Posted on 10/15/2018 9:18:43 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
US President Donald Trump’s statement that Seoul would not lift sanctions on Pyongyang without America’s “approval” did not go down well in South Korea, prompting criticism from activists and politicians from across the political spectrum.
A group of student activists climbed up the Statue of King Sejong in central Seoul on Friday afternoon in a protest against Trump’s speech as they flew a banner that read, “South Korea is not a US colony” and chanted, “Trump needs to apologize.”
The protest, which saw six people arrested, comes after Trump said Wednesday, “They won’t do it without our approval. They do nothing without our approval,” a comment that has been widely branded as “condescending” and “an infringement of sovereignty.”
In a now-deleted Facebook post, lawmaker Song Young-gil from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said he disagreed with Trump’s choice of the word “approval,” and explained that unlike sanctions imposed by the United Nations, South Korea’s independent sanctions like the ones in response to the 2010 Cheonan sinking do not require approval from other entities.
Song added while prior consultation with a strong ally like the US is necessary, to suggest that South Korea needs “approval” from the US shows disrespect to South Korea as a sovereign state.
Ex-lawmaker and prominent conservative figure Jeon Yeo-ok also took to Facebook to echo a similar sentiment.
In the wake of mounting criticism, South Korea‘s ambassador to the United States Cho Yoon-je said Friday that he told a White House official about the controversy surrounding Trump’s comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at koreaherald.com ...
Time to pull our troops out and let them see how mighty they are. Kim Jung Un would like nothing more.
i hope people wouldn’t judge my country based on a small protest of student activists
That’s the libertarian position.
That seems to be the consensus of most of the people posting on this thread.
Moon seems to want the North to dictate to the South...wonder what his actual roots/history/philosophies are....I don’t trust him any more than I do Little Kim...
These guys need to suck in their cheeks and remember that without us and our war dead they’d all be worshipping Kim Il Sung and Stalin
I guess they don’t understand there are important reasons to have allies and military bases in far away lands next to our enemies either. There is “consensus” on global warming” too.
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