Grand Rapids, MI – Meredith Aby, a Minneapolis-based organizer and co-founder of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, spoke in Grand Rapids on September 26, to share her experience on the Jaju Solidarity Brigade to South Korea. The brigade, organized by Notdutol, brought activists to the country to participate in the National Liberation Day protests against U.S. war games.

Aby’s presentation was held in the chapel of Fountain Street Church, which is a venue in this year’s annual ArtPrize Festival. Thus, the two events coinciding brought people into the space who were taking a break from browsing art and wanting to sit in on the presentation.

Jessica Plichta, an anti-war organizer and member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), introduced Aby as one of her inspirations. Plichta made a point to highlight Aby’s role in resisting a grand jury as part of the Anti-War 23 and her recent work with the Anti-War Action Network.

Aby, a former history teacher, began by giving a brief history of the Korean War – a “forgotten war” the United States would rather not remember. The Korean people, however, are still in many ways under military occupation by the United States, and many Koreans continue to resist crimes still occurring in their country.

A significant part of the presentation focused on the devastating effects of the U.S.-South Korea Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). Enacted in 1967, the agreement allows U.S. personnel to evade prosecution in the country, making them de facto above the law.

Aby spoke of the long history of “comfort women,” which grew into a massive state-sanctioned trafficking enterprise after the war. Women, mostly from the Phillipines and Southeast Asia, were trafficked into sexual slavery to service U.S. troops on the 70-plus military bases in the country. Many of the women were murdered and buried unceremoniously in ditches with unmarked graves.

Aby described the National Liberation Day protests, which took place during the Ulchi Freedom Shield war drills and had over 10,000 people in attendance. The United States still exercises control over the South Korean military, but the South Korean government has become more defiant – including turning down U.S. demands to fight in their war against Iran. “The issue is the U.S. is losing its empire status, losing its control of the world, and that’s why a proxy state like South Korea can say ‘we are not going to help with this,’” said Aby.

Aby ended by encouraging attendees to donate to Nodutol and joining the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

“Part of being in an organization is being able to fight imperialism across multiple fronts. You, as an individual, cannot,” said Aby. “In an organization, you are one part of a fist – you are all working together.”

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