The broad anti-imperialist mass movement in South Korea continues to surge. The Korean people are forging unity to achieve full democracy and liberation from US occupation. This growing struggle follows the massive protests in late 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 against the country’s US puppet president. In the past weeks, groups in South Korea and the US held forums, mass gatherings, and demonstrations to strengthen their stand.

March for liberation

On August 15, thousands of South Koreans marched in Seoul, South Korea to demand the expulsion of the US and its military bases in the country, the end of war games, and the cessation of economic exploitation. The action coincided with the 80th anniversary of South Korea’s liberation from imperialist Japan in 1945. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) spearheaded the protest.

The KCTU stated that US imperialism poses a major threat to life and peace in the Korean Peninsula. Koreans recognize the dangers of the US-South Korea war games such as Ulchi Freedom Shield 2025, launched on August 18 and set to continue until August 28.

The South Korean masses believe that these war games serve to drag their country into the US war against imperialist rival China. Beyond South Korea, the US also launches hundreds of war games in other parts of the Asia-Pacific, including the Philippines.

Groups marched toward Gwanghwamun in Seoul, where South Korean President Lee Jae Myung was delivering a speech. Police already blocked them from a distance.

The protesters condemned the president for his scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump on August 25. They believe this meeting will only bring more benefits to the US and greater hardship to the South Korean people.

Trump is putting pressure on South Korea to pay $10 billion annually to fund US occupation, up from the previous $1.13 billion under the Special Measures Agreement. He also demands it to increase defense spending to 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP) to purchase $87 billion worth of US weapons. Trump also pushes Myung to approve new agreements for the deployment of US troops in South Korea against China. He also plans to impose a 25% tariff on the country’s products.

A day earlier, groups protested at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, the largest US foreign military base.

In the US, Korean group Nodutdol led demonstrations in different states on August 15–16 to demand US withdrawal from Korea.

People’s Summit for Korea

More than 500 delegates from the US, South Korea, and European countries attended the first-ever

“People’s Summit for Korea: Towards National Liberation” in New York City on July 25–27. Nodutdol led the event, with the participation of Philippine national-democratic groups based in the US such as Bayan-USA.

Organizers convened the gathering in response to the US escalation of military activity in the Korean Peninsula after talks between the US and North Korea collapsed in 2019. Since 2022, US-South Korea war games have significantly increased in number and intensity. US Forces Korea conducted 200 days of war games in Korea in 2023, and 275 days in 2024.

Over the two-day program, activists at the People’s Summit shared views and drew lessons from the struggles in the Korean Peninsula to expel US military bases, achieve a peaceful end to the Korean War, and uphold democratic rights. US-based activist groups also discussed their efforts to oppose Trump’s expansion of the US military budget and other policies.