No THAAD, Yes Peace in the Korean peninsula!
July 12 Prayer for Peace Concert
Let us ask
Who stole peace from us?
Let us ask
Who made us join our hands?
Dear Friend—this Wednesday, July 12, marks a 1-year anniversary of Seongju Peace Candlelight to Stop THAAD. As you know, Seongju peace candlelight ignited Korea’s historic candlelight revolution which restored democracy and elected the current president Moon Jae-in who is currently enjoying an 84% approval rating specifically for his new peace initiative (engagement and diplomacy with North Korea and appeal for humanitarian assistance for children in North Korea) on the Korean peninsula.
Against all odds, people in this small rural village in Korea, especially grandmothers, stood up resolutely for defending principles of peace and raising hopes. This week artists from Daegu (the largest city near Seongju and my hometown) will hold a peace concert for those villagers who have suffered too much while leading the most difficult yet heroic 365 days of peace vigil: Stop THAAD.
Though we still haven’t been able to stop THAAD, we, as a global community, are in a miraculous and inspirational moment of creating another culture of peace. I am sure that this culture of resistance and peace that we are creating today during these hard times will outlive any militaristic ventures!
Friend--we are not asking a lot from our friends: please just stay with us, be with us, walk with us, come and visit us if you can, and, helps us to keep our home free of threat, bullying and military industrial complex that takes our community as a hostage for their greed!
Stop THAAD in South Korea
2017 Prayer for Peace
Seongju Peace Concert
One Year Anniversary of Great Seongju Peace Candlelight
July 12, 7:30 pm
Solidarity from artists from City of Daegu
A Poem: Blocking the road (Stop THAAD)
Let us ask
Who stole peace from us?
Let us ask
Who made us join our hands?
…
Before we have the New Year’s soup
The kindness and love we first tasted
That inspirational love for the Republic
…
Poems flew here and there
Over the plaza, butterflies of peace
Poems are butterflies of peace
Looking at the butterflies of peace
Candle flames cried
Candle flames smiled
Candle flames shouted
Candle flames rose up
50 cities lit candles
100 cities lit candles
1000000 people lit candles
2000000 people lit candles
Once again poems gathered
A kaleidoscope of butterflies
is now returning to people.
김수상 시인
1) The Diplomat. Jon Letman. Postcard From Seongju’s Anti-THAAD Protest
Unlike other parts of South Korea, where demonstrations against military installations have carried on for years, Seongju residents were new to protesting when the THAAD deployment was announced. However, they soon proved themselves formidable opponents as they took to the streets with signs, shaved their heads in protest, and tussled with police.
Many of those living in Soseong-ri, the village closest to the THAAD site, are old enough to have experienced the 1950-53 Korean War (which has never formally ended). They’re also old enough to remember the immense suffering caused by massacres and suppression by Korean military forces in collaboration with the U.S. military on Jeju island (1947-54) and in the Gwangju uprising (1980). Korean elders remember the role of the United States and are strongly opposed to increased militarization, especially when forced from the outside.
Protest by Candlelight
For the last 11 months, residents have held nightly candlelight vigils outside the Seongju County office. Lee Hye-gyeong, Kim Gyeong-sook, and Kim Hyun-sun, three local women, do their best to attend the demonstrations but say it’s not easy to continue month after month.
2) Zoom in Korea. Seongju Residents Prepare to Block THAAD Deployment; S Korean Women Appeal for Solidarity on International Women’s Day
The chief beneficiaries of THAAD are corporations such as Lockheed Martin and the so-called public servants through whom they speak–those who have shamefully chosen to trample the sovereign rights of the men and women they have sworn to represent in order to advance their own self-serving needs. Koreans, who throughout their history have suffered the vicissitudes of war and occupation, are now suffering under the yoke of corrupt and dishonorable officials who sell their lives and well-being of their own sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers. It is truly a tragedy to behold. http://www.zoominkorea.org/seongju-residents-prepare-to-block-thaad-deployment-s-korean-women-appeal-for-solidarity-on-international-womens-day/
3) Appeal from the Steering Committee, Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea and Militarism in Asia and the Pacific. "Endorse No to THAAD in Korea, Yes to Peace through Dialogue"
https://goo.gl/EkVRGX]
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