International Women's Strike reflections from the National Planning Committee Members of the International Women's U.S. Strike, Suzanne Adely and Ivy Quicho.

This audio was originally aired on March 8, 2017.

The South Korean corporation Lotte decided on February 27 to hand over its golf course in Seongju/Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province to the South Korean Defense Ministry to enable the highly controversial deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system there. The defense ministry will soon hand over the golf course to the U.S. Forces in Korea (USFK), which will turn it into a base for the THAAD system.

What is at stake for the residents of Seongju and Gimcheon, who say they don't want the weapons base in their town and have been fighting against the THAAD deployment since last July? And what are the broader geopolitical interests at play surrounding this issue?

ZoominKorea's Julian Cho and Hyun Lee speak to women farmers in Seongju and Gimcheon--Lee Hae-kyoung, Kim Jong, Yoon Geum-soon and Ham Soo-yeon--who have been on the front lines of the fight against the THAAD deployment.

Zoom In Korea Original Story

Achin Vanaik discusses Hindu authoritarianism, its root causes, the parallels with the Trump regime, the global rise of authoritarianism, challenges to resistance movements, and understanding the subtext of India as an imperial power in South Asia- including, extrajudicial killings and the targeting of Muslims by the far right.

GUESTS:

Retired Professor of International Relations and Global Politics from thë University of Delhi, Achin Vanaik is an active member of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (India). His books and writings range from studies of India's political economy, issues concerning religion, communalism and secularism as well as international contemporary politics and nuclear disarmament.

He is a co-recipient, with Praful Bidwai, of the International Peace Bureau's Sean McBride International Peace Prize for 2000.

Mr. Vanaik is currently a fellow at the Transnational Institute.

More Asia Pacific Forum interviews and sounds from a broad political and ideological spectrum of organizers and activists participating in the International Women's Day March and International Women's Strike.

Sounds and speeches from the thousands strong International Women's Day March 2017 in Los Angeles, organized and led by AF3IRM LA. Special thanks to Hazel Koons for the audio used in this segment.

International Women's Strike organizers from Chiangmai, Thailand and last but not least, strike reflections from the National Planning Committee Members of the International Women's U.S. Strike, Suzanne Adely and Ivy Quicho.

GUESTS:

International Women's Day March in Los Angeles was thousands strong this past Sunday and it was organized and led by AF3IRM LA. As with previous years, one stop was a detention center where organizers, speakers, and marchers sang and chanted outside and were met by the clanging and knocks by those held inside the detention center. This is a collage of intersectional feminist, women of color voices- including former AF3IRM chair, Jollene Levid.

Liz Hilton and a roundtable of voices from International Women's Strike organizers in Chiangmai, Thailand. We discuss the specific struggles of women in Thailand and what it means to be a feminist in Thailand. First, we hear them share their names.

Suzanne Adely is a global labor organizer, human rights attorney & Arab community organizer, engaged in supporting anti-imperialist movements, a member of the US Palestine Community network & National Lawyers Guild International.

Ivy Quicho is a Filipina American social worker and works as a labor organizer in Los Angeles. She is the National Chairperson of AF3IRM, a transnational feminist, anti-imperialist organization dedicated to grassroots organizing against oppression in all its forms.