South Koreans protest Kim Jong Un’s visit

A conservative civic organization holds a news conference in downtown Seoul on Dec. 7, 2018, calling for South Korean people to rise up against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's rumored visit to Seoul for summit talks. Photo by Yonhap

SEOUL, Dec. 10 (UPI) — Two different protest groups were organized Saturday in Seoul, ahead of a rumored visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to Seoul.

A student group held a mini-concert that included singing, dancing and waving flags of the Korean Peninsula that represents the unification of the two Koreas to welcome Kim to the South Korean capital.

“I hope the relationship between the North and South improves and moves towards unification. I would like to make friends with North Korean university students,” Kim Ha-rin, a participant who welcomed Kim’s visit to Seoul, was quoted as saying in a YTN report.

Another group staged a sit-in to protest Kim’s possible visit to Seoul.

They called for Kim’s visit plan to be canceled and demanded that North Korea should make a promise to dismantle nuclear facilities and apologize for its past military provocations before planning to visit Seoul.

“We need to confirm whether the nuclear weapons will be forever gone behind Kim Jong Un’s back,” said Park Yeon-ji, a participant in the anti-Kim Jong Un protest, in the YTN report.

South Korea’s presidential office said it hasn’t heard a response from the North.

“No progress has been made and there is nothing to announce,” Yoon Young-chan, a senior presidential secretary for public relations, told reporters on Sunday.

As speculation grows over whether Kim will visit Seoul this month, South Korea’s presidential officials said that it requires at least 10 days to prepare ahead of Kim’s visit, according to Yonhap News.

According to media reports, South Korea earlier sent an invitation to Kim to visit Seoul next week. South Korean President Moon Jae-in suggested that Kim make a reciprocal visit to Seoul before the end of this year during his visit to Pyongyang in September.

If Kim visits Seoul, he will be the first North Korea leader to set foot in the South.

President Moon said last week that South Korea would welcome Kim “wholeheartedly” if he visits Seoul.

South Korean conservatives, including the major opposition Liberty Korea Party, have strongly condemned the invitation to Kim, calling it a “mere political event.”

“Kim’s visit should be made after North Korea makes practical steps to denuclearize its nuclear weapons,” said Yoon Young-seok, spokesman of the LKP, in a statement.

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