Rally Held Near City Hall Station in Jung-gu, Seoul
"SOFA Revision is the Succession of the Candlelight Spirit"
KCTU Condemns Yoon Suk-yeol Government, "Must Begin Struggle to Reestablish Korea-US Relations"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] A rally commemorating the 20th anniversary of the deaths of middle school students Shin Hyo-sun and Shin Mi-seon, who were killed by a U.S. military armored vehicle, was held. The organizers of the rally called for a reestablishment of Korea-U.S. relations.

On the 11th, the Hyo-sun and Mi-seon 20th Anniversary 6.11 Peace Rally Promotion Committee (Promotion Committee) held the "Hyo-sun and Mi-seon 20th Anniversary Candlelight Spirit Succession 6.11 Peace Rally" around 3 p.m. near City Hall Station in Jung-gu, Seoul. According to police estimates, up to 4,000 people participated, including civic groups such as the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), citizens opposing U.S. military facilities such as the naval base in Gangjeong Village, Jeju, and the THAAD base in Seongju, Gyeongbuk.

They demanded a reestablishment of Korea-U.S. relations. Participants attended the rally holding placards with slogans such as "Let's change the unequal Korea-U.S. relations" and "This land is not a U.S. war base." The Promotion Committee stated, "The construction of bases and facilities that hand over this land as a U.S. military base and war base must be immediately stopped," and added, "We must readjust the unequal Korea-U.S. relations where the U.S. Forces Korea cannot properly exercise even environmental, health, and judicial sovereignty."

They also emphasized the need to revise the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). SOFA is an agreement that defines the status of U.S. forces in Korea and stipulates strong legal protections for U.S. military suspects. Since the 2002 Hyo-sun and Mi-seon incident, civic groups have been demanding revisions to the unequal provisions. The Hyo-sun and Mi-seon incident refers to the event on June 13, 2002, when middle school second graders Shin Hyo-sun and Shim Mi-seon were killed by a U.S. military armored vehicle on a national highway in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province. The U.S. soldier driving the armored vehicle was acquitted, which led to public outrage.

Attorney Kwon Jeong-ho, who represented the bereaved families in filing charges against the U.S. military at the time of the Hyo-sun and Mi-seon incident, said at the rally, "We have not been able to change a single word of the SOFA provisions for 20 years," and added, "Revising SOFA and restoring sovereignty is the way to inherit and complete the candlelight spirit."

Before the memorial service, the KCTU criticized the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's foreign policy and called for intensifying the struggle. Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the KCTU, said in his opening speech, "Twenty years after the Hyo-sun and Mi-seon incident, peace on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia is facing a serious crisis," and added, "We must stop the reckless actions of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which aligns with the U.S. strategy to turn Korea into a forward base, and launch a struggle demanding the reestablishment of unequal Korea-U.S. relations."