For Congress to Act We Must Speak Out, Loud and Clear!

For Congress to Act We Must Speak Out, Loud and Clear!

“For evil to triumph it is only necessary that good men do nothing” – Edmund Burke

The signing of the agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Viet Nam, the recently concluded high level talks and agreements between the representatives of our country and the U.S.S.R.- the Brezhnev-Nixon summit-have opened up possibilities for easing tensions and restoring peace in Asia.

Following the conclusion of the signing of the West German-USSR pacts, Mr. Brezhnev declared:

“Significant improvement of the political climate in Europe has been reached lately. A beginning has been made for a turn from tension and confrontation to business cooperation between states with different social systems.

“Following Europe, a realistic possibility arises for reducing tension in another vast area of the world. This time in Asia where the flames of war have raged continuously throughout the last few decades.”

 The struggle for reducing tension in Asia threatens only the warmongering forces in our land and their allies, the native Quislings.

U.S. troops armed with destructive atomic weapons remain entrenched in South Korea, violating the will and sovereignty of the Korean people. Their continued presence on Korean soil is interfering with, obstructing and becoming the major obstacle in the continued negotiations by North and South Korea, begun in 1972 for the peaceful and independent reunification of Korea.

On July 4, 1972, North and South Korea signed a joint agreement on reunification. The July 4^th negotiations concluded with the establishment of a North-South Coordinating Committee for the carrying out of the following basic principles and guidelines for the reunification negotiations.

1.Reunification to be achieved independently without reliance on or interference from outside forces.

2. Reunification to be achieved by peaceful means in a climate of eased tensions and without the use of arms against the other side.

3. National reunification to be promoted and advanced on the basis of transcending differences in ideology and social systems.

Since the start of negotiations for reunification in 1972, evidence has been piling up that despite the signature of the Park Chung Hee regime on the July 4^th Acord, they nevertheless have set out to sabotage the continued negotiations for reunification. The Park Chung Hee regime is encouraged and master-minded in their obstinate position against reunification, by U.S.-Japanese imperialism protecting the investments of their monopolies in South Korea.

In the Korean Focus editorial on the July 4^th reunification joint statement (Vol. 1, No.3, page 4) we took note of the possible difficulties facing reunification. We said:

“Lest there be any illusions about the rate of progress toward unification, it s clear that the most reactionary forces in South Korea, all of them huddled within and about the government of President Park Chung Hee, will do their utmost to hinder that progress. They will be abetted in their efforts by their counterparts in the governing and industrial establishments of the United States and Japan.”

 For the negotiations to continue successfully, it is imperative that the U.S. government change its present policy in respect to Korea, as advised in the speeches by Senators J. William Fulbright and Mie Mansfield.(See centerspread.)

Only Congress, responding to the needs of our country and the demands of our people, can reverse the policy of the Administration, pronounced by Secretary of State Rogers on July 17, 1973, in Japan, that the U.S. will not withdraw its 40,000 troops, making it quite evident that it is the determination of the U.S. and Japanese monopoly capital to perpetuate the dismemberment of Korea.

At a time when our people are faced with the prospects of a deteriorating standard of living, depression and starvation, under the cry of “lack of funds”, there is no reason why hundreds of millions of dollars of our taxes should be spent on keeping 40,000 troops in South Korea and on military aid to a corrupt Park Chung Hee dictatorship.

A staff report issued on February 19, 1973 by a sub-committee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, headed by Senator Fulbright, details the hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into the war machine of the Park Chung Hee dictatorship.

“From 1949 through fiscal year 1971, total U.S. economic assistance to South Korea in loans, grants, population grants and P.L. 480 was $4,269,000,000. In fiscal year 1972, assistance totaled 192.56 million dollars. The planned total for fiscal year 1973 is 212.4 million dollars.

“In the period 1949-71, South Korea received 5.01 billion dollars in U.S. military assistance, loans and grants. Fiscal year 1971 marked the beginning of the military five-year modernization plan which will come to $1,500,000,000.”

Thus, a total of over ten billion dollars of our taxpayers money has already been poured into the Park Chung Hee rathole and there is no end in sight, according to Secretary of State Rogers’ statement in Tokyo.

On April 6, 1973, the Supreme People’s Assmebly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) addressed a letter to the U.S. Congress (see centerspread). A conspirational curtain of silence was dropped by the U.S. media on this letter. To date, Congress has not responded nor even acknowledged receipt of this letter.

We appeal to you, Congressmen and Senators, to join with and publicly express your approval of the sentiments expressed by Senator Fulbright and Senator Mansfield. We ask you, readers of our publication, to urge your friends to join with you, in addressing postcards, letters, resolutions, from local trade union, peace committees, and other people’s organized movements, to Congressmen and Senators, to work for and influence the U.S. government to end interference in the internal affairs of Korea by:

1. Withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Korea

2. Stop all military aid to South Korea.

3. Support the movement in the United Nations for the dissolution of UNCURK (United Nations Committee for Unification & Rehabilitation of Korea).

Executive Board AKFIC

Editorial Board Korea Focus