Koreans Protest Missile Launches and Kim Jong-il

About a hundred protesters gathered in downtown Seoul on Friday the 3rd. They’re holding a rally against the North’s missile launches and the communist country’s leader, Kim Jong-il.

North Korea test-fired four short-range missiles yesterday. This comes in the wake of a rocket launch in April that boosted North Korea’s ability to build long-range missiles, and a nuclear test in May that put it closer to having a working atomic bomb.

The protesters burned missile models and photos of Kim Jong-il and his son, who is widely expected to be the next leader of the communist state.

[Park Chan-sung, Protest Leader]:
„North Korean leader Kim Jong-il ordered the test-firing of four missiles toward the East Sea yesterday. We, the people of the Republic of Korea, and international society will never tolerate the North to fire missiles and to provoke a war.“

The North, which often times its short-range missiles launches for periods of diplomatic friction, was hit with U.N. sanctions following its nuclear test that was aimed at halting its arms sales, a vital source of foreign currency for the cash-short state.

Philip Goldberg, the U.S. envoy who coordinates sanctions against the North, has been in China to enlist Beijing’s help in getting tough with North Korea.

Analysts say China is the North’s biggest benefactor and trade partner, whose help would be essential for an effective sanctions program.

North Korea has defied U.N. sanctions and threatened to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile unless the Security Council withdraws previous resolutions and apologizes for them.

(NTDTV)