(This article is based on observations and conversations with Korean movement activists during a one-month trip back to the homeland this past November.)

The Bush administration is still threatening Iran, and a wider war in the Middle East. The U.S. government has made much of Iran’s nuclear energy program. Iran says it is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and now U.S. intelligence agencies agree with that characterization. But this makes little difference to Bush and Cheney. They are still talking about turning up the heat on Iran and looking to impose more sanctions – which are in and of themselves a form of war, and as we saw with Yugoslavia and Iraq, a buildup to open military action.

The Bush administration is bringing the Korean peninsula to the brink of war. U.S. threats against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the DPRK, or North Korea) and Washington’s withdrawal from the 1994 nuclear accords have led to a dramatic escalation of tensions. A growing tide of demonstrations against the presence of U.S. troops has rocked South Korea.

Sun Hyung Lee traveled to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (north Korea) as part of a peace delegation of eight Korean Americans from Oakland, Los Angeles and New York in June of 2004. At a time when the Bush administration is carrying out war preparations against north Korea, the interview provides some important insights into developments on the Korean peninsula.

What began as a student strike to protest the war in Iraq quickly escalated on Feb. 15, as over a thousand students at the University of California-Santa Barbara took to the streets and completely shut down California Highway 217 for over two hours. After a standoff with law enforcement and the arrest of two protesters, the crowd marched back to campus and demonstrated in front of the chancellor’s office to confront university officials about the school’s involvement with the war effort.

Response to Bush’s State of Union Speech

Jess Sundin is a leading member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. She traveled to Iraq in 1998 and has played a important role in the Twin Cities anti-war movement since then. We interviewed her after the State of the Union address, where President Bush attempted to bolster support for his plans to expand the war in Iraq.

Bloomington, MN – Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR) activists were disciplined here Jan. 10 for educating their fellow students at Thomas Jefferson High School. They distributed literature and did guerilla theater to advertise for the Jan. 11 international day of protest to shut down the U.S. prison for ‘terror suspects’ at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The student activists decided to mobilize for the Minneapolis demonstration and to table at their high school the day before the protest to increase awareness about the torture, abuse and lack of due process for detainees at Guantanamo.

Protesters looking for change in 2007

St Paul, MN – New Year’s Eve, an evening typically shared and celebrated with our loved ones was overshadowed this year as the death toll of U.S. soldiers serving in the Iraq war reached 3000. About 300 protesters gathered in Minneapolis at the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and St. Paul on the evening of Jan.1. It was one of 300 other organized events across the country.

Los Angeles, CA – Philippine President Estrada was repeatedly hit with demonstrations during his visit to U.S. cities this summer. Protesters charged that he is a tool of U.S. corporations and Washington D.C., and he has betrayed the interests of the Philippino people.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 40 anti-war protesters gathered here July 23 to express their opposition to President Obama’s surge of 21,000 troops in Afghanistan. Protesters held banners, chanted and handed out flyers to encourage other Minnesotans to speak out against the war and occupation in Afghanistan.

Demands U.S. Cut Off Aid