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SEOUL, South Korea -- Students tied up traffic Saturday by marching along a main downtown boulevard and distributing leaflets to protest the alleged killings of civilians by U.S. forces during the Korean War.
About 1,000 students took part in the protest against the so-called No Gun Ri massacre, the largest demonstration against the incident yet.
On Sept. 30, The Associated Press reported accounts by American veterans, corroborating those of South Korean villagers, that their unit killed hundreds of civilians at No Gun Ri, South Korea, during the early days of the 1950-53 war.
"We protest the No Gun Ri massacre!" students chanted in a park. They waved hundreds of small yellow flags with the same message. Two dissident leaders shaved their heads in protest.
The students later marched along one lane of the eight-lane main boulevard winding through downtown Seoul's busy Chongno and Myongdong commercial districts. Traffic backed up and frustrated drivers honked their horns. Students distributed leaflets. But most pedestrians paid little attention.
Police did not intervene. No clashes were reported during the protest rally and march, which lasted 2½ hours.
In a report Thursday, the AP quoted ex-GIs, Korean witnesses and U.S. military documents as saying that U.S. Army officers ordered the destruction of two strategic bridges in early August 1950, killing hundreds of civilian refugees streaming across them.
Saturday's protest was organized by South Korea's largest student group, Hanchongryon. Earlier protests against alleged killings of civilians by U.S. soldiers during the Korean War drew dozens of demonstrators.
Hanchongryon, which is known for its anti-U.S. views, has led violent street protests in the past, but its influence has decreased sharply in recent years. It was outlawed by the government because it supports the withdrawal of 37,000 U.S. troops based in South Korea as well as other key demands made by communist North Korea.
Protesters on Saturday reiterated their demand that Washington withdraw U.S. troops to ease tension on the divided Korean peninsula.
They also demanded that South Korea abolish its National Security Law, which forbids activity deemed beneficial to North Korea. Students say the law is used to suppress political dissent.
The two Koreas are still technically at war because no peace treaty was signed at the end of the Korean War. Their border is the world's most heavily militarized.