Tens of Thousands S.Koreans Participate in Anti-American Rallies

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 15, 2002

Tens of Thousands S.Koreans Participate in Anti-American Rallies

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Tens of thousands of South Koreans rallied in main cities of the country on Saturday to mourn for two teenage girls run over and killed by a US armored vehicle, reported by the South Korean news agency Yonhap News.

Over 300,000 people took part in demonstrations at 57 different domestic and alien sites, who were joined by overseas South Koreans in 12 foreign countries such as the United States, Germany and Australia, Yonhap News reported.

Besides large amount of protestors gathered in the City Hall incentral Seoul near the US embassy, thousands of protestors turned out also in Ban, Daegu, Gwangju and other cities housing US military bases.

In Seoul, police authorities posted riot troops from early hours, circling the City Hall and the nearby US embassy and installing police lines to prevent violent outbreaks, the report said.

Saturday's protest was the largest of the demonstrations since two American servicemen who run the armored vehicle were acquitted of negligent homicide charges by a US military court late November.

Two 14-year-old girls, Shim Mi-sun and Shin Hyo-soon, were walking along a rural road on June 13 when they were struck and instantly killed by the US military vehicle.

The acquittal of the sergeants soon ignited angry demonstrations throughout the country, anti-American mood spread quickly all over South Korea.

Amid growing concerns that the anti-US sentiments are reaching a danger level, US President George W. Bush has expressed his apologies for three times. But the apologies did not satisfied with South Korean people's demand of the revision of Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that governs legal status of 37,000 US forces stationed in South Korea.

A sub-committee of the South Korea-US Joint Committe Thursday held talks and reached initial consensus on improvement of SOFA. It will held another talks next week.

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