Israeli President Shimon Peres has received a chilly welcome in South Korea from dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters denouncing the visit by the “killer.”
The activists gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Seoul on Thursday to protest Israel’s fatal attack on a Gaza aid convoy on May 31, which left 20 international volunteers onboard the ships killed and more than 40 others wounded.
The protesters shouted slogans against Israel and defaced an Israeli flag with palm prints stained in the color of blood. They also carried banners reading, “Shimon Peres the Killer,” and urging, “Lift the siege on Gaza immediately.”
Israeli media said Peres had to curtail his Asian tour in the wake of massive protests worldwide against Israel’s attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, downgrading his trip as a “working” visit and pushing him to delay the second leg of his trip, to Vietnam.
Amid condemnations hurled at Seoul officials for welcoming Peres, a ceremony originally planned for Wednesday at the prestigious Korea University to award the Israeli leader an honorary doctorate was cancelled.
Peres’s office, however, said the Israeli delegation had cancelled his participation in the planned ceremony more than a week ago, due to a scheduling conflict.
South Korea also tried to shake off reports of a downgrade visit. A Seoul presidential spokesman also said Peres and his Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak did not discuss the attack on the flotilla at their 45-minute meeting.
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