For over a week, tens of thousands of mostly women students in south Korea have courageously fought against the fascist terror and repression of the US-backed government of the Republic of Korea. The students are demanding reunification of their country and the removal of US troops and weapons from the Korean peninsula. The violence against the students erupted when authorities banned and attacked the start of the "pan-national youth rally," an annual event to highlight the struggle for reunification and against US imperialist occupation. The students planned to march from their campuses in the south to the border with the north. A grand "unification festival" with students from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was planned. The south Korean authorities, with full US political and military backing, outlawed the festival and unleashed thousands of police and troops against the students. Yonsei University, in Seoul, a main site of the struggle, was put under siege and then stormed by troops, using helicopters and armored vehicles, tear gas and other chemicals, to forcibly remove the students. Over 5,500 students have been arrested and over 1500 injured, while thousands more continue to resist the police onslaught. Police have arrested 15 of the 33 "most wanted" student leaders, 189 students on charges of violating the fascist National Security Law, and over 3,000 on charges of staging violent demonstrations. In addition to arresting student leaders, authorities have claimed they will disband the umbrella group of student councils, Hanchongryon, representing 169 of south Korea's 200 univers ities. Thinking people fully support the just struggle of the students and salute their courageous efforts in the face of the US-backed fascist repression. Their demand for reunification is a patriotic demand, reflecting the heartfelt desire of Koreans north and south. We vigorously condemn US imperialism for its crime of forcibly dividing Korea and maintaining this division through occupation of the south. The criminal hand of US imperialism can be seen behind the repression by south Korean authorities. For example, the authorities have justified their fascist terror by claiming that Hanchongryon, representing the majority of south Korean universities, is a "pro-North Korean insurrectionist force" which "has subscribed to the North's revolutionary strategy to communize the South." Anti-communism is the justification used by US imperialism for its aggression and suppression of the peoples worldwide. It was used to justify the war against Korea and Vietnam, installing fascist regimes in Chile, Brazil, and elsewhere, intervention in Nicaragua, the embargo of Cuba and many other crimes. Wherever the US wants to impose its dictate and domination, anti-communism is used. Americans are also familiar with use of the "red" scare during the McCarthy era, and its use since that time to justify government infiltration and wrecking of communist and progressive organizations. Anti-communism is the flag of fascist repression by the US, at home and abroad. The US-backed puppet government of south Korea is using this same excuse to justify the violence against the students--for demanding reunification and exercising their democratic rights of freedom of conscious and association. US interference can also be seen in the numerous military exercises conducted in the south in July and right during the attacks on the students. These included a 5-day combat-ready exercise in and around Seoul; large-scale joint landing exercises, using air and naval forces; and sending a huge armed force into densely populated areas of Seoul, where troops fired guns and tossed hand grenades day and night. At the height of police attacks on the students, the US and south Korean armed forces began a 13 -day simulated war exercise. Despite this massive show of force, the Korean people will not be intimidated, as the heroic resistance of the students firmly shows. US imperialism has a long history of criminal activity in Korea, dating back to its occupation of the country after World War II and its war of genocide from 1950-53. The US forcibly divided the country at that time, and continues to occupy the south with 36,000 troops. The US erected and maintains a massive wall at the 38th parallel, a hateful reminder of US interference. All Americans have a duty to oppose US occupation and interference in Korea and support the just demands of the students for removal of US troops and weapons and peaceful reunification and independence of Korea. The Koreans are a single nation. They have lived on the same land and shared the same culture and language for thousands of years. Peaceful reunification of the nation is desired by the peoples north and south. The US has no right to interfere and the Koreans have every right to resolve this question on their own. US Imperialism Out of Korea! Support Korean Struggle for Reunification! Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]