[fse-esf] The call for an Anti-war, Anti-U.S, Nuclear Disarmament Movement

Tue Oct 31 08:47:00 CET 2006

To clarify the question raised by Vicki Morris,

I was asked by the  South-Korean PSSP (People's solidarity for Social 
Progress) to "relay this to european social movements" "for reference".

It is not a draft of a statement to be singed by the European Movments.

As I mentioned in my first mail, more on this issue can be find on ESSF 
website, including on North Korea:

In English:

http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?rubrique260

In French:

http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?rubrique259

Best,

Pierre Rousset

Le 31 oct. 06, à 00:24, Vicki Morris a écrit :

> I'm astonished that the statement circulated says nothing explicit to 
> condemn North Korea.
> An old saying tells us that the main enemy is at home, and it is quite 
> right that, emanating from activists from South Korea, this statement 
> should focus on US/South Korea hypocrisy and warmongering. And, if 
> adding our names to the statement, activists outside South and North 
> Korea - most of us - would be right to add also a condemnation of 
> their own hypocritical and warmongering governments (I live in the 
> UK).
> But the very fact that we cannot hear any dissident voice from North 
> Korea on this nuclear test matter reminds us once again why the regime 
> there needs to be condemned as well in the strongest terms.
> Without such an acknowledgement, united too with trying to think how 
> we could contact people inside North Korea, this statement, to my 
> mind, is politically extremely inadequate.
> Vicki  Morris
>
> Pierre Rousset <Pierre.Rousset at ras.eu.org> wrote:
>> It seems that the text was missing in the mail some of you (many?)
>> received. In doubt I do not abstain an send a second time.`
>>
>> ------------
>>
>> Statement on North Korea's Nuclear Test: A call for an Anti-war,
>> Anti-U.S, Nuclear Disarmament Movement
>>
>> Opposing war and violence on the Korean Peninsula and around the
>> world, in the name of all people who wish for peace and democracy, we
>> assert the following:
>>
>> 1. We condemn the hypocrisy of the United Nations’ sanctions against
>> North Korea and the real threat posed by the United States’ nuclear
>> hegemony.
>>
>> The majority of UN Security Council members including the U.S. have
>> carried out fearful and deadly nuclear tests and have thousands of
>> nuclear weapons. To present, the U.S. has carried out 1,127 nuclear
>> tests, of which 217 were ground tests. The USSR carried out 969 tests,
>> France 210, the U.K and China, 45 each.
>>
>> The sanctions imposed by UN resolution 1718 are based on a double
>> standard which holds that the actions of the “great powers” are
>> legitimate while those of other countries are not. Moreover, while
>> Israel, which is under the U.S.'s protection, carried out a nuclear
>> test in 1979 and has hundreds of nuclear missiles, the U.S. has never
>> insisted on sanctions against it.
>>
>> All these facts demonstrate that the UN sanctions resolution against
>> North Korea is explicitly hypocritical and is only a device for
>> reinforcing the great powers' nuclear hegemony. Indeed, it is these
>> states who are the principal promoters of world-wide nuclear
>> proliferation
>>
>> 2. We oppose all measures to strengthen sanctions against North Korea
>> based on the UN resolution.
>>
>> Economic sanctions might be called a 'silent air strike'. It is a fact
>> that economic sanctions, which have become rapidly more prevalent 
>> after
>> the Cold War, have caused more casualties than Weapons of Mass
>> Destruction. For example, in Iraq, tens of thousands of people, most 
>> of
>> whom were children, died from economic sanctions, which were imposed
>> from 1991 to 2001.
>>
>> It is clear that economic sanctions, which strike indiscriminately,
>> are in fact an attack against civilians and use human suffering and
>> starvation as weapons of war. We must oppose all economic sanctions
>> that target everyday people. All economic sanctions imposed by
>> imperialist countries, not only those targeting North Korea, but also
>> those targeting the Middle East, Latin America and other countries
>> around the world, should be stopped immediately.
>>
>> 3. We call for an immediate end to the exceedingly dangerous
>> confrontation between the U.S. and North Korea and oppose nuclear
>> armament throughout East Asia and the Pacific Rim, most especially the
>> armament of U.S.
>>
>> The possession of nuclear weapons, the ultimate goal of which is the
>> indiscriminate extermination of life, is never justifiable. Further,
>> the possession of nuclear weapons itself induces war and gives rise to
>> cold war-like posturing and fanatical militarism.
>> Every attempt to further stimulate nuclear competition in East Asia on
>> the ground of responding to North Korea's nuclear test must be 
>> stopped.
>> We must send a clear message that nuclear armament is not justified or
>> acceptable to all the powers in East Asia who are currently raising
>> their voices about militarization, including conservative forces in
>> South Korea, militaristic powers in Japan and warlike powers in China
>> and Taiwan.
>>
>> 4. We must eliminate all potential causes of war from South Korea.
>>
>> In the face of rapidly rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula it is
>> South Korea who should be first to eliminate the factors pointing to
>> war. Currently, the policies of South Korea’s Roh administration are
>> objectively increasing the risk of war.
>>
>> The Roh administration actively supports the U.S.'s attempt to
>> increase its capacity to carry out war by accepting the U.S. plan for
>> Strategic Flexibility and allowing the repositioning of U.S forces in
>> South Korea and the U.S. base expansion in Pyeong-Taek.
>> The Roh government is using the transfer of wartime operational
>> control from the U.S. as grounds to increases weapons build-up
>> tremendously.
>> It is therefore moving forward with the plan to introduce the AEGIS
>> warship and PAC-3 missile as part of Missile Defense(MD) System.
>>
>> We assert the necessity of arms reduction in Korea, the withdrawal of
>> U.S. troops and the dissolution of Korea-U.S warlike military 
>> alliance.
>> We not only oppose South Korea’s participation in the Weapons of Mass
>> Destruction Proliferation Security Initiative(PSI), which is currently
>> inducing armed conflict with North Korea, but the whole initiative in
>> its entirety.
>>
>> We must use our heartfelt desire for peace and collective strength to
>> end the U.S. war- threat and nuclear armament in East Asia.
>>
>> - End the nuclear confrontation on the Korean Peninsula!
>> - No to the U.S.’s imperialistic nuclear hegemony!
>> - No to UN sanctions against North Korea! No to PSI!
>> - Withdraw the U.S forces from Korea! Dissolve the Korea-U.S. war
>> alliance!
>> - Abolish Strategic Flexibility! Stop the expansion of the U.S base in
>> Pyeong-Taek!
>>
>> October 25, 2006
>> PSSP (People's Solidarity for Social Progress)
>>
>> Contact:
>> 4th. Fl. Shinsung BLDG, 8-48, Galwoeldong, Yongsangu, Seoul, Koera
>> Tel.: +82-2-778-4001 Fax: +82-2-778-4006
>> E-mail: pssp at jinbo.net_______________________________________________
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