How will People`s Forum for ASEM 2000 proceed?

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) preparing for the People's Forum for the ASEM 2000 to be held during the Third Asia-Europe Meeting announced Monday their detailed itinerary for Oct. 17-21 in a press conference at a cafe in Anguk-dong, downtown Seoul.

The NGO activists, including members from France, Germany and Thailand, told reporters both from home and abroad that they would launch activities to inform the public of the various ill effects of globalization to offset the official conferences, which will focus only on political and economic issues.

The People's Forum for the ASEM 2000, to be held under the theme of ¡°Action and Solidarity of People Challenging Globalization,¡± will open with a welcoming reception on Oct. 17, followed by an opening ceremony and workshops at each of the 13 subcommittees on Oct. 18, as well as cultural events in the evening of Oct. 19. All events will take place at the Konkuk University's New Millennium Hall.

The Day of Seoul Action on Oct. 20 will feature some 30,000 people participating in a 3.2-kilometer march of peace beginning at 2 p.m. from the Gate of Peace in the Olympic Park to the Chamsil Stadium. A six-meter-high symbolic monument that Lim Ok-Sang made with empty cartridges recovered at Maehyang-ri, a shooting range for the U.S. armed forces stationed in Korea, will accompany the march. On Oct. 21, some 150 people from home and abroad will visit the Peace Village in the Demilitarized Zone.

A spokesman for the Forum said as of Oct. 15, a total of 264 people from 95 NGOs in 33 countries had agreed to participate in the forum. The include the chairman of ATTAC, a French organization campaigning for the control of hot money, British freelancer Duncan Campbell, who exposed a worldwide eavesdropping network in his report at the European Union parliament and Maria Terejia, chairwoman of a Philippine solidarity for the writing off of foreign debts.

Asked about concerns that the Day of Seoul Action event could turn into a violent protest like those in Seattle and Prague, Lee Soo-Ho, secretary general of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, stressed that there would be no clashes with the police, noting that the principle of the assembly is that it will be peaceful and culture-oriented.

Suh Young-A sya@donga.com