These protesters have no creditability considering they are not protesting similar waste water dumping South Korea and far worse in China. This is strictly just another anti-Japanese protest for political reasons:
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| Activists stage a protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Tuesday, urging the Japanese government to revoke its decision to start releasing treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, Thursday. Yonhap |
Korea’s main opposition party and civic groups have pledged to hold an all-out protest against Japan’s announcement, Tuesday, to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean starting Thursday.
Korea Times
The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) denounced Japan’s decision by staging rallies at the National Assembly and in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to condemn the decision.
“Japan made the vicious decision to discharge contaminated water into the ocean, which belongs to all humans, without scientific proof, understanding from neighboring countries or agreement by the Japanese people,” DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung said.
You can read more at the link.
I have always suspected that many agitators and protesters are knowingly or unknowingly paid off by Chinese and Russian operatives to cause racial discontent in the U.S. and now we know in at least this case it is happening:
As they pumped their fists in the air and held signs declaring “Peace 4 All” and “Stop the Violence,” a small group of Americans that gathered in downtown Washington last summer was nearly indistinguishable from the thousands of others who gather in the nation’s capital every year to protest.
But there was a striking difference: The protest was likely funded by pro-Beijing operatives as part of a plan that is aimed at undermining American democracy and promoting China’s economic interests, researchers from Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm owned by Google reported this week.
Mandiant’s report suggests the pro-Beijing group paid an American to arrange the protest – a 24-year-old musician and entrepreneur from Baltimore – who told CNN in an exclusive interview that he didn’t know the organization could be a Shanghai-based public relations firm promoting the Chinese government’s interests.
CNN
You can read more at the link, but even if you look at it at the macro-level entire organizations are paid off by the Chinese. For example the NBA will say nothing about human rights issues in China which are far worse than anything going on in the U.S. They do this simply to maintain television viewership in China which brings in revenue to the league.
It appears the pro-US-ROK alliance activists greatly outnumbered the anti-US protesters last week outside of Camp Humphreys:
Thousands of demonstrators converged outside Camp Humphreys on the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, prompting a response by hundreds of police officers and snarling traffic on the U.S. Army installation.
Activists — some opposed to the U.S. presence on the Korean Peninsula, some in full-throated support — arrived in dozens of buses throughout Thursday, some coming from as far as Busan, about 150 miles south of the U.S. base in Pyeongtaek.
The atmosphere outside the gates resembled a music festival: Whistles, chants and techno music blared from speakers mounted on parked cars as delivery trucks hauled digital billboards scrolling “Support U.S. alliance” slowly past the crowd.
Around 8,000 people gathered near at least two of the base’s six gates, the largest assembly in the area since South Korea ended COVID-19 social distancing restrictions in April 2022, according to an email Friday from Erick Crudup, operations officer for the base Directorate of Emergency Services.
Activists on both sides of the road leading to Yoon Gate — the main entrance to Humphreys — chanted “USA” while waving American and South Korean flags. U.S. service members driving past the scene honked their horns and waved in support.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but according to the article there was only about 100 anti-US protesters present. This is in stark contrast to the massive hate filled anti-US protests that were launched when Camp Humphreys was being expanded years ago.
You would think all these people would have something better to do then make a fool of themselves over this issue:
Scuffles plagued the site of a statue of a girl symbolizing victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery Sunday night as members of a right-wing organization raided the site and clashed with anti-Japanese activists guarding the statue.
The four-hour melee happened as members of New Freedom Solidarity held a surprise rally near the statue in central Seoul around 10 p.m. Sunday, demanding the breakup of a civic organization established to help victims of the sexual enslavement of Korean women during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
Clashes continued past midnight as the leader of the right-wing organization attempted to force his way near the statue and anti-Japanese activists tried to keep him away. One protester was taken to the hospital for exhaustion.
An anti-Japanese activist was also taken into custody for pushing a police officer at the scene.
Although police separated the two sides with police lines, they continued to clash with loudspeakers and caused inconvenience to people nearby before the conservative group finally left the area at around 2:10 a.m. Monday.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The Yoon administration is demonstrating that all the delays of road access to the THAAD base during the Moon administration was political. This summer access to the site has greatly increased after President Yoon’s election as this recent delivery further demonstrates:
The military delivered equipment to a U.S. THAAD missile defense unit here in the wee hours of Sunday, a civic group said, as the government moves to normalize access to the base despite local residents’ opposition.
The equipment from the U.S. Forces Korea and the South Korean military were brought onto the base in Seongju, 220 kilometers south of Seoul, at around 1:30 a.m., according to the group opposed to the installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) unit.
It marked the first time for such items to be delivered on the weekend since May 2021, when the USFK and the defense ministry began sending equipment to remodel troops’ barracks. Around 10 vehicles were delivered on Sunday, including a bulldozer, a fueling vehicle and a van.
Local residents rushed to the site to protest after hearing the sound of the delivery vehicles.
The civic group said the police and the defense ministry had informed them there would be no deliveries during the weekend but used the cover of darkness to make a sudden delivery.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but according to the article ground movements to the THAAD base has increased up to five times a week.
The KCTU might as well as just say they get their marching orders from Pyongyang:
Representatives of South Korea’s largest trade unions are warning that Ulchi Freedom Shield, the largest military exercise by the U.S. and South Korea in five years, runs counter to their members’ interests.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions together claim more than 2 million members working in government, schools, public transportation and the automotive and food industries.
Their street demonstrations against the large-scale drills have been frequent sights outside the presidential office in Seoul and U.S. bases like Camp Humphreys since the start of Ulchi Freedom Shield on Aug. 22.
“If a war breaks out, those who will suffer from the war are our people: workers and laborers,” Lee Jihyun, spokeswoman for the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, told Stars and Stripes by phone Thursday.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but I find it interesting that not once has the KCTU held a major rally to protest North Korea’s various provocations, missile launches, or nuclear tests. However the ROK holds defensive drills with the U.S. after suspending them for five years for nothing in return and they have a problem with that.
