Mayor Lee Yong-seop "Strongly Urges International Community's Attention and Solidarity Through Global Networks"
On the morning of the 23rd, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, attended the "Joint Meeting of Myanmar Organizations in Korea" held by the 5·18 People's Uprising Memorial Event Committee at Jeonil Building 245 Citizen Maru in Dong-gu, inviting representatives of Myanmar organizations nationwide, and delivered a greeting. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Representatives of Myanmar organizations from across the country gathered in one place for the ‘May Action for Myanmar’ event held on the 23rd at Jeonil Building 245 Citizen Maru.
Organized by the 5·18 People’s Uprising Commemoration Committee in connection with the 41st anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Movement commemoration event, about 50 people including representatives and officials of Myanmar organizations in Korea attended to discuss the joint action goals of the Myanmar democratization movement and shared opinions on sharing rice balls with Gwangju citizens and joint rallies.
The invited Myanmar organizations included eight groups: the Burma National Democratic Alliance Founding Committee, the Myanmar Military Dictatorship Overthrow Committee, the Dawei Youth Organization in Korea, Suwon Myanmar Community Center, Pocheon Myanmar Democratic Camp National Unity Government (NUG) Youth Organization, Myanmar Student Association in Korea, Myanmar Kinship Youth Organization, and Gwangju Myanmar Network.
Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, pinned the 5·18 badge on the representatives of the Myanmar organizations and stated, “The citizens of Gwangju actively support the people of Myanmar with the spirit of sharing and solidarity of Gwangju, and Gwangju City strongly urges the international community to pay attention to and show solidarity with the Myanmar situation through the international human rights network it has built so far.”
He continued, “Just as Gwangju in May 1980 advanced step by step toward the light in the darkness to achieve democracy, Gwangju will stand with the people of Myanmar so that they do not lose courage and can move toward the light of hope.”
Mayor Lee said, “The 11th World Human Rights Cities Forum to be held in Gwangju in October is a highly influential international event jointly hosted by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO, with many human rights cities around the world participating. We will prepare so that the UN agencies and cities participating in the forum can raise a unified voice and take action for Myanmar’s democracy.”
Earlier, Mayor Lee played a leading role in the ‘World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments Human Rights Committee,’ of which he is co-chair, in issuing a joint statement supporting the Myanmar democratization movement.
The joint statement announced on the 3rd included participation from 17 domestic cities and provinces as well as 14 human rights cities from Spain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Tunisia, and others, with the number of participating cities gradually increasing.
Additionally, Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed support for the joint statement at the local government level to resolve the Myanmar situation.
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