Solidarity meeting with activist from Pyeongtaek, South Korea

On July 20, members of the New York branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, along with our allies in the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), participated in a meeting against U.S. military expansion in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Go You-Kyong of the South Korean Solution Committee Against U.S. Military Extension in Pyeongtaek spoke in a room of activists from many different struggles.

The program opened with a visual presentation, which told the story of the valiant and courageous people’s movement

Farmers demonstrate against U.S. military base expansion in Pyeongtaek.

that has taken shape in Pyeongtaek against U.S. military expansion. Pyeongtaek peasants and farmers are being displaced by the construction of a U.S. military base. The base is all part of the U.S. military realignment effort in the region. U.S. troops are being realigned strategically to make future assaults possible on those opposed to U.S. expansion and dominance in the region, namely, North Korea and China.

Military bases like the one in Pyeongtaek have been disastrous for the people of Korea. Farmers are often ejected from their land so that it can be used for the bases and the land is frequently damaged. For those farmers who can prove land-ownership, small compensation is given, but as Go You-Kyong explained, “Villagers’ way of life can’t be compensated by money.”

She described how many workers and farmers in South Korea understand that U.S. foreign policy in their country—which is defended by the South Korean capitalist state—is part of imperialist expansion all throughout the world. As a representative of the Korean people, she appealed to workers in the United States to fight the imperialist beast from within.

The program ended with live performances of revolutionary peasant music. These were sounds from our brothers and sisters in struggle—a struggle of pain, death, strength and victory.