contain China.

Thus your country has seized control of the Korean people’s lives.

That is because your country assumes that it has received authorization to send the USFK anywhere, at any time, depending on what your country is determined to do.

However, changing the USFK into an Asia-Pacific regional offensive force and changing the ROK-US defensive alliance into an offensive alliance are not only serious threats to our nation’s life and prosperity, they are also in violation of the ROK-US Mutual Defence Treaty and our constitution’s principle of pacifism.

Following your country’s exclusive claim to the right to military hegemony, our nation can’t help but feel increasingly hostile toward your country for demanding this kind of outrageous and unjust arrangement, which is driving our nation toward the abyss of death.

In this context, if your country assumes that now it can implement its military strategy freely, as it likes, that is a major miscalculation.

That is because, if the USFK and the ROK-US alliance, which are now in a defensive posture toward North Korea, are changed into an offensive force and constantly threaten our nation’s life and prosperity, our people will increasingly have fundamental doubts even about the very presence of the USFK itself.

Accordingly, we now unequivocally demand an immediate end to the plan to transform the USFK into an Asia-Pacific regional offensive force and to turn the ROK-US defensive alliance into an offensive alliance.

2.Immediately suspend the consultations on the “vision of the future Korean-US alliance”, the objective of which is to station the USFK here permanently and to dominate the entire Korean peninsula.

On 14-15 February, Korea and the US held the 6^th ROK-US alliance Security Policy Initiative conference on Guam, and we assume that they produced a draft of the so-called “vision of the future Korean-US alliance”.

The essence of this document is that the USFK and the ROK-US alliance will be maintained even after unification, on the pretext of defending values such as “the market economy, democracy, and the promotion of human rights”, and so on. They aim to unify the Korean peninsula in a free, democratic system led by South Korea.

There is no justification for the stationing of the USFK and the ROK-US alliance because of the decreased potential for war due to the end of the Cold War, South-North reconciliation, a climate of peace, and South Korea’s superior military strength. Therefore the US finds it necessary to contrive a pretext for maintaining the USFK and the ROK-US alliance, in order to preserve your country’s hegemony, even after unification, and also to interfere in the unification process and plot to forcibly extend your country’s hegemony throughout the Korean peninsula.

Through the joint statement about the cabinet-level “strategic consultation”, your country has seized control of our people’s lives and intends to control our nation’s future, using the superficially positive-sounding name of the “vision of the future ROK-US alliance”. While we resolutely condemn this action, we absolutely demand that this kind of imperial conspiracy be halted forthwith.

3.Immediately stop the expansion of the US bases at Pyeongtaek, with the plan to make them into forward outposts for aggression in other countries and bases for the permanent stationing of the USFK.

While the ROK and the US agree about making the ROK-US defensive alliance into an Asia-Pacific regional offensive alliance, our people realize that the expansion of the US bases at Pyeongtaek is for aggressive purposes.

In addition, your country says it is building bases for the next 100 years. We are asked to bear the financial burden for the 2~3 meters of earth that will be used to cover the land where the base will be expanded. Not only must we pay for the cost of the environmental pollution, when we hear the news of the rapidly increasing cost of the base relocation, our people again realize how unequal and unjust the ROK-US agreement is.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Defense requested the Cultural Properties Special Research Department to thoroughly investigate the area where the base is to be expanded. According to the research that was done, it was proved that the area has many historic cultural properties, there are natural features, kestrels, etc., and it has high value as a natural environmental area. Therefore more and more people are asking that this area be designated as a cultural-environmental preservation zone.

Moreover, the residents of Godeok village and other communities in the Pyeongtaek district are joining together and rising up to oppose the ROK-US project of appropriating more than 1750 hectares of land to build the town to support the USFK.

In the meantime, last weekend, residents of Paengsong -- who have held more than 530 candlelight vigils to protest against the base expansion -- and people from every region and every sector of the NGO movement showed their determination to defend Pyeongtaek.

These people, while they occupy the abandoned houses and pitch tents, have decided to keep Pyeongtaek as a land of life and peace and have pledged that they will definitely do their farm work this year.

Thus all civic groups, beginning with the residents, strongly support the defense of the area. In a situation where national public opinion is very much opposed, if our government forces the land seizure, there is great concern that there may be large-scale clashes and serious, unfortunate events.

Therefore, we think that the most desirable way to prevent this unfortunate state of affairs is for your country to give up this plan now.

We, the Korean people, are giving a clear warning that you will bear the ultimate responsibility for anything that may happen if you force the base expansion on the basis of the ROK-US agreement.

2006-2-14

Paengsong/ Pyeongtaek Committee against the US Base Expansion
Minkahyup
Anti-American Youth Association
Southern Headquarters of Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification
Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice, Korea
Peace Wind Nomad
Korean Council for Democratic Martyre
Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK)