SOUTH KOREAN PROTESTERS SHOUT ANTI-U.S. SLOGANS IN SEOUL, 2000-03-17 (photo)

Some 300 South Koreans shout anti-U.S. slogans during a rally near a U.S. military base in Seoul on March 17 as U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen arrived earlier in the day for an official visit. Protesters demanded U.S. President Bill Clinton apologise for a series of suspected or convicted murders of South Koreans by U.S. soldiers. They also demanded the United States accept South Korea's demand for a revision to a South Korea-U.S. agreement on the status of U.S. troops in the country, to grant more power to South Korea's law enforcement authorities in criminal and other cases involving U.S. soldiers. The United States stations some 37,000 troops in South Korea, which is technically at war with communist North Korea. YCS/EDC