See the related article, here and photos, here.
Gangjeong Village statement on March 24, 2017
We reject the US navy’s port entry into the Jeju navy base which would bring to an end the Island of Peace.
The Ministry of National Defense announced that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem (DDG 63) would arrive in the Jeju navy base port on March 25.
All trust is lost in the words spoken during the Jeju navy base construction that ‘the base would be a pure South Korean base which US military would not use.’
It is, of course, very likely that the Ministry of National Defense and the navy would explain that the visit is not for military operations, but for logistic supply, friendly relation between ROK-US navy military personal, service activity in social welfare facilities and learning about Jeju culture, and they would say that the visit is natural for allied countries to increase amity and cooperative relations between both nations’ navies and to give US soldiers a chance to experience Korean culture.
However, it calls to question why the US navy Aegis ship of all ships is entering into the Jeju navy base while the other war ships are returning back to their home nations or posts. Further, the Key Resolve war exercise this time is said to have been filled with programs for detecting and shooting down missiles and for pre-emptive strikes on the premise of THAAD being deployed in Seongju [in the mainland of Korea]. Because of the planned deployment of THAAD in Soseong-ri, Seongju, the Republic of Korea is already having serious friction with China and the quiet lives of Seongju county people are all being destroyed. Still the ROK Ministry of National Defense is acting only according to the intentions of United States.
On the US Navy Aegis Destroyer entering into the Jeju Navy Base at this moment, we suspect it is by impure intention of the United States who wants to put Jeju Island in the US Missile Defense System. We think the true purpose of the US navy’s activities, such as so called ‘visits on Jeju culture and community service’ is likely to be a cover-up to strategically deploy Zumwalt stealth destroyers to the Jeju Navy Base. Further it is told that the departure dates are not yet set, so what’s the difference from the situation of US Navy deployment?
The United States has stated that her true allied country is Japan and that South Korea is only a subordinate partner. The United States and Japan are showing their shameless intention to use the whole Korean peninsula as their shield and front line of war so that, for their safety, they can stop the spark of war from being extended to their own mainlands. If the US military enters into Jeju Island with whatever form amid the fluctuating situation of Northeast Asia in which confrontation is being deepened and the arms race is intensified, it means that Jeju Island would be put in the center of a whirlpool of hegemonic completion between the United States and China.
Jeju Island would suffer from China’s various retaliation measures, and then would be a target of nuclear missiles as the threat of war increases. And there is a high concern that, with less population and with enough geographic distance from the mainland, Jeju Island would be a strategic trade or trash card in case of war.
For that reason, we resolutely refuse the US navy Aegis ship’s entry into the port of Jeju navy base.
Even though the navy attempts to silence us by filing a lawsuit against the Gangjeong villagers, it should keep in mind that it cannot take away our hearts wishing for peace.
March 24, 2017
Gangjeong Village Association
Watch the Halla Ilbo video, here (Korean though)
(A video fwd by JoYakGol)
When the US war ship came to the Jeju navy base for the 1st time, we danced in protest in front of the base, as the usual. We knew the USS Stethem was watching us! US Military KEEP OUT! No Jeju Navy Base!
A video by Pang Eunmi
