Excerpt translation from the site of Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea (SPARK)
Original Korean statement can be seen here.
You can see the related article, here.
Post by Park Suk-Jin/ Press
conference to denounce the United States pressure South Korea on the purchase of
the Global Hawk, which only enriches the United States arms
corporations..
Photos by the SPARK
We strongly denounce the United States pressure South Korea
to purchase the Global Hawk to overcome the crisis of the US arms corporations.
[..] The United States is to break through her astronomical financial deficit
through the large size reduction of her defense budget. The US arms corporations facing
crisis due to such policy have a plan to retrieve it by selling arms to the overseas
centered on Asia as the US defense budget is being reduced. It is known that the
US arms corporations have demanded easing of export limitation on advanced
weapons to the US government and congress. The US Defense department has notified
to the congress that it would sell the Global hawk to South Korea as part of such
direction.
The US Defense department has notified to the US Congress that
it would sell 4 Global Hawks with 1.2 billion dollar(about 1 trillion won 300
billion won). It amounts about three times of 450 billion won that our
government has expected. Is it reasonable for the United States to enforce
South Korea to buy the Global Hawks that herself drives for its operation stop
and reduction due to the expensive costs and operation maintenance fee of them? We,
strongly denouncing the United States that extorts the South Koreans’ taxes to
overcome the crisis of the US arms corporations, resolutely demand the US to immediately stop her pressure on the purchase
on the Global Hawks.
[..]
We denounce the United States to enforce on the introduction of
the Global Hawk that damages military sovereignty of South Korea and aggravates South Korean
military subordination to the United States.
The Kyoto news reported that
the United States and Japan are examining for the United States to jointly use
the Guam base to restrain the expansion of the Chinese
power. The United States and Japanese self-defense forces are to jointly use the
facilities and hangars for the unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor the military activities of China.
It is told that the United States enforced South Korea to
stipulate the contents in the contract document that the 1st Global Hawk base would be in South
Korea and 2nd base be in Guam,”
The United States demanded arrangement of operation flights in the US bases
in Guam where the ground receiver base facilities have already been equipped,
to operate monitoring and reconnaissance network that connect the Global Hawk and
satellite through network. As a result, it is to provide the United
States all the information
that the Global Hawk acquires after South Korea introduces it. The Global Hawk is in fact operated as the asset of the United States.
It is a serious damage in the military sovereignty. The South Korean subordination
to the United States cannot but be deepened with it.
Thereupon,strongly opposing the introduction of Global Hawk
that seriously damage military sovereignty and deepens South Korean subordination to the
United States, we strongly demand the United States to stop the pressure South
Korea to purchase it.
Dec. 27, 2012
Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea
(Co-executive chairmen: Fr. Moon Kyoo-Hyun, Bae Jong-Ryeol, Kang
Jeong-Koo)