South Korean students protesting US military presence in country detained after scaling wall of envoy's residence

Corazon Miller
The Indepedent
Fri, 18 Oct 2019 14:36 UTC

© EPA

South Korean university student protesters climb over a wall during a protest at the US ambassador's residence in Seoul

Nineteen South Korean students were detained after scaling the wall of the US envoy's residence in Seoul, in protest of American presence in their country.

The students were taken into a local station for questioning on Friday after illegally entering ambassador Harry Harris' home, police said.

The group, which identifies itself as a coalition of progressive university students, posted photos on its Facebook account in which several members climbed over the wall of the house of ambassador Harry Harris using ladders.

In a separate video, apparently broadcast live from inside the compound, they accused the United States of demanding a 500 per cent hike in the costs for the upkeep of some 28,500 troops in South Korea, while holding a banner saying "Leave this soil Harris."

The two countries are currently in talks over how to share the expense of the US military presence.

"Stop interfering with our domestic affairs," the students could be heard shouting, followed by other chants "Get out", and "We don't need US troops", before being marched out of the residence by police.

There was no immediate comment from the US Embassy about the incident.

In June, the same student group had held a forum to present their "research findings" on the achievements of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, lauding him as a caring and influential leader.

The students also attempted to break into the US Embassy in Seoul last January before being stopped by police.

Comment: As noted in Here's where Washington's focus will shift to after Syria the US' presence in Asia is unlikely to abate any time soon:

Washington has a new priority theater it is allocating its time and resources to focus on: the Indo Pacific. In that vein, you may start to notice that China and its relationship to the Pacific region is starting to make headlines again.

[...]

The US is also preparing a 12,000 soldier strong military exercise known as the Defender Pacific, which will see the US work closely with the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. It could also involve states such as the Marshall Islands and Palau, both still are diplomatic allies of Taiwan.

In the entire region, the US has 85,000 permanently stationed troops in total.

See also:

• Japan and South Korea see US as "major threat" to global security
• South Korea proposes reunification with North Korea by 2045