S.Korean civic groups demand stopping war games with U.S.

SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korean civic groups on Wednesday demanded stopping war games between Seoul and Washington as the South Korea-hosted winter sports event is scheduled for early next year.

Representatives from 169 advocacy and religious groups held a press conference at the Gwanghwamon Square in central Seoul, saying the South Korea-U.S. military exercises must be completely stopped taking the opportunity of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The joint statement, released by the groups, said the military drills, which mobilized dangerous strategic weapons, had continued on the Korean Peninsula and were scheduled to be conducted when the winter Olympic games are held early next year.

It said the vicious war crisis on the peninsula must be severed to open a new peace era as the peace sports event is being prepared in PyeongChang, the country's eastern city in Gangwon province.

The statement called on the U.S. government to stop any military action across the world as well as on the peninsula.

The PyeongChang Winter Olympic was slated to last from Feb. 9 to Feb. 25 next year. It would be followed by the Paralympic Games from March 9 to March 18.

The South Korea-hosted winter sports event was widely forecast to coincide with the Seoul-Washington springtime war games as the joint military drills tend to kick off in mid-March every year and last by the end of April. Enditem