Aurora, CO – On October 26, community groups came together in Aurora, Colorado, for a conference supporting the “U.S. Out of Korea” campaign, launched by Nodutdol last June. The event took place at the Active Adult Center on Del Mar Circle in Aurora.

Aurora is home to a large Korean American community, ranking sixth in the U.S. for population size. Conservative estimates place the Korean American population in Colorado at over 30,000, with many residing in Aurora, known as Denver’s Koreatown. The presence of this community, and the launch of Notdutdol’s “U.S. Out of Korea” campaign, inspired this conference.

The conference opened with introductions from the attending groups, who expressed their solidarity with the campaign. Next, Korean Elder Subok Kim, a longtime supporter of Nodutdol and current member of Korean Americans for the Progressive Party, gave a speech. He spoke about his experience as a child in the Korean war and connected it to children in Gaza today.

Central to the event was a “Korea 101” presentation by Haruki Eda, a local educator and longtime member of Nodutdol, who stated, “Many civilians were massacred across the peninsula by both the South Korean and U.S. militaries.” They continued, “During the Korean War, 18 of the 22 major cities in the North were more than 50% destroyed. This included bombing dams and flooding whole areas of farmland, towns, and villages. That’s an act of genocide.”

Eda’s presentation was followed by a talk from Julia Sweezy, a founding member of Denver Anti-War Action (DAWA) who stated, “Our tax dollars are going to warfare instead of meeting the needs of the people here. In the end, only the war profiteers and the ruling class benefit.”

As recent tensions in the region have increased, conference organizers shared an update near the end of the event. “In early October, drones flown from South Korea were spotted over Pyongyang. Previously, there were balloons, but this is a significant escalation and blatant violation of North Korean airspace. The U.S. treated a stray Chinese weather balloon as a national security threat, yet it supports these provocations against North Korea. Shame!” said Paul Nelson, an organizer from DACAC.

Eda added to the update, stressing the risks of the U.S. military’s expanded presence in Asia, “If an Asian NATO gets involved in warfare, whether because of Russia and Ukraine or something else, the Korean Peninsula is very likely to become a battleground in this larger conflict.”

The conference included up with a plenary session, where attendees signed a resolution supporting the four demands of the “U.S. Out of Korea!” campaign. It called on everyone to “organize, participate in, and support actions against Imperialism, especially the U.S.-funded genocide in Palestine and broader U.S.-Israeli war in the Middle East.” Additionally, the resolution urged groups to join DAWA’s efforts against Lockheed Martin, a leading U.S. war manufacturer that supplies weapons used in U.S. wars and intervention, including in Palestine.

Organizations represented included Denver Anti-War Action (DAWA), Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Chicano Liberation Committee. Attendees also included members of the Denver Aurora Community Action Committee, Denver Students for a Democratic Society, the Colorado Springs People's Coalition and Nodutdol – the group leading the “U.S. Out of Korea” campaign. Veterans For Peace, the Mayday Club, and virtual participants like the SDS Chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee were also present.

After the speakers, organizers thanked everyone for their participation and support, specifically recognizing the groups that made it possible, and the Denver DSA for providing equipment to allow remote attendees to join. The conference concluded with attendees chanting, “U.S. out of Korea now!” and “End the war economy!”

#DenverCO #CO #AntiWarMovement #International #NorthKorea #DPRK #SDS #Nodutdol #DAWA

According to a report from the Korean Central News Agency, “Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, inspected the test-fire of the super-large multiple launch rocket system conducted by the Academy of Defense Science.”

In a related development, Kim Kye Gwan, advisor to the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK, commented on past meetings with the Trump administration, stating, “Three rounds of DPRK-U.S. summit meetings and talks were held since June last year, but no particular improvement has been achieved in the DPRK-U.S. relations. And the U.S. only seeks to earn time, pretending it has made progress in settling the issue of the Korean peninsula.”

Kim Kye Gwan continued, “We are no longer interested in such talks that bring nothing to us.”

#WashingtonDC #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Korea #US #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #AsianNationalities #NorthKorea #DemocraticPeoplesRepublicOfKorea #Socialism #DonaldTrump #DPRKUSSummitMeetings

The article also noted, “‘Democracy’ being advocated by the imperialist reactionaries is not for the toiling masses, and it is fake democracy for a handful of the exploiting classes.”

“The multi-party system is also deceptive. Various parties are said to take the reins of government by turns in capitalist countries, but those parties are all the bourgeois political ones representing the interests of business tycoons which have different names,” states the article.

The article concluded, “Capitalism is neither a prosperous democratic society nor everlasting one. It is a corrupt society rushing headlong into its doom.”

#WashingtonDC #DistrictOfColumbiaDC #Korea #Capitalism #DPRK #NorthKorea #Elections

Minnesota says no war threats on Korea

By Kent Mori

Minneapolis, MN — 80 people attended a forum on U.S. war threats and aggression against north Korea, Oct. 24. The event was organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and took place at the University of Minnesota. One of the speakers, Sharon Chung, emphasized the U.S. role of aggression and war on the Korean peninsula when she reminded the audience, “the Korean War begins and ends here in the U.S.” As would become clear from all of the speakers, and the discussion that followed, the Korean War has never ended because the U.S. continues its aggression and provocations against north Korea, and refuses to sign a peace treaty.

Highlights of the forum included three outstanding speakers who all have significant experience in addressing U.S. aggression on the Korean peninsula. Sharon Chung moved to Minnesota a year ago and is a supporting member of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development and on the Korean Education and Exposure Planning Team. Roy Wolff is a member of Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 and a U.S. Army veteran who was stationed in South Korea for 16 months (1955‐57). Wolf has traveled to both north and south Korea in the years since he was in the U.S. Army. Lastly, the panel included Christine Ahn, who video conferenced in from Hawaii. Ahn is a founder and International Coordinator of Women Cross the DMZ, and a co‐founder of Korea Policy Institute, Korea Peace Network and Korean Americans for Fair Trade. She is a policy analyst with expertise on Korea, globalization, militarism and women's rights.

Beginning the forum, Sharon Chung stated Western news media regularly spews distorted information about a “crazy north Korean dictator trying to blow up the world with nuclear weapons,” while ignoring the truly provocative actions coming from the U.S. government. She condemned actions like the U.S. and south Korean joint war exercises which simulate a nuclear war and assassination strikes on north Korea, and the forced and undemocratic deployment of the THAAD missile system.

Chung condemned the hypocrisy of some media’s portrayal of the U.S. government as peaceful when the U.S. puts its strategic bombing fleet on 24-hour alert status and sends three U.S. carrier groups to concurrent deployment off the Korean peninsula. The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) will be joined by the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) coming from the east, as the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) comes from the west in a move that escalates tension in the region.

These actions and others match with the rabid words coming from various quarters in the U.S. government. For example, Sen. Lindsey Graham stated in August, “if thousands die, they're going to die over there,” and continuing, Graham showed where he meant by “over there”: “Japan, South Korea, China will all be in the crosshairs of a war if we started one with North Korea.” Even more menacing have been Trump's own “fire and fury” comments threatening nuclear annihilation and holocaust on North Korea.

Roy Wolff presented next. He emphasized the genocidal history of U.S. aggression on the Korean peninsula. He stated facts that are generally unknown about the Korean War (1950-1953) like, “every village and town in north Korea was destroyed! Every one!” and he repeated that “30% of the population of north Korea were killed, that's 3 million out of the 1950 population of 9 million.” By way of example Wolf talked about the north Korean city of Wonsan, “a city of 70,000 people (in 1950) was shelled for 800 days in a row. At the end of those 800 days, only one wall of one building was left standing....and there were no people...many had fled, but thousands were killed.” Wolf also showed that while the 1953 Armistice temporarily ended the 'hot' hostilities, it did not end the brutality of the continuing U.S. occupation of south Korea, which meant that U.S. military personnel committed 100,000 assaults, rapes and murders between 1953 and 1995.

The last speaker, Christine Ahn pointed out that “if there was ever a need for a mass mobilization in opposition to Trump and prevent a war on north Korea, it is now!” She argued that conditions appear to be good for developing movements both in the U.S. and in south Korea, with 68 to 80% of people in the U.S. opposing military action against north Korea, and over 80% of the people in south Korea wanting peaceful reconciliation with north Korea.

There will be a nationally coordinated week of actions Nov. 6 – 11. This week of actions in the U.S. will mirror similar protests in south Korea. The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition will follow up on this forum with their No U.S. War on North Korea protest on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 4:30 p.m. in front of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Interstate 35W in Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #Korea #Imperialism #PeoplesStruggles #antiwar #NorthKorea #Asia

Minneapolis, MN – For the second week in a row, the organizers of a weekly peace vigil in the Twin Cities addressed the war crisis in Korea by holding a very visible anti-war event. The Sept. 6 event was attend by over 35 people who held signs against a U.S. war on north Korea.

The vigil, sponsored by the End War Committee of Women Against Military Madness and the Twin Cities Peace Campaign, is held every Wednesday on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

A statement issued by organizers says in part, “The war crisis in Korea remains at a boiling point, the Trump administration is making unhinged threats of war. There are reports that more U.S. military forces are being sent to Korea, including an additional aircraft carrier.”

The statement goes on to say, “There is a proposal to avert war and start talks, ‘freeze for freeze,’ in which north Korea suspends its nuclear and missile testing in exchange for halting or scaling back these massive U.S.-south Korean military exercises and for an a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War.”

“There is a real danger of a new U.S. war, everyone opposed must speak out. The weekly vigil is one way to speak out against war,” the statement said.

A number of other peace and anti-war groups joined the event, including Veterans for Peace, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and the Anti-War Committee.

Misty Rowan, a member of the Anti-War Committee (AWC), said, “The Anti-War Committee supports the right of Korea to self-determination. The U.S. government waged a genocidal war in the early 1950s, and now threatens more of the same. The AWC opposes all threats by the U.S. government against the Korean people.”

Rowan went on to say, “The U.S. is the last country that should be telling others how to handle nuclear capability, seeing as we are the only country that has dropped, not one but two, atomic bombs on the civilian population of another country. We are in no position to call Koreans irresponsible, when we have enough nukes to destroy the entire planet several times over. We should be worried about our own bombs.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Korea #NorthKorea

Salt Lake City, UT — Demonstrators gathered in downtown Salt Lake City to protest Trump’s threats of war on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, August 19. They chanted, “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!” as cars honked horns in support.

“We want people to know that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] isn’t the aggressor here,” said Nick Godfrey, an activist with the Utah Anti-War Committee (UAWC). “We were never taught the real history of this conflict. The U.S. has been unjustly threatening this nation for decades.”

The U.S. currently has 28,500 troops in south Korea near the demilitarized zone with north Korea. There are U.S. Navy ships off the coast, including two aircraft carriers, and the U.S. rushed to impose the THAAD missile system on south Korea, despite opposition from the incoming president. This week the U.S. will launch military exercises with at least 17,500 U.S. troops, and the possible threat of B1 bombers or aircraft carriers to simulate an invasion and all-out war on the DPRK.

The Saturday protest, organized by UAWC and held in front of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, drew about two dozen people with signs that read “Hands off the DPRK!” and “I won’t fight the rich man’s war!” The protest was in response to Trump’s recent provocations, wherein he threatened to bring “fire and fury” down on north Korea, later adding that U.S. military options were “locked and loaded.” U.S. provocations are likely to produce a defensive response from north Korea.

“The U.S. needs to keep manufacturing the supposed north Korean threat so it can control the region, said UAWC organizer Dave Newlin. “If north Korea didn’t exist, the U.S. would have to invent it in order to maintain dominance.”

Activist and former congressional candidate Ben Frank pointed to the immense economic forces at play around north Korea that go unacknowledged in the mainstream media.

“Basically, there are many incentives for the U.S to be aggressive towards north Korea outside of the pretenses given on corporate news,” Frank said. “Such as the fact that scientists estimate that north Korea is sitting on about $6 trillion worth of mineral resources.”

Cristobal Villegas, secretary for the Utah Democratic Party, spoke on how deeply the war mentality has penetrated U.S. society, and how getting involved with local politics can help break down the military-industrial system.

“War is not only an action by a nation, but rather it is a mindset. War has penetrated many sociological barriers. An example is how Salt Lake City and Utah treat people experiencing homelessness,” he said.

#SaltLakeCityUT #AntiwarMovement #Korea #US #PeoplesStruggles #DPRK #NorthKorea #Trump #DonaldTrump

Duterte has become a tool for US foreign aggression when he denounced North Korea for developing its nuclear weapons capability. He is echoing the line of the US imperialists demanding North Korea to stop testing its intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellite-launching rockets to deny it the capability to defend itself and deter US military aggression.

It is Duterte who looks like a clown when he, with his limited vocabulary of cuss words, called North Korea’s Kim Jong Un a “fool” for ardently defending their country’s sovereignty against the US imperialists. For all his bluster, Duterte, the strongman that he is, has no such balls, having revealed himself a pseudo-patriot who has now fully embraced his fellow buffoon Trump.

After having killed thousands of Filipinos in his wars of mass murder and destruction, Duterte has no right to condemn Kim Jong Un a “maniac”. Unlike Kim’s government which has provided all out support to scientific and technological development to modernize North Korean society, the Philippine government under Duterte has condemned the country to a state of non-industrial and agrarian backwardness.

The Party joins the North Korean people in condemning US threats of invasion against their country. American naval warships have been surrounding North Korea challenging its territorial waters. A few days ago, the US flew B-1B bombers over the Korean peninsula.

The US government, which controls 6,970 warheads, second only to Russia’s 7,300. has no right to tell the North Korean, which has less than 15 warheads, to stop developing nuclear weapons.

The Party fully supports the right of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to develop its weapons system, including nuclear weapons, ICBMs and anti-drone technology, as a deterrent against US military aggression. The DPRK’s nuclear weapons and capability at striking back is its only assurance against suffering the same fate as Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and other countries which became victims of US aggression and transformed into a US colonial wasteland.

#Philippines #AntiwarMovement #Korea #US #PeoplesStruggles #NorthKorea #Duterte #Asia

Minneapolis, MN – President Trump signed a U.S. sanctions bill against Russia, Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on August 1. In a hostile move, both the U.S. House and Senate voted by large majorities to target the oil and gas industries of Russia, the space and nuclear industries of Iran, and the international banking and financial institutions dealing with the DPRK.

Steff Yorek of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization said on August 2, “This is yet another provocative and warlike act by Trump and the U.S. Congress against sovereign countries. It is dangerous for the peoples of the world and for us here too. As the U.S. grows weaker and weaker in its ability to dictate to other countries, we are seeing more bullying, threats and possibility of new wars.”

Yorek continued, “The hypocrisy of Wall Street, Congress and the corporate media is plain for all to see. All they can talk about is how Russia interfered in the U.S. elections, while the U.S. interferes openly in the elections of Ukraine, Venezuela, Honduras and many other countries. The U.S. funds and arms far-right and even fascist groups, shares intelligence with rich politicians to overthrow elected leaders, and then lies about election results in those countries, while claiming to spread democracy and freedom.

“As every person in the Middle East knows, U.S. sanctions lead to war. Russia, Iran and the DPRK are responding by gathering their friends and allies, and preparing for self-defense. As Russia, China and others are working together more and more, many are welcoming the opportunity to end the poverty, misery and war the U.S. brings to their countries,” Yorek concluded.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #Iran #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #sanctions #SteffYorek #NorthKorea #Antifascism #DonaldTrump #Trump

The report states that the rocket was launched from the northwest part of the DPRK, making a “39-minute flight along its pre-set trajectory before accurately hitting the target waters in the open sea in the East Sea of Korea.”

Chairman of the Workers Party of Korea Kim Jong Un was present at the test site, and observed the launch.

The report concludes, “The DPRK will fundamentally put an end to the U.S. nuclear war threat and blackmail and reliably defend the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region.”

#WashingtonDC #WashingtonDCDC #AntiwarMovement #Korea #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #DPRK #NorthKorea

St Paul, MN – For the second week in a row a Twin Cities peace vigil focused on opposition to U.S. war on Korea. On May 3 over 25 people attended the weekly vigil to speak out against the danger of U.S. war in Korea. The vigil is held on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge over the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

The weekly vigil is sponsored by the End War Committee of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and the Twin Cities Peace Campaign.

People driving and walking by the demonstration opposing war gave many signs of support.

“The response to taking an anti-war message out to a public place like this bridge shows that people don't want yet another war,” said one participant.

Sue Ann Martinson, one of the people attending said, “It is outrageous that Trump wants to cut $54 billion dollars from social welfare spending to add to the war machine budget. Our tax dollars should be used to address the desperate needs in our communities instead of war and interventions. We should be spending money on education, housing and healthcare, not on bombs, drones and nuclear missiles.”

Sarah Martin, a member of WAMM said, “Trump and the government are once again flirting with war. The pivot to Asia is emphasized with direct military threats against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [north Korea]. These threats to the DPRK, the Korean peninsula and Asia in general, include war games practicing nuclear war, installation of the THAAD missile system and increased sanctions being both extremely dangerous and provocative must be opposed.”

Leaflets for the event had been handed out earlier in the week at May Day protests in the Twin Cities to alert people on the need to speak out against the danger of a new U.S. war in Korea.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Korea #WAMM<