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South Korean Students Break into U.S. Army Headquarters

Protesters demanding the withdrawal of the U.S. military from the Korean peninsula and the trial of the two U.S. soldiers at a South Korean court

SEOUL, November 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Dozens of South Korean students broke into a U.S. military base Tuesday, November 26, to protest the acquittal of two American soldiers who crushed to death two local schoolgirls with their car.

The protestors cut through two steel wire fences and staged a 30-minute anti-U.S. protest in Camp Red Cloud, headquarters of the 2nd Infantry Division, in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, American officials said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"They were arrested by riot police after staging a brief protest inside the base," a U.S. military spokesman told AFP. Police said around 50 college students and labor activists were arrested.

The Voice of the People, an Internet broadcast run by anti-U.S. groups, showed rifle-toting U.S. soldiers watching as protestors burned a U.S. flag and chained themselves to one another as they reached the gate of the camp.

However, no one was injured and there was no damage to U.S. property during the demonstration, said a South Korean police officer in Uijeongbu.

"With the help of U.S. guards, we arrested the protestors," he said.

The protestors carried placards reading "U.S.A troops out of Korea" and demanded the soldiers acquitted in the murder be tried again in a South Korean court.

On Friday, November 22, a U.S. soldier who ran over two South Korean school girls with a 50-tonne military vehicle was cleared by a U.S. military court of two counts of negligent homicide. 

Sergeant Mark Walker was at the wheel of the tank track vehicle that crushed to death 14-year-olds Shim Mi-Son and Shin Hyon-Sun on June 13.

Protesters holding a sign condemning the United States Forces Korea (USFK)

Another U.S. soldier, Sergeant Fernando Nino, the vehicle's navigator and commander, was cleared of two counts of negligent homicide Wednesday, November 20, by the same court martial at the sprawling U.S. military post north of Seoul.

The vehicle ran over the girls as they walked past a military convoy on their way to a birthday party. 

The eight-member military jury deliberated for more than four hours before finding Walker not guilty on both counts.

The case has fuelled anti-U.S. sentiment in South Korea, which hosts 37,000 U.S. forces under a mutual defense pact dating back to the 1950-1953 Korean War.

On Monday, 20 students armed with iron pipes threw firebombs into a U.S. military warehouse for office furniture, triggering a brief fire which was put out quickly without injuries.

South Korean activists have staged regular protests outside U.S. military bases since the killing of the two schoolgirls, burning American flags and scuffling with riot police. 

Under an accord between Washington and Seoul, U.S. forces have legal jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers committing crimes in South Korea while on duty. The South Korean government asked for jurisdiction in this case but was denied by Washington.

However, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung has issued a stern warning against violent anti-U.S. protests.

"The government must sternly deal with illegal and violent demonstrations," Kim said at a cabinet meeting.

Anti-U.S. groups, for their part, vowed to stage more protests including anti-American rallies Saturday, November 30, in Seoul and 14 other cities as police tightened security around U.S. bases.  

 

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