No to the strategic flexibility of the USFK!
Cancel the US base expansion at Pyongtaek!

On Nov. 17, SPARK, the Pan-Korean Solution Committee against the US Base Expansion in Pyongtaek, and other organizations held a press conference and rally in order to oppose President Bush's visit to Korea and denounce the ROK-US summit meeting, which was held that day. The summit meeting was arranged to coincide with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting (Nov. 18-19).
The press conference was held at10:00 am, to announce an international protest letter to the ROK-US summit meeting. Since the police prevented the protesters from approaching the summit site, the press conference was held on the street 6 km away from the summit venue at Gyong-Ju.

The participants in the conference included some members of the Pan-Korean Committee; members of SPARK branches in Andong, Inchon, Buchon, Daejon, and Seoul; and Japanese, Filipino, and Taiwanese activists from the Asia-Wide Campaign against US-Japanese domination & aggression of Asia (AWC).

They urged President Bush and President Roh Mu-hyon to cancel the strategic flexibility of the USFK and the US base expansion at Pyongtaek.
Father Mun Jong-Hyon, an executive chairman of the Pan-Korean Committee, asserted, "We oppose turning Korea  into a war base. We're firmly determined to block the US military base expansion at Pyongtaek."

Lee Sang-Ryol, a leader of the local residents' committee in Pyongtaek, said, "They plan to grab about 1,200 hectares of rice fields to expand their base. That's enough rice land to feed 370,000 Pyongtaek citizens for six and a half months. We'll never let the US military seize that land. The land is our whole life."
At the end of the conference, the participants tried to march to the summit venue in order to deliver the protest letter to the summit meeting, but the riot police blocked them. 
Encircled by the police, they chanted, "No to the strategic flexibility of the USFK!", "Cancel the US base expansion at Pyongtaek!" and Father Mun threw the protest letter into the crowd of policemen.

After the conference, they took part in a rally and march to protest against the ROK-US summit meeting.