Save Jeju Now

No War Base on the Island of Peace

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  • Gangjeong Village Story: April/ May 2019 Issue

    In this April/ May 2019 Edition :

    “There should be apology and truth examination”/ Second Cruise Not Welcomed/ Opposing the third Zumwalt destroyer/Gangjeong joins 2019 Okinawa Peace March/  Kings Bay Plowshares 7 Update / Gureomi Rock remembered on the Children’ Day/ Linking Korean Historical Traumas in Gwangju / Three women’s statements in objection to military service/ Whose is the Jeju Island government?/ The Jeju April 3rd Human Rights Issue goes to the UN/ Peace Prize for Vietnamese Survivors/ Sewol Remembered/ Jeju has mountains of trash/ Don’t destroy the historical site of Mt. Songaksan etc.

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  • Gangjeong Village Story: December 2018/ January 2019 Issue



    In this December 2018/ January 2019 Edition :
    A New Year starts with the struggle against the 2nd Jeju Airport/ Opposition grows against Henoko landfill/ Seeing Yemen from Jeju, study gatherings by the School of Hope/ Remembering Nanjing at Alddreu Airfield/ Visiting Hong Kong Social Movement Film Festival/ Toxic US Bases/ Trial Updates/ Jeju Islanders oppose for-profit hospital/ UN-ROK Joint Conference? By whom and for whom?/ Japan to resume commercial whaling/ Update on Koh Gilchun’s solo exhibition/ December events in the Peace Center etc.


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  • [Statement]South Korea: Pax Christi International signs onto 2018 International Solidarity Statement against the International Fleet Review in Jeju

    Go to Original site

    Go to the related petition

    20/10/18 – Pax Christi International has signed onto the 2018 International Solidarity Statement against the International Fleet Review in Jeju. The statement follows below. A number of Pax Christi members in the Asia-Pacific region have also signed onto the statement.

    We, the undersigned organisations and individuals, strongly oppose the International Fleet Review which will be held at Jeju Naval Base in Gangjeong Village from 10 October. This is the biggest event by the Korean navy since Jeju naval base was constructed and around 50 vessels and 20 aircraft from 45 countries will gather in Jeju Naval Base. A marine inspection, an open house event on vessels and in the base, and a military industry exhibition are scheduled.

    The international fleet review, gathering  warships from around the world, will heighten the military tension in the region and create dark clouds of conflict in the midst of the growing desire to open a new era of peace and coexistence and end the war on the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia.

    Jeju Naval Base was constructed on top of state violence against the villagers, lies, and destruction of the natural environment. We all remember the coercive construction process and problems of the Jeju Naval Base. While supporting Jeju islanders’ desire to establish this beautiful island as the Island of Peace, we strongly oppose the International Fleet Review being held in Jeju Island.

    Since the establishment of Jeju Naval Base, the militarization of Jeju Island has sped up. Warships from different countries including a U.S. nuclear submarine have already been frequently visiting the Jeju Naval Base. In addition to this, a U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier will also join the International Fleet Review. We are concerned that this International Fleet Review will widen the gate of the Jeju Naval Base to the Japanese and the U.S. warships. The U.S. Pacific commander already expressed his wish to station a Zumwalt Stealth Destroyer at the Jeju Naval Base. In addition to building the naval base, the Korean Navy reinforced the marine corps in Jeju and also expressed its plan to use the 2nd airport as its air base which the Government is forcibly working to construct in Seongsan, Jeju Island.

    The militarization of Jeju Island will retrogress peace on the Korean Peninsula, and expedite militarization in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The U.S. changed the Pacific Command into Indo-Pacific Command last May. This clearly shows its will to prioritize military hegemony in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, instead of peaceful cooperation. The U.S. has not been hiding its plan to establish a NATO-like military alliance in the Indo-Pacific region. Many peace organisations are concerned that Jeju Island will become an outpost against China by the U.S. and its military allies.

    Under this circumstances, the International Fleet Review will internationally establish the existence and military use of the Jeju Naval Base. This seriously jeopardizes the future vision of Jeju Island as ‘The Island of Peace’ declared by  the South Korean government in 2005. It also damages environment of Beom Island which is designated as the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

    The two Koreas declared ‘a new era of peace’ and are walking towards the establishment of a peace system and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. Korean people’s efforts to move on to peace and coexistence from the hostility of the past should be linked to efforts to make the Pacific peaceful. We support Jeju islanders’ desire to make a “genuine” Island of Peace and oppose the militarization of the Pacific. The International Fleet Review in Jeju Island must be stopped immediately.

    No International Fleet Review in Jeju!
    Shut down the Jeju Naval Base!
    Stop the Militarization of Jeju! Stop the Militarization of the Ocean!
    Let’s make Jeju Island the Island of Peace, Let’s make the Pacific the sea of Peace!

  • The Jeju Grand March and international fleet review

    Photo by an event participant

    The Jeju Grand March(July 30 to Aug. 4) and international fleet review(Oct. 10 to 14, 2018)
     
    On Aug. 4, the Jeju Grand March for Life and Peace 2018 which started on July 30 made a big finish with a statement for peace and solidarity. This year’s theme was “From Gangjeong to Seongsan: Peace, Let’s Walk Together.” Unlike most marches of last years in which we walked through the coast of whole Island in the two groups of eastward and westward teams starting from Gangjeong and finishing in Jeju City, this year’s march focused on the two spots of Jeju: Gangjeong where the Jeju navy base was built in 2016 and Seongsan where the 2nd Jeju airport(air base) is planned. Another difference was that we shortened march from a week into three days while instead having three days’ camp in Seongsan.
     
    For July 30 press conference in Gangjeong and Aug. 3 cultural festival in Seongsan, see here and here.
    For more photos of march, see here
    We were blessed to have many special friends from overseas: Hawaii, Hongkong, Okinawa, Taiwan and United States etc.. Many of them had also joined inter-Island Solidarity for Peace of Sea camp in Jeju from July 25 to 29. We also had great guests-the grandmothers and activists of Soseong-ri, Seongsan where the anti-THAAD campaign is constantly and daily going on.
     
    However, the march and camp were done also with the heavy heart because of the issue of fleet review.
     
    On July 31, the next day of beginning of march, the chief of naval operation, South Korea, declared to have a fleet review in Jeju in coming October. Despite villagers’ decision to oppose a fleet review in Jeju on March 30, this year, the navy has intervened to change villagers’ opinion. And in July, the President Moon Jae-in’s Presidential House openly intervened to change villagers’ opinion by sending Presidential House Secretaries and top navies at least four times to the village. As a result, the Gangjeong village association who had made March 30 decision but was ready to be deceived by sugar-coting words of government officers and navies held another general meeting on July 29 to ask villagers’ opinion on fleet review again. The result was overwhelmingly in favor of fleet review as the participants for the meeting were mostly those who are ready to compromise to the navy with false prmises. On the day, the anti-base villagers’ association boycotted the meeting and vote, saying the July 29 meeting is in violation of a village principle of ‘not deliberating the same measure twice.’ Instead its representatives filed a lawsuit claiming the procedure of another vote for same issue is wrong and the vote itself should be cancelled. The same group strongly criticized the Presidential House! Yes. It is the same government who made the April 27 inter-Korean Summit meeting but emphasized the US-led ‘alliance’ in July!
     
    (It was last December that Kang Hee-bong, a navy-compromising villager won over Go Gwon-il, an anti-baser and former vice-mayor of village association. On the day’s vote, Kang had mobilized lots of people in the village who have never appeared in the anti-base movement).
     
    The Island Council is also complicit to the deeds of Presidential House and navy. Originally, its whole 43 council members had unanimously signed to submit the draft for the resolution against the fleet review in Jeju. However, later on July 19, it abruptly postponed to submit the draft. It was the next day of July 18 when Lee Yong-seon, a secretary of Presidential House visited Jeju and met Kang and other villagers to deliver the opinion of Presidential House. For centuries, the central government in Korea made a colony of Jeju. For me, these whole current scenes just remind such painful and oppressed history of Jeju.
     
    Moreover, the navy says there would be a US nuclear aircraft carrier during the international fleet review in Jeju from Oct. 10 to 14! And around 100 warships including 30 foreign warships would join for military show on the Jeju Sea during the time destroying already suffering ocean environmet! For whom, this disastrous fleet review is held, especially upon the 70th year of Jeju April 3rd when at least 30,000 Islanders were killed under the order of US Army military government? Who are the beneficiaries? What is the meaning of this anachronistic militarism? We will not give up! The fleet review, a parade of warships, should be stopped! Please say to your government. Jeju doesn’t want warships from your country! And Hawaii friends are right to say they don’t want warships from South Korea during the RIMPAC which is now being held in Hawaii for two months! We should not exchange warships but friendship for peace and life!

  • Gangjeong Village Story: Aprily/ May 2018 Issue

    In this April/May 2018 Edition :

    Gangjeong Struggle Reached 4,000 Days & Beyond/ A New Era. No THAAD Base Construction! No Naval Review!/ The Night for the Memories of Vietnam and Jeju/ Kings Bay Plowshares/ Gangjeong Villagers Join Annual Okinawa Peace March/ Women of the Philippines & Jeju Talk Militarization / Gangjeong is April 3rd/ Sewol Ferry Tragedy Remembrance/ No SMA! No Money for USFK!/ Ann Wright Visits Gangjeong Village/ Mang-gi Chose Prison in Refusal to Pay Fines/ Poetry Night: No Jeju 2nd Airport/ Nullify the 2nd Jeju Airport(Air Base) Project!/ International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament/ad. On Inter-Island Solidarity Peace for the Sea Camp in Jeju 2018 etc.

     

     

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    Correction:

    In the article on  Kings Bay 7 (page 3), a sentence is corrected to “They pled not guilty and expect a trial date to be set in early August.” (rather than “They pled not guilty and are awaiting trial in early August.” Pre-trial hearings are expected on Aug. 3)

  • Gangjeong Village Story: October/November 2017 Issue

    In this October/November 2017 Edition :

    Steady Onslaught of Foreign Warships at the ‘Island of Peace’/Trump is not welcome!/ Please Sign The 4·3 Petition/ Maine Peace Walk for Conversation & Community/The Real Name of ‘Seoul ADEX 2017’ is ‘Murder Weapon Exhibition’/ Remembering Yang Yonbg-chan/ Visits from Okinawa and Japan/ The base’s illegal monitoring and human rights violation/ The SCM and the Jeju navy base/ The Hunger of Kim Kyung-bae: 42 day fast against the 2nd airport/Trial Updates/ A Long Journey to Peace – Two Grandpas’ Story/ Keep Space for Peace Week in Soseong-ri and Gangjeong/Peace Education Update/ Tabling in Seogwipo/ Queer Festival etc.

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  • Gangjeong Village Story: June/July 2017 Issue

    In this June/ July 2017 Edition:

    Concern about ‘A Main Military Foothold for the US in the Region’/ Korean citizens surround the US embassy/ Lindis Percy visit to Jeju Island/ Bruce Cummings visit to the village/ The Women’s Struggle is Winning!/ Song of Sanrizuka’s elderly activist/ Government should drop the SLAPPs!/ Is the 2nd Airport Necessary?/ Lift the bans/ Jeju Dolphins in Danger of Offshore Wind Turbine Development/ Trial updates/ Living Citizens School/ “Unending Story” Peace Concert Remembering the Korean War/ Christian Forum for Reconciliation in Northeast Asia/ Advertisements on 2017 Grand march and Peace sea camp etc.

     

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  • [Hankyoreh] Civic groups oppose deployment of stealth destroyer to Jeju Naval Base

    Civic groups hold a press conference on Feb. 7 in front of the entrance to Jeju Naval Base to criticize the South Korean and American governments’ discussion of the deployment of the USS Zumwalt, a stealth destroyer. (by Huh Ho-joon, Jeju correspondent)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Repost from here. See the related article, Solidarity Statement from Jeju Island to BIW Protest in June 18, 2016

    Protesters worry that Jeju will become a front-line in a military confrontation between the US and China

    After it was reported that the US navy has suggested deploying the USS Zumwalt, a stealth destroyer, at the Jeju Naval Base, civic groups in Jeju held a press conference on Feb. 7 in front of the entrance to the base to criticize the South Korean and American governments’ discussion of its deployment.

    On the morning of Feb. 7, the Gangjeong Village Council, the Island Residents’ Action Committee for Blocking the Jeju Military Base and Realizing an Island of Peace, and the National Action Council for the Jeju Naval Base held a press conference in front of the entrance to the Jeju Naval Base in Gangjeong Village, Seogwipo, to condemn discussion about the US navy deploying the Zumwalt.

    “We have recently learned that US Pacific Commander Harry Harris proposed deploying the USS Zumwalt, a stealth guided missile destroyer, to the Jeju Naval Base. If this destroyer is deployed, it is obvious that Jeju Island would become a front-line American outpost against China,” these groups said.

    “We have been concerned that the Jeju Naval Base would be used as an American front-line outpost against China, but the [South Korean] navy has strenuously denied this, stating that the [South Korean] government’s approval would be required before American naval vessels could enter or leave the base. Deploying the USS Zumwalt would begin the transformation of the whole island into a military base,” the groups said.

    “If a Zumwalt-class stealth guided missile destroyer is deployed at the Jeju Naval Base in addition to deploying THAAD on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea and China will be forced down the road toward inevitable military conflict. The ultimate result of deploying American combat vessels to Jeju will be further increasing military tensions in Northeast Asia,” the groups said. They urged the US to retract its comments about deploying the USS Zumwalt to Jeju and urged the South Korean government to flatly reject the proposal to deploy the ship to Jeju.

    The USS Zumwalt on the Kennebec River in Maine (AP/Yonhap News)

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly Newsletter |October 2016 Issue

    october-2016_-page-1In this October Edition:

    Gangjeong Case at The International Tribunal on Evictions; The 5th Anniversary of the Gangjeong Life and Peace Mass; Cultural relics found, buried, destroyed again at Jeju naval base site; No life can live near Jeju naval base The National Assembly inquiry on the navy lawsuit; Trial update; Peace Festival and Keep Space for Peace Week; Calls for Park Geun-hye to resign in wake of “Choi-Gate”: Three COs declared Not Guilty: Security meeting amid protest etc.

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  • GJ Mayor and Vice Mayor meet Jeju congressional elects to discuss conflict with the naval base

    This has been translated from Jeju MBC’s April 30th news report (necessary edits have been made for clarity).

    “Congressional elects have tread their first walks for the naval base conflict. Gangjeong Villagers have requested the elects for a withdraw of the claim of indemnity…

    Screen Shot 2016-05-01 at 8.34.28 AM

    Oh Young Hoon and Wi Seong Gon, elects from ‘With-Together’ Democracy Party  visited Gangjeong Village to untie the knotted thread of Gangjeong Village conflict.

    Villagers requested to the elected candidates  for the withdraw of the claim of indemnity to the elected candidates as well as a truth investigation.

    Village Mayor Cho Kyung Chul said “The Minjoo (People’s) Party of Korea and the Justice Party should cooperate together and form a special committee on a congressional level or the like for a truth investigation. That way, our villagers can recover their honor, and we can refer to it when [the Navy] later insist on the right to indemnity on legal grounds.”

    Screen Shot 2016-05-01 at 8.34.44 AM

    Also, voices were heard about villagers feeling threatened due to military exercises happening within the village.

    Ko Kwon Il, Gangjeong Village Vice-Mayor, said, “Firearms combined with magazines is a homicidal weapon. The act of [the Navy] facing civilians with these firearms causes bystanders to feel the fear of death from their own point of view, irregardless of the intention of the armed soldier.”

    Screen Shot 2016-05-01 at 8.34.55 AM

    Elected representatives promised to hold a discussion regarding a solution for the Naval Base Conflict at the 20th National Assembly Elections.

    Oh Young Hoon, a congressional elect, voiced, “First of all, in regards to the indemnity issue, we have to see a response from a parliamentary level. On the issue of truth investigation, I see it as requiring a discussion with Governor Won Hee Ryong. After all, it was his election pledge.”

    Screen Shot 2016-05-01 at 8.35.07 AM

    Within this public social gathering, the elects who have visited the Jeju Naval Base have been asked to endeavor for an honest attempt at co-existence and harmony between the Navy and the Gangjeong Villagers.

    Wi Seong Gon, another congressional elect: “The Navy has to live with Gangjeong Villagers, but if instances of guns being drawn becomes frequent, it becomes hard for them to live together. This secures a room for greater conflict.

    Nam Dong Woo Brigadier / Commander of Navy’s  7th Mobile Warfare Unit: “Unlike other instances, there were many difficult instances, and as such, we are agonized about how to promote activities that can really create harmony with the villagers.”

    Screen Shot 2016-05-01 at 8.35.25 AM

    Screen Shot 2016-05-01 at 8.35.36 AM

    Congressional elects plan to meet the Minister of National Defense Han-Min Gu next week to request the withdrawal of the right of indemnity.

    MBC News, Park Ju Yeon.”

    All photos are owned by Jeju MBC news.