Protesters in Pyongyang Rally Against U.S.

An anti-American rally was held Saturday in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in solidarity with demonstrations taking place in South Korea over a fatal traffic accident involving U.S. soldiers, the North Korean news agency reported.

The report described an enthusiastic crowd of 10,000 “citizens from all walks of life” rallying at the open-air theater of the youth park in Pyongyang.

Along with soaring tension over North Korea’s nuclear program, the official news agency known as KCNA has spewed a steady stream of anti-U.S. rhetoric, but few public demonstrations have been reported.

The report Saturday, which could not be independently verified, referred to an accident in June in which two 13-year-old girls were run over by an armored minesweeping vehicle near the demilitarized zone that separates the North from the South. A U.S. military court martial last month acquitted two soldiers of negligent homicide, a verdict that has sparked regular demonstrations in Seoul.

The North Korean news agency accused the U.S. of “killing Koreans in cold blood.”

In South Korea, conservatives have accused the North Koreans of fomenting an anti-American atmosphere in an attempt to enlist South Korean support for the standoff with the U.S. over nuclear weapons. President-elect Roh Moo Hyun has been a strong supporter of continued aid to North Korea and a cautious critic of the Bush administration’s policies toward the North and Iraq.

But Roh on Saturday appeared to distance himself from the anti-U.S. demonstrations and urged activists to suspend the almost nightly candlelight protests over the girls’ deaths. At a meeting with organizers of the demonstrations, he promised to deal with their demands for a revision in the Status of Forces Agreement that governs the role of the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea after the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Later, about 1,200 people marched with candles toward the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Previous events have drawn crowds of as many as 50,000.