South Korea: Trump Faces Protests Over Tariff War, Coercive Policies

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Gyeongju and several other cities in South Korea to oppose US President Donald Trump’s visit to the country on Wednesday, October 29.

Protesters in Gyeongju tried to march to the Bomun Tourist Complex, the venue of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. They were stopped nearly five kilometers from the venue by security forces, The Korean Times reported.

Despite the security barricade, some of the protesters reached near the summit venue which caused a brief clash with security forces and led to minor injuries.

Protesters carried banners and posters denouncing US policies and shouted slogans such as “No King: Trump is not welcome!” and “No APEC!” They held meetings at the protest venue which were addressed by various activists from across the world.

Another protest was organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), South Korea’s largest umbrella trade union group, near Gyeongju railway station.

The central demonstrations were called by the International People’s Response Against APEC 2025. It is a coalition of over three dozen civic groups and political parties mostly belonging to the left.

Protesters condemned:

• Trump’s bullying tactics towards South Korea, which compromises the country’s sovereignty and destabilizes the region
• The loss of jobs due to higher tariffs imposed on the country’s exports to the US
• South Korea’s increase in defense expenditure due to Trump’s coercive policies that force the country to buy more US-manufactured weapons to appease Trump and to keep the tariffs low.

Historian and director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research Vijay Prashad, while addressing the protesters in Gyeongju, criticized the leaders of various countries across the world who have been acting like juveniles in front of Trump. Instead of standing against his unjust demands these leaders “are going to give up everything to Trump” without any opposition, he claimed.

However, the workers do not share their political leaders’ submissiveness and they will oppose Trump and his policies with all their power, Prashad asserted.

In a joint statement issued by the International People’s Response Against APEC 2025 in September it had called for a collective response to Trump’s policies, claiming that due to the inability of the world to collectively respond to Trump’s ruthless tariff war, countries are being forced to accept US dictates.

More protests will follow

The protests on Wednesday were in continuation of protests against Trump’s visit going on since Saturday. There were large mobilizations in Seoul earlier this week and more such protests are expected to be held in the coming days.

Trump will attend the APEC summit which is scheduled to be held on October 31 and November 1. On his arrival to South Korea on Wednesday, he held bilateral meetings with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

Despite the protests and demands for Korean sovereignty, President Lee, during his meeting with Trump declared that South Korea “will work to further increase” its “defense spending to help reduce the US defense burden.”

Ever since the Korean war in the 1950s, thousands of US soldiers have been stationed in South Korea. Though a very close ally, Trump imposed a 25% tariff against South Korean exports to the US earlier this year. Their bilateral trade deal, which is expected to resolve the tariff issue, is yet to be finalized.

It is reported that the US is pushing for South Korea to invest 350 billion US dollars in the country and buy more US weapons before the trade deal is finalized.

Trump is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on imports from China if it refuses to loosen its newly installed restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals earlier this month. The summit with Xi, if it happens, is expected to find a resolution to this new phase of the trade war against China.

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch