Save Jeju Now

No War Base on the Island of Peace

Month: February 2015

  • Jeju Island Anti-Base Activists on US National Speech and Film Tour

    Jeju Tour Film FlyerJeju Tour Speech Flyer

    If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose / Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing Film and Speech Tour 2015

    Hee Eun “Silver” Park and Paco Michelson, peace activists from the Jeju Island Anti-Naval Base struggle will be traveling across the US in March and April to share the story of the struggle through the screening of a new full-length documentary, and speaking about their personal experiences on Jeju Island, Korea.

    Since 2007, the people of Gangjeong and their supporters have struggled everyday against state violence, corporate power, war profiteering, and environmental destruction. They have done so nonviolently and passionately. As a result of their work for peace, the tiny village of Gangjeong now has one of the highest “crime” rates in all of South Korea. More than 220,000 police officers (as of 2012) have been stationed in Gangjeong. So far, more than 700 arrests have been made, leading to approx. 200 court cases for more than 650 people, approx. $270,000 in fines levied, and 46 imprisonments. More than 30 internationals have been blacklisted, deported, or denied entry. All for the “crime” of peacefully resisting the construction of a naval base that threatens villagers’ livelihoods, the local ecology, and the peace of northeast Asia.

    At some events, Silver and Paco will be presenting the film of Korean director Sung Bong Cho, Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing followed by a Q&A. At others, they will be speaking about the situation and struggle as well as sharing their personal experiences and those of their friends on Jeju, with a presentation titled, If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose.

    At all events they will be raising support for legal costs of the activists and villagers of Gangjeong. Many of Gangjeong villagers are farmers whose struggle for justice has meant sacrificing their crops. Many Gangjeong supporters work full-time for the struggle and rely on odd jobs and occasional field labor to survive. The fines are increasing and many people owe thousands of dollars they cannot afford to pay.

    Come out to an event in an area near you and hear the story, see the struggle, and donate to the brave peacemakers who are giving everything they can in this fight for justice.

     

     

    Schedule Overview:

    Click on a location to go to that locations section in the list.

    March 17-19 – Boston, MA
    March 19-21 – Maine
    March 21-25 – NYC, NY
    March 25 – New Brunswick, NJ
    March 26-28 Philadelphia, PA
    March 28-30 Washington, DC
    March 30-April 4, Los Angeles & San Diego, CA
    April 4-9 – San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, CA
    April 9-14 Seattle, WA (and Surrounding Area)
    April 14-20 – Portland, OR (and Surrounding Area)

     

     

    Detailed Schedule:

    All events listed below are open to the public. There are occasionally non-public events as well, check with your local groups in your area for details on those.

     

    Boston

    March 16 (Mon) – March 19 (Thursday)

    March 17 – Talk and Discussion: If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose

    Date: March 17 (Tue)
    Time: 7 p.m.
    Organizer: Boston College Korean Students Association
    Location: Higgins 310, Boston College (140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut
    Hill,  MA 02467)
    Contact Info: Ramsay Liem (liem@bc.edu / 617-777-5627)
    Website: http://on.fb.me/1B5qHlN

    March 18 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: March 18 (Wed)
    Time: 7 p.m.
    Organizer: American Friends Service Committee, United for Justice
    with Peace
    Location: Friends Meeting House (5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge, MA 02138)
    Contact Info: Joe Gerson (jgerson@afsc.org), Duncan McFarland
    (mcfarland13@gmail.com)
    Website: http://masspeaceaction.org/event/jeju-island-gureombi
    http://on.fb.me/1B5qWgv

     

     

     Maine

    March 19 (Thursday) – March 21 (Saturday)

    March 20 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: March 20 (Fri)
    Time: 7 pm
    Organizer: Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, PeaceWorks, Maine Veterans For Peace, CodePink Maine, Peace Action Maine
    Location: Grace Episcopal Church (1100 Washington St (park in back off Edwards St)
    Bath, Maine)
    Contact Info: Bruce Gagnon (globalnet@mindspring.com / 443-9502)
    Website: http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2015/03/jeju-island-activists-coming-to-maine_10.html

    March 21 – Rally at Bath Iron Works

    Date: March 21 (Sat)
    Time: 11:30 am
    Organizer: Peace Works, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, Smilin’ Trees
    Disarmament Farm
    Location: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
    Contact Info: Bruce Gagnon (globalnet@mindspring.com)

     

     

     NYC

    March 21 (Saturday) – March 25 (Wednesday)

    March 22 – Talk and Discussion: If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose

    Date: March 22 (Sun)
    Time: 2 pm – 5 pm
    Organizer: Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
    Location: The New School, Dorothy Hirshon Suite, Arnhold Hall, (55 West 13th Street, Room I205, New York, NY 10011)
    Contact Info: Juyeon (juyeon.jc@gmail.com / 917-656-0156)
    Website: http://on.fb.me/1B5r53r

    March 23 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: March 23 (Mon)
    Time: 6:40-9:00 pm
    Organizer: Monica Kim
    Location: Cantor Film Center (36 E 8th St,Manhattan, NY 10003, bet. Greene St. and University
    Place)
    Contact Info: Monica Kim (mstarkim@gmail.com / 517-214-8003)
    Website: http://on.fb.me/1B5rcfE

     

     

     New Brunswick

    March 25 (Wednesday)

    March 25 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: March 25 (Wed)
    Time: 7 p.m.
    Organizer: Graduate Union of Sociology Students
    Location: Rutgers University (Davison Hall Room 128, Douglas Campus, 26 Nichol Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901)
    Contact Info: Haruki Eda (contact address is deleted by his request)

     

     

     Philadelphia

    March 26 (Thursday) – March 28 (Saturday)

    March 26 – Talk and Discussion: If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose

    Date: March 26 (Thurs)
    Time: 7-8:30 p.m.
    Organizer: Philadelphia Committee For Peace and Justice in Asia
    Location: Calvary United Methodist Church (815 South 48th Street,
    Philadelphia, PA 19143)
    Contact Info: Hye-Jung Park (hjparkcorea@yahoo.com / 347-283-6065)
    Website: http://on.fb.me/1B5roeO

    March 27 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: March 27 (Fri)
    Time: 8 p.m.
    Organizer: Circle of Hope Church, Circle of Peacemakers
    Location: Circle of Hope Church (2007 Frankford Ave Philadelphia PA 19125)
    Contact Info: Joshua Grace (joshua@circleofhope.net / 215 423 2880)
    Website: http://on.fb.me/1B5rsLo

     

     

     Washington, DC

    March 28 (Saturday) – March 30 (Monday)

    March 28 – Talk and Discussion: If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose

    Date: March 28 (Sat)
    Time: 5-8:30 pm
    Organizer: Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER)
    Location: ANSWER National Office (617 Florida Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.20001)
    Contact Info: Sarah Sloan (sarahsloan930@yahoo.com / 202-904-7949)
    Website: http://on.fb.me/1B5rBhS

    March 29 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: March 29 (Sun)
    Time: 7 p.m.
    Organizer: Coalition of Koreans In the U.S. (희망연대)
    Location: William Cho Peace Center (3883 Plaza Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030)
    Contact Info: Huk-Kyo Suh (hksuh2003@yahoo.com / 704-314-1489)

     

     

     LA & San Diego

    March 30 (Monday) – April 4 (Saturday)

    March 31 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing w/CPT

    Date: March 31 (Tues)
    Time: 7-9:30 p.m.
    Organizer: Reconciliasian / Christian Peacemaker Teams
    Location: Casa Robles Missionary Community (6355 Oak Avenue, Temple
    City, CA 91780)
    Contact Info: Sue Hur (reconciliasian@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/761540473966887/

    April 1 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: April 1 (Wed)
    Time: 3-5 p.m.
    Organizer: UCSD’s Ethnic Studies Department Colloquium, Program in Transnational Korean Studies, Graduate Division Grad Life and Grad Climate Interns, and Coalition for Critical Asian American Studies
    Location:  UCSD Cross-Cultural Center – ArtSpace, University of California, San
    Diego (9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093)
    Contact Info: Esther Choi (estherminchoi@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1566580410258374/

    April 2 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: April 2 (Thurs)
    Time: 7 p.m.
    Organizer: Nanum Corean Cultural Center (우리문화나눔회), Peace21 (내일을 여는
    사람들), Friends of the Progressives (진보의 벗), Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA)
    Location: Abundant Life of Korean Church (3020 Wilshire Bl., Los Angeles, CA 90010)
    Contact Info: Cheol-Ho Lee (icydewdrop@gmail.com, 424-281-7901), Danny
    Park (danny2680@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/942948465728887/

    April 3 – Talk and Discussion:If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose

    Date: April 3 (Fri)
    Time: 7-9 p.m.
    Organizer: SOOBAK (SoCal Organized Oppression Breaking Anti-imperialist
    Koreans)
    Location: 2936 W 8th St. Los Angeles, CA 90005
    Contact Info: Gonji Jessica Lee (jessica.kang.lee@gmail.com)
    Website:     https://www.facebook.com/events/805579472859691/

     

     San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley

    April 4 (Saturday) – April 9 (Thursday)

     April 5 – Talk and Discussion: If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose

    Date: April 5 (Sun)
    Time: 2-4 p.m.
    Organizer: Code Pink (EB), East Bay Media Center, HOBAK (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans), Korea Policy Institute, Peaceworkers
    Location: Eastside Arts Alliance (2277 International Blvd, Oakland, CA 94606)
    Contact Info: Paul Liem (pliem@mindspring.com, 510-414-5575)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/644421315663973/

     April 6 – Talk and Discussion: If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose

    Date: April 6 (Mon)
    Time: 6-8 p.m.
    Organizer: CKS (Commitee Korea Studies) Berkeley
    Location: UC Berkeley, 126 Barrows Hall (Berkeley, CA 94720)
    Contact Info: CKS (cks.staff@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1404608813189759/

    April 7 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: April 7 (Tues)
    Time: 7:00-9:30 p.m.
    Organizer: Code Pink (EB), East Bay Media Center, HOBAK (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans), Korea Policy Institute, Peaceworkers
    Location: East Bay Media Center (1939 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94704)
    Contact Info: Paul Liem (pliem@mindspring.com, 510-414-5575)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/644421315663973/

    April 8 – Talk and Discussion: If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose

    Date: April 8 (Wed)
    Time: 7:00-8:30 p.m.
    Organizer: The Metta Center, St. John’s Episcopal Church
    Location: St. John’s Episcopal Church (40 5th St, Petaluma, CA 94952)
    Contact Info: Michael Nagler (michaeln.nagler72@gmail.com)
    Website: http://mettacenter.org/events/speaker-film-tour-long-struggle-peace-jeju-island-korea/

     

     Seattle

    April 9 (Thursday) – April 14 (Tuesday)

    April 9 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: April 9 (Thurs)
    Time: 5:30-8:00 p.m.
    Organizer: SahngNokSoo
    Location: Wing Luke Museum (719 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104)
    Contact Info: James Keum (keumjames@gmail.com), Christina Seong (christina.seong@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1597467890499723/

    April 10 – Film Screening and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: April 10 (Fri)
    Time: 5:30-8:00 p.m.
    Organizer: SahngNokSoo
    Location: The Hillman City Collaboratory (5623 Rainier Avenue South Seattle, WA 98118)
    Contact Info: James Keum (keumjames@gmail.com), Christina Seong (christina.seong@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1597467890499723/

    April 11 – Live Music, Film Screening, and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: April 11 (Sat)
    Time: 7 p.m.
    Organizer: Seth Martin
    Location: The Matrix Coffeehouse (434 NW Prindle St, Chehalis, WA 98532)
    Contact Info: Seth Martin (sethpatrickmartin@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/850433715023993/

    April 12 – Potluck Dinner, Live Music, Film Screening, and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: April 12 (Sun)
    Time: 5:30 p.m.
    Organizer: Seattle Catholic Worker, Seth Martin
    Location: Seattle Catholic Worker (12914 74th Ave S, Skyway, WA, 98178)
    Contact Info: Seth Martin (sethpatrickmartin@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/566047346832246/

    April 13 – Potluck Dinner, Live Music, Film Screening, and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: April 13 (Mon)
    Time: 6:30 p.m.
    Organizer: Tacoma Catholic Worker, Seth Martin
    Location: Guadalupe House, Tacoma Catholic Worker (1417 S G St, Tacoma, WA 98405)
    Contact Info: Seth Martin (sethpatrickmartin@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/609362585866665/

     

     

     Portland

    April 14 (Sunday) – April 20 (Monday)

    April 15 – Potluck Dinner, Live Music, Film Screening, and Q&A: Gureombi, The Wind is Blowing

    Date: April 15 (Wed)
    Time: 5:00 p.m.
    Organizer: Eloheh Farm
    Location: Eloheh Farm (13510 NE Roedel Rd, Newberg, OR 97132)
    Contact Info: Seth Martin (sethpatrickmartin@gmail.com)
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1557027914580890/

    April 16 – Talk and Discussion: If You Don’t Give Up You Can’t Lose

    Date: April 16 (Thurs)
    Time: 3:30 p.m.
    Organizer: Lewis and Clark College East Asian Studies Program
    Location: Lewis & Clark University, Miller Humanities Building room 102 (0615 SW
    Palatine Hill Rd, Portland, OR 97219)
    Contact Info: Martin Hart-Landsberg (marty@lclark.edu)

    Please come out, invite your friends, and share this to your networks!

  • The Crackdown Against Gangjeong Will Not Halt Our Song

    kayak

     

    Originally published in Korean on 2015.02.03
    By Ddalgi (Gangjeong villager, member of Peace Wind)

    ( Thanks for Fr. Pat Cunningham, Tom Raging Smith and Jude Lee for their collaboration work for the wonderful translation.)

     

    At dawn on the 31st of January, we climbed the watchtower. Despite having thrown it up haphazardly in the icy winds that blew all night, we erected it knowing that we could trust it to defend our village. In protest against the naval construction, we raised a kayak that had previously circled the seas of Gangjeong to the very top of the platform; a kayak that should travel on the sea was lifted to the sky. It was our destiny to be with the old village bus that has carried villagers to the provincial hall, city hall, and mainland next to the sit-in protest tent that has already endured 99 days of hardship. A barricade had been erected around the sit-in protest area.

    Private contractors who had come from the mainland for the crackdown were said to be staying at a minbak (traditional Korean lodging house) only 100 meters away. Someone informed us that a light had been turned on at the lodging house and they were on the move. We could hear the marching of the police as they approached the four-way protest intersection. The military housing sit-in protest site had been cornered off even before sunrise. The people who had been told to move by the police headed onto the watchtower, bus and in front of the tent. We were tense as we couldn’t recognise what was the sound of chains clanging in the darkness. We stoked the log fire, but were unable to drive out the cold. As dawn broke and we could start to make out the people around us, the Navy appeared and said they were there to carry out the order to remove the protest encampment. Private contractors who had appeared with the Navy began shoving us back on ourselves bit by bit.

    The powerful private contractors used their bulky bodies to force people back one by one. They used all of their strength and every part of their bodies to drive us back, even smacking into us with their helmets, to narrow in on us little by little. There was a lot of screaming and cursing. The police nearby looked on and did nothing. However much we shouted, we were simply left to suffer helplessly without the aid of a single policeperson. Among the private contractors there were some who looked as if they had only just turned 20 or were even younger. The younger women cried out of anger and sadness.

    Then they began to drag us away one or two at a time. There were people with cut heads, twisted arms and clothing torn off, and we didn’t know if the screaming would end. We heard the shatter of the glass from the village bus windows. The police smashed the glass and entered the bus in order to drag out the people from inside and arrest them. Some members of the press who were recording or taking photos of the police violence during the crackdown were also dragged away kicking and screaming. Only the village mayor, vice mayor, a local villager, Jeju resident, priest and clergyman remained sitting atop the watchtower. The police and the private contractors working for them occupied the sit-in protest area and tore the whole thing down. Very dangerously, the police tried to get onto the watchtower. They tried to climb up without putting down any safety mats or taking any other safety precautions. Unexpectedly, they brought out a construction crane and dug up the land surrounding the tower. Following this, they immediately placed a fence around the tower. Those police standing beside the police bus then tried to climb the tower again.

    It was so very, very dangerous!! People’s screams had reached fever pitch when the police started to bring out mattresses and began laying them down around the place. However, the mat they roughly spread on top of the bus was only sliding around the place. Many possible things could have gone wrong that we couldn’t have protected against. It had gotten really dark by the time Bishop Kang Woo-Il had visited and negotiated for the release of all those arrested on the condition that the protestors come down and clear the site themselves. We relieved ourselves after holding it in for more than 10 hours. A day of not sleeping, eating, or pissing had drawn to a close.

    It was assumed the sit-in would be all over in a couple of hours but such was the intensity of the resistance that it lasted for about 14 hours. However, a day and then two days slipped by and there was still no sign of two people of the 24 who were to be released. Finally after two days we heard the news that a warrant for the arrest of four detainees including the mayor and deputy mayor had been requested. There seems to be no end to the lies and deceit in which the village has been enveloped. Yesterday a siren was raised in the village and today a petition signature campaign was initiated in order to counter the lies the government is feeding the people.

    Due to strong resistance from the villagers the Navy held numerous public meetings on the issue of military housing which ultimately ended in failure, and in 2013 the navy chief of staff directly assured the villagers by saying that “the Navy would not build military housing without the consent of the villagers.” The villagers assumed this to mean that plans to build 532 units of military housing would be scrapped. Instead 72 units of housing were abruptly steamrolled through and land containing rows of lily greenhouses was cleared overnight and ring fenced to make way for military housing! The protest tent which stood for 99 days in front of the designated construction site was then pulled down so that construction could begin.

    The struggle of a village with a population of 1,900 people engaged in an 8-year-long campaign against the construction of the Naval Base seems to have flown by in the blink of an eye. However, the once very solitary and lonely struggle suddenly became a country-wide issue and a magnet drawing many people to Gangjeong to put down roots in the village while supporting the struggle. The fence encircling Gureombi which was erected on Sept 2, 2011 suddenly became the focal point for police from the mainland who descended on the village in their droves to unleash a suppression strategy during that hot and sweltering summer. March 7, 2012 saw the beginning of the blasting of Gureombi and the resulting blockade of all entrances to the village and those moments of horror and despair as we witnessed the construction begin in earnest. The police who descended from the mainland violently sought to isolate and arrest those citizens who came in solidarity with the villagers. The huge burden of fines amassed by villagers during the years of struggle has resulted in villagers being forced to contemplate the sale of the village hall during their recent annual general meeting.

    The forcible expropriation of farmland, the stolen abalone and shellfish from the sea which has fed families for generations, and Gureombi Rock, the playground for children and the depository of many childhood memories, have now became places harboring great sadness and tears. What more can be stolen from us, what more can they take we were left to ponder.

    We were foolish to believe them when they promised not to build military housing. We were foolish to believe them when they promised to release all who were detained. We have no one to appeal to now and no one can resolve the issues forced upon us and all we are left with is a feeling of further isolation and frustration. Today Mt. Halla stands in great clarity over the village as it witnesses our home and our land being taken from us by the Navy, the police and the government. Where do we go from here, to whom do we turn to? However, today we continue to sing…

    Il-Gangjeong (Gangjeong, the Best Village)

    Where both the big Gangjeong and Akgeun streams flow
    Let’s go hand in hand to beautiful Il-Gangjeong
    Where the song of Tiger Island is echoed by Seogun Island
    Let’s go to the Sea of Gangjeong where the waves have danced
    Since ancient times, the wonderful waters of Il-Gangjeong
    Let’s go together hand in hand to the village of Life and Peace.

     

    (To see more photos and videos, see here)

     

    (Thanks for Jungjoo, for delivering)

  • Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly Newsletter | January 2015 Issue

    In this January 2015 Edition:
    Crackdown on the Village, Cork City Council passes the motion to support Gangjeong, Proposed Petition of Veterans For Peace-Korea Peace Campaign, Damage to Fishermen, Henoko State Violence, Realizing the Island of Peace, Different frontlines for Life and Peace, Interview with a Gangjeong Villager, The Story of Magazi,  Documenting present day Gangjeong, Aotearoa’s Anti-Base Movement trial updates and much more!

    Download PDF