Residents recently protested in Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea (ROK), against upcoming joint ROK-U.S. military drills and tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Civic leaders and critics of U.S. foreign policy rallied and marched past the U.S. Embassy to voice opposition to the administration and its policies toward the ROK.
"We should end joint ROK-U.S. war exercises and dismantle the ROK-U.S. alliance. We reject President Trump's trade pressure and call for an end to colonial division and Cold War alliances to restore our economic and peaceful sovereignty," said Lee Hong-jung, a member of the Korea Peace and Solidarity for Sovereignty and Reunification, a South Korean civic group that advocates greater national sovereignty and peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
The protest came ahead of large-scale joint military exercises between the U.S. and the ROK in March, which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) views as a rehearsal for invasion. Many participants expressed opposition to these drills, arguing that they provoke tension on the Korean Peninsula.
The demonstration also spotlighted Trump's tariffs. Soon after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling declared his tariff policy illegal, the U.S. president signed a new executive order to impose 10 percent tariffs on imported goods from all countries.
"South Korea and the United States signed the ROK-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. But without upholding the terms of that agreement, they are unilaterally raising tariffs. The principle is supposed to be reciprocal. So, if the U.S. raises tariffs, the ROK should respond by raising tariffs as well. I think it's unfair because it's so unilateral," said Ahn Ji-jung, a member of Joint Action to Stop Trump.
Demonstrators argued that U.S. economic policies and its military alliance with the ROK are abusing the country's sovereignty for U.S. own interests.
Locals in ROK rally against joint US military drills, Trump tariffs
