South Korean Civil Society Unites for Peace
On a late-spring afternoon, hundreds of people raised their banners and pickets at the center of Seoul. They marched to the Israeli embassy, to the US embassy, then to the Blue House, the South Korean presidential palace. The gathered people chanted in one voice: “Hands off Iran! Hands off Lebanon! Free, free Palestine!” The march, held on April 25, was a mobilization of progressive political parties, labor unions, civil society organizations, and intellectuals to protest not only the ongoing imperialist war in West Asia, but also against the South Korean government’s inaction against it.
The march had seven major demands: immediate cessation of US-Israeli aggression; accountability for war crimes; peace-oriented foreign policy by South Korea; guarantee of stable livelihood for the people; expansion of international solidarity; truthful reporting by the media; lifting of restriction on Palestine solidarity activists.
The first to take their stage were the political parties. Kwon Yeong-guk, the leader of the Justice Party, condemned the hypocrisy of the Lee Jae-myeong government, which had proclaimed its support for universal human rights only to abstain from the UN resolution for humanitarian aid to Palestine. He was followed by Lee Sang-hyun of the Green Party, who warned that the Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities could be an attempt at a radioactive ecocide. Ko Yu-mi of the Labor Party demanded that the billions of dollars flooding the pockets of war profiteers be spent for peace-building and humanitarian aid.
Vice-Chairman Byun Hee-yeong of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union mourned the martyrdom of Seo Gwang-seok, a truck driver who had been killed by strikebreakers only days before the rally. Byun strongly condemned the policy of the Lee Jae-myeong government which continues to bloat its military budget at the expense of the livelihood of the working masses.
Iranian-born Professor Siavash Saffari of Seoul National University pointed out that the only reason for the aggression against Iran was its defiance against US imperialist designs. “For that reason alone, Iran must be targeted: its infrastructures must be destroyed, its industries must be dismantled, its state must be degraded to the point of collapse, its territorial integrity must be broken up, and its oil must be taken over by Trump and his cronies,” he said. He then added that Iran has not capitulated despite the devastating bombardment by the US-Israeli forces, and that there should be global pressure on countries that support these aggressions, and on corporations that benefit from these wars.
The rally also featured video solidarity messages from abroad. Hamid Shahrabi of the Iranian Chapter of the Anti-Fascist International highlighted the unbowed defiance of the Iranian people, while Ammar Ali Jan of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party of Pakistan called for all peoples of the world to stop their governments from joining the war against Iran. Jaino Serrano of the Democratic Socialists of America urged all activists from Seoul to DC to join together in international solidarity against capital and war.
With the US threatening that Cuba will be the next in its crosshairs, the crowd also expressed their solidarity for the determined resistance of the island nation. The Cuban flag was unfurled as the letter from the ambassador was read out, which stated that the threat against Cuba was at the same time a threat against peace and international law. Then amidst the march, the people paused their chants and lifted up their voices to sing together the Internationale.
The march was not only a display of solidarity but of unity as well, as it was a joint effort by three major coalitions in the South Korean progressive movement: the Social Pivot Coalition, the International People’s Action Against Trump, and the System Change Movement. The three vowed to continue working together under the principle of solidarity and to struggle against all forms of imperialist aggression around the world. The representatives of the three coalitions handed their demands to the Blue House official. Whether the Lee Jae-myeong government will listen to this call for peace remains to be seen, but what is certain is that the people of South Korea will continue to build unity and solidarity with the people of the world in order to put an end to imperialist wars.