The below is a translation of the Korean statement on April 1. See here.
To see the programs of events during the remembering period of the Jeju 4.3 uprising, see here.
Campaign image made by 3 organizations upon the 65th anniversary of 4.3. The signs read: ‘Flower for peace instead gun and sword, now…’ ‘Succession of the Jeju 4.3 uprising spirit! Revocation of the Jeju naval base project!’ and ‘Yes, ‘True Peace.’ Now!’
People’s joint statement on April 1
For the succession of the Jeju 4.3 uprising spirit:
“We will build a peace barricade in the Gangjeong village.”
The coming April 3rd is a day when the painful memory of the Jeju is revived.
First of all, we express our hearts to cherish the memory of numerous lives that have fallen down without names in Jeju 65 years ago.
The Jeju 4·3 is a history of uprising against wrong power.
Now the history of 4·3 should be transformed into a new history for human rights and peace.
However, upon the 65th anniversary of 4·3, it is questionable whether true peace is sprouting in the Korean society. The recent political situation surrounding the Korean peninsula has not been transformed into the era of Peace. The situation is running up into confrontation phase for the word of ‘war’ as to being spoken in everybody’s lips.
Gangjeong is already 4▪3.
By wrong state power, even basic democracy has been violated. .
Under the pretense of so called ‘national security,’ numerous peace has been broken and beaten.
As if it is not enough that more than 600 Gangjeong villagers and peace activists are dealt as if they are ‘criminals,’ [the state power] is barring people’s just struggle with ‘bombs of fines.”
True peace should be blossomed by peaceful methods.
To save peace with guns and swords is ultimately to destroy peace.
We resolutely oppose that [the state power] builds a military stronghold not the peace stronghold zone and that [the Jeju] become a powder magazine of the northeast Asia.
We urge to Park Geun-Hye government.
We strongly oppose the solo play and self-righteousness of the Park Geun-Hye government who only repeats its position that it would complete the Jeju naval base in a suitable time while it lays aside its tasks on the settlements on conflicts.
What is needed in Jeju is ‘the peace as it is now,’ not ‘the 2nd Hawai’i’ that the government of Park Geun-Hye promotes.
Please stop the naval base construction in Gangjeong if you think of true peace.
You should stop the wrong naval base construction if you concern about residents’ conflicts and are to truly settle conflicts.
We urge to the Island governor, Woo Keun-Min.
You, Woo Keun-Min Island governor has said that you would wipe off the Gangjeong villagers’ tears upon your being elected as an Island governor. .
.
However, Woo Keun-Min Island governor could not stop the Gangjeong villagers’ tears by now.
Not to mention siding with the Gangjeong villagers, he became to side with various illegality, shortcut method, and law-evasiveness that have occurred during the Jeju naval base construction. He should be clearly aware that he is making the villagers bleed with bloody tears.
Woo Keun-Min, the Island governor, should actively step for the stop of the Jeju naval base construction if he properly thinks of the future of the Jeju, now.
We appeal to the citizens.
The struggle against the naval base in Gangjeong is not finished yet. The cry for peace will not stop.
The Jeju naval base construction is not the end and it is merely a start of the militarization of the Jeju Island that would be extended into air force base and supply bases.
We will start the practical camapign for peace to revive the Jeju as the Island of Peace and herb of Peace, not as the Island for the cold war, confrontation, and war-preparation.
The Gangjeong villagers, civic society groups, and peace and human rights activists will resist and take solidarity to stop the Jeju naval base construction.
We will also gather our power and wisdom with the Gangjeong villagers and Jeju Island people so that the Gangjeong village can be transformed into the village of Life and Peace not into the powder magazine that threatens the Peace of the northeast Asia.
The various social fields will make effort for the Gangjeong village to be the stronghold of the peace movement by building barricade of peace in the Gangjeong village
As it is the cry of the not-succumbing history 65 years, we will make solidarity to the end.
Please be with us.
April 1, 2013
Gangjeong Village Association
Jeju pan-Island Committee for the Stop of Military Base and for the Realization of Peace Island
The National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing to the Naval Base in Jeju Island
Succession of the spirit of the Jeju 4•3 uprising! ‘Workers’ Peace Cultural festival,’ March 30, 2013.
It has been more than a decade that the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions visited the Island for the remembrance of 4•3 every year. It was this year, too. And it has been years that the organization visited the Gangjeong village to express their support and solidarity to the people there in opposition to the Jeju naval base construction. The workers are aware that Gangjeong is the very site of the 2nd 4•3.
The KCTU states in its press release. You can see its longer Korean script, here:
‘The Jeju 4.3 uprising is the Jeju Island people’s resistance and uprising that occurred by the starting point of police firing incident on March 1, 1947 under the division and U.S. Army Military Government ruling after the liberation of Korea. Since the armed group of the Jeju branch of the Workers Party of South Korea rose up on April 3rd, 1948, numerous people were sacrificed in the Jeju Island during the process of armed conflicts between the armed group and subjugation army and of the latter’s subjugation process, until the restriction areas in the Halla Mt. were totally opened on Sept. 21, 1954.
This year when the Cease Fire Agreement of the cold war and confrontation system hits 60th anniversary, and today when war crisis is higher than ever in the Korean peninsula, along with the above, we are to gather the workers’ resolution to succeed the spirit of the Jeju 4•3 people’s uprising and to realize complete peace and homeland unification.
No war! Starting from the Jeju Island, we are to fully fill 2013 with the outcry of the workers in every place of nation from the Halla Mt. to Baekdu Mt, based on our powerful will and resolution for peace and unification.’
Stop the oppression on the unions!
Abolish the structured lay-off on the irregular workers!
Total revocation of the Jeju naval base project!
Image source: Sisa Jeju, March 31/ In his solidarity speech, Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun stated that even though 65 years have passed since the occurrence of the Jeju 4•3, state violence is continuing and the Jeju naval base project, so called a national security policy, is being enforced without people’s support.
The program was:
Succeession of the spirit of the Jeju 4•3 uprising! Peace Pilgrim
_ Date/ time: 10:30 am to 6 pm, March 30, Sat., 2013
_Venue: Jeju areas (Pilgrim on the remains of the Jeju 4•3 uprising)
Succession of the spirit of the Jeju 4•3 uprising! Workers’ Peace Cultural festival
_ Date/ time: 8 pm to 9 pm, March 30, Sat., 2013
_Venue: Entrance of the Gangjeong Village (Village scoccer field)
Succession of the spirit of the Jeju 4•3 uprising! Nationwide Workers’ rally
_Date/ time: At 2pm, March 31, Sun
_Venue: In front of the Jeju City Hall (march to Gwandeokjeong)
Workers’ Peace Cultural festival in the Gangjeong village(made by Peace Nomad)
The event was composed of people’s speeches, songs, and dances. One of the songs in the video is titled
“A Sleepless Island in the South,” (lyric and composition by Ahn Chi-Hwan), which is the song on the tragedy of 4•3
The people in Gangjeong raised some struggle funds by selling books to the workers. The book, titled, “Peace blossoming in Tears,” published last year, is on the 17 villagers’ life stories written by 17 writers. It is a great book that helps people understand the life and struggle of the villagers.
Rev. Kim Hong-Sool, Busan SPARK/ Image provided by Rev. Kim Hee-Yong. For more photos, see here.
Rev. Kim Hong-Sool, representative of Busan, SPARK, and Rev. Kim Hee-Yong, Gwangju, have taken a fast prayer meeting in solidarity with the sufferings of Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo and Gureombi Rock in front of the Jeju prison from March 26 to 29, 2013, during the Passion week according to the Christian faith before Easter.
Rev. Kim Hee-Yong, Gwangju (Image provided by Rev. Kim Hee-Yong)
Pat Cunningham, a Columban Father said on March 26, “A wonderful expression of solidarity with Prof. Yang as he begins the recovery process back to full health! I pray this week as we remember the sufferings and deep humiliation that Jesus suffered at the hands of his oppressors and the subsequent humiliation of being put on trial and executed as a common criminal despite being an innocent man we pray that no more violence and injustice will be visited on the brave peace makers in Gangjeong village! As people of hope and people of the resurrection we pray that justice will flow like a mighty stream once again and that the village of Gangjeong will return to its rightful custodians-the villagers and not the navy!”
It is told that, when the two visited Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo on the last day, Yang said to them, “I have been lonely to be alone, but was encouraged to hear that you were suffering with me outside. Let’s please gather power together.”
In the press conference ending their fasts, they demanded release of the political prisoners for opposition activities against the Jeju naval base construction, retraction of fine sentence, and construction stop.
In their statement to the citizens and Island people, they stated that it is the crucifixion of this era that there are the imprisonments of the villagers and peace activists who have peacefully made efforts to stop the naval base construction in Gangjoeng and the reality that a community that has lived peacefully from its ancestors is moaning.
They explained that “From the heart to join the pain of the Gureombi Rock though it is a small gesture, we came here to the site of suffering, the Jeju Prison, where Yang Yoon-Mo has carried out decisive action with 52 days’ fast.”
They scolded that “the war is a monster feeding itself with human blood. The humiliating activity to hand over here to the battle field of another country is a shameful deed that is nothing to do with peace and development. The naval base that is constructed destroying the nature and community is not self-reliant defense but [Korea] will be a consumption country for the war material–production corporations and their trash site.”
Press conference ending the four days fast and prayer for the stop of Jeju military base and for the release of Prof. Yang. . .”War cannot be justified for any reasons nor any causes. . .as it is a monster living as eating human blood.” From the left, Rev. Kim Hong-sul, representative of Busan SPARK, and Rev. Kim Hee-yong, representative of Gwangju Citizen Center. . .They have fasted in a tent in front of Jeju prison for the past 4 days from March 26 during the Passion week. (image/ caption provided by Regina Pyon)
Saying on Park Sung-Soo (38), a peace activist that chose a prison labor rather than fines of 1,500,000 KRW, that “a dedicated activist has entered the prison choosing hardships,” they urged to release all the prisoners and retract heavy fine sentences.
They bowed saying that “more than 70 % of the Northwest Youth League that massacred people during the Jeju 4·3 were Christians. Even though we are not representing them, we would like to pay bows of repentance to the Jeju Island people and Gangjeong villagers from the heart to repent our sins.”
Two reverends bow on March 29 (Image source: Headline Jeju, March 29, 2013)
In their ending prayer, mayor Knag Dong-Kyun and chairman Go Gwon-Il joined the event.
‘Trouble is not coming to us but it is for our approaching to it_by Rev. Kim Hee-Yong, March 26, 2013.’ Messages on the wire fence of the Jeju prison (Image source: Jeju Sori, March 26, 2013)
: A spiritual success upon the 65th anniversary of the Jeju 4.3 uprising!
A Joint Action for the realization of peace
: 4.3 Peace Week: From April 1 to 6, 2013
4.3 Joint events program
April 1(Mon) 20:00 pm Screening of ‘Jeju Prayer (Binyom)’ in Gangjeong, Village Community Hall
April 3 (Wed) 19:30 pm “You, Gangjeong_Writers Fall in Love with Jeju,”: Peace Book concert, 10th Fl. Jeju Venture Maru, (1176-67 Ido-2 dong, Jeju City, Jeju Island (Or 217 Joongang-no, Jeju City))
April 4 (Thurs) Watching Jiseul with the Gangjeong villagers, Lotte Cinema, Seogwipo City (914 Beophwan-dong Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do)
April 5 (Fri) 18:30 pm “Gangjeong is the 4.3” Poet Kim Kyung-Hoon’s 4.3 Book concert, Small Theater, Jeju Culture Hall ( 69 Dongwang-no, Ildo 2-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju-do)
April 6 (Sat)
09:00-16:00 Peace trip, 4.3 historic sites in the eastern part of the Island
16:00-18:00 Peace Culture Festival, Gangjeong Village Community Hall yard
Peace Week Joint Campaign
Let’s see together! Nationwide campaign to see the movies of ‘Jiseul,’ and ‘Jeju Prayer(Binyeom)’
Keungot Geomheulgool (About 3 meter ddep cave. It is guessed to have been a meeting place by the 4.3 armed guerrila. It is told that the Jeju City set up wire fence around it, considering it as a detesting place
Darangshi Cave (a famous 4.3, 1948 massacre site in which 11 dead bodies were discovered only in 1992 but condemned by the government)
Darangsh Oreom(a small hill impressive for both of views and history for the Darangshi village that existed underneath but extincted following the 4.3 )
In this month’s issue: Remembering the one year anniversary of the blasting of Gureombi, the campaign to demilitarize Jeju continues, linking the tar sands protests and Jeju, Solidarity from Okinawa and Taiwan, trial updates, Guest articles from several visitors, as well as Angie Zelter and Benjamin Monnet, and more!
Photo and caption by Fox David/ March 11th, 2012 GANGJEONG, Jeju Special Self-governing Province, South Korea
1 year has passed
March 7th, 2013 was the date commemorating one year anniversary on the navy’s blast of the Gureombi Rock despite people’s fierce opposition to it.
The people’s struggles to save the Gureombi Rock, the absolute preservation coastal area of the Gangjeong village, reached one of their highest points during the time when the blast was continued for two months since March 7, 2012.
Photo by Lee Wooki, March 6, 2012/ Just one day before the start of the blast, tension was already being formed as people made efforts to stop the explosive-loaded trucks from a gun powder factory. For more photos by Lee Wooki who reminds the atmosphere of March 6, 2012, see here.
On March 2, 2013, there was a nationwide citizens’ rally in the Gangjeong village, which commemorated it. See the days’ photos and video, here.
The below is a small recollection and is focused on the oppression on international activists. It might not fully include all the happenings. Please pardon for any missing in advance.
Why the Gureombi Rock?
It was because as a villager has laid bare his heart, “Gangjeong is the Gureombi. Gureombi is the Gangjeong.” The one-body andesite that extends about 1 km from the east and west of the coast is very rare in the dominantly basalt-formed Jeju Island that was created by volcanic activity. With its soft and smooth rock surface of which the forms are various, the fresh abundant spring water among those provides the habitats for diverse endangered species, such as red-feet crabs, Jejusaebaengii(Jeju fresh water shrimp), and narrow mouth toad. For villagers, it has been not only a life ground for making living, but for maintaining community spirit and meditation on life. It is a site where one realizes that it is the very site that one has looked for somehow: The wholeness of life.
Such common feeling and idea on the Gureombi Rock was one motivation that could strengthen people’s unity against the Government’s merciless destruction of the Gureombi Rock, the nature, the peace, and ourselves somehow.
Further, the water mattered.
Headline Jeju, March 9, 2012 (Original source: Gangjeong Village Association) / Water became soon contaminated after the Navy’s first blasting on Gureombi rock. On the day, the woman who took this photo in the Metboori, the east part of the base project area, was also arrested though released soon.
The underground water underneath the Gureombi rock is highly guessed by the villagers to be connected with the Gangjeong stream that feeds 70% of the citizens in the Seogwipo City (the southern part of the Island). Beside that, the Gangjeong Sea is known as the cleanest and most beautiful sea throughout the Jeju Island, being the only UNESCO-designated soft coral habitats and one of the most frequent sites of the Indo-Pacific bottle nose dolphins, the IUCN-listed species.
Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo who had lived in the Gureombi Rock for three years until the navy forcefully set up its fence on Sept. 2, 2011, in an effort to stop the naval base project, was being imprisoned for the 3rd time and was in the hunger strike. As the blast started on March 7, he hit his 28th fast day. He stopped even water and salt since the day until his release on March 20.
March 4, 2013. One year later. “Illegal construction site/ The construction companies eventually broke the silt protectors while they unreasonably push those. The pristine Gangjoeng Sea where soft coral and Indo-Pacific bottle nose dolphins have been dancing is being destroyed (Photo and caption by Park Incheon/ Fwd by Saltcandy Yohan)”
The blast was unjustly forced through political fraud.
For the two months, the navy blasted about 10% of the Gureombi Rock: East and west parts of it to build the caisson production area and shipment site.
The National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing to the Naval Base in Jeju Island stated in recollection of one year ago, on March 7, 2013. See the whole Korean statement, here:
On Feb. 14,[2012], the technical verification committee on the Civilian-Military Complex for Tour Beauty issued its last report and acknowledged the fact that: “If the current execution design for the Jeju naval base construction is [continued to be] applied as it is, the original government pledge that it would build a civilian-military complex port for 150,000 ton cruise passenger ships cannot be kept. However, Lee Myung-Bak the President, declared that he would build the Jeju naval base construction without any explanation on it. Then the Prime Minster who had written in his facebook that the civilian-military complex port for tour beauty is impossible to be realized suddenly changed his attitude and started to push the construction. The Minister of Prime Office held the related government institutes’ measure meeting joined by the National Police Agency and Coast Guard etc. to support the enforcement of construction declared by the President, followed by assertion that there is no problem in the base construction, one-sidedly accepting the simulation report presented by the Ministry of National Defense on [Feb.] 23. Then it enforced the blast of the Gureombi Rock with a rush on [March] 7, [2012].
It was such an unjust and unreasonable process even Woo Keun-Min, the Island governor and members of the ruling conservative Saenuri Party opposed. See here and here.
A second 4.3: The human rights violation reached its highest point during the blast.
For 28 days alone since the start of the blast on the Gureombi Rock, more than 90 people were arrested while 20 people, swooned, were carried in ambulance for the police violence. Still the village sirens for protest rang everyday. For more, see here.
On March 9, the 3rd day of people’s war against the blast alone, 30 people including Angie Zelter, Nobel Peace nominee, Catholic and Protestant missionaries were violently arrested. Four people were carried to hospital. See the Dungree video in the below. On the day alone, the siren rang six times.
Following the arrest of Rev. Lee Jeong-Hoon and Jesuit priest, Kim Jeong-Wook on March 11 ( imprisoned on the day and released on April 4), Dr. Song Kang-Ho was eventually imprisoned for his fierce struggle on April 3 (released on Sept. 28). As for the navy and police’s abuse of their power, Mr. Lim Ho-Young was another victim. Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo who was arrested and imprisoned since Jan. 30 could be released only on March 20, after more than 42 days’ prison fast. Fr. Mun Jeong-Hyeon who fell from the 7 m tetra pod during his protest to the reckless coast guard on April 6 would suffer from the back and waist pain for long time despite his unexpected quick release from the hospital.
The people entered into the Gureombi Rock, risking high sea waves, security-filled fences, dangerously piled up tetra pods, and police and navy threat. The people chained themselves to vehicles to stop the explosive cars, eventually being taken away of all their cars. The cars were returned back only six months later. The people connected their arms with pipes to stop the explosive cars, only to be met by police’s merciless breaking down of those pipes with hammer (March 19) and electric saw (April 16).
It was the 2nd 4.3 in the sense that the base project is pushed despite people’s opposition, by the foreign (United States)and outside power(main land). On Feb. 24, the Chief of the Seogwipo Police Station had been informally decided to be changed with Lee Dong-Min, a figure from the main land. It was coincided with an opening of the Jeju International Peace Conference (the 20th anniversary of the Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space)
With the start of the blast, about 700 police personnel from the main land arrived the Jeju, reminding the 4.3 incident period from 1947 to 1954 when the central Rhee Syngman government, a U.S. puppet then, dispatched military, para-military, and police of the main land to mercilessly suppress the people’s uprising in the Island.
Oppressions on international activists were never precedent.
On Feb. 26, 6 Koreans and 10 international peace activists including seven Global Network members, such as Bruce Gagnon and Dave Webb were arrested while they crawled under the razor wire on the Gureombi Rock. See the report on it here.
After the blast of the Gureombi Rock started, the actions by international activists and oppression on them were remarkable. Angie Zelter who entered the Gureombi Rock on Feb. 26 was eventually arrested on March 9 when she entered the fence. The Daelim company thugs’ violence on her during the process was one of the subjects of people’s criticism on March 10 Press Conference. You can see her own account on March 9 arrest, after her release here.
It was the time that oppression on international activists started in earnest. Benjamin Monnet who first came to Gangjeong in May 2011 and had stayed for months eventually got injunction order on March 14 after his arrest on March 12 (See here). Angie Zelter who was arrested again on March 12 got exit order on March 15, as well. See the people’s statement in relation to it, hereand Angie Zelter’s here.
To be coincident, Elliot Adams (Past President of the VfP), Mike Hastie, Tarak Kauff, three members of the Veterans for Peace, US, were violently and inhumanly denied entries on March 14 while their intention was to ‘stand in solidarity with the villagers.’ See here. Bruce Gagnon states that ‘the South Korean authorities had a photo of each of them in their hands and told them they would not be allowed to enter Jeju Island.’ You can see the report here . And the statement by the VfP, here. Remarkably, it was for the first time that the members of the VfP, United States, were denied entry into South Korea, signifying that the naval base project is a highly sensitive matter for the authorities of the United States and South Korean governments.
It was not only those three VfP members. During the two months of March and April, 5 people from Okinawa and Japan were denied entries. They are Nakamura Sugae and her daughter(March 27), Ryuji Yagi ( March 31), Umisedo Yutaka (Okinawa, April 2), Tomiyama Masahiro (Okinawa, April 6). From August 26, 2011 to Oct. 16, 2012, the total people who were denied entries to Korea, in relation to the Jeju naval base issue, were at least 20, while the total numbers are 24. It is because the last three people were repeatedly denied entries during the WCC period, Sept. 6 to 15, 2012. In June, even an international Catholic priest was threatened to be deported. See here. For the whole matters on the deportation, see here.
Though, not deported, harasses on international activists were remarkable. Paco Booyah reported on the incident of March 24, 2012. See here.
The oppression on internationals especially during the time of the blast on the Gureombi Rock signified the growing international solidarity to the threat of the United States and South Korean authorities, otherwise.
The International peace activists have often gotten unjust disposal from the South Korean authorities for their peaceful protests against the war-base building in the Jeju. We so thank them and hope to share with you the urgency to protect international activists who fight to save the Peace Island.
Post by Pat Cunningham/ “Stop the Oppression on International Peace Activists” It was the sign that the village international team held on March 2 upon the 1st year anniversary of the blast on the Gureombi Rock. The oppression on internationals were in earnest with the start of the blast on the Gureombi Rock on March 7, 2012.
Remembering international peace messages. Time to strengthen solidarity for peace
Beside Benjamin Monnet who still sends his deep friendship and solidarity with Gangjeong, here is a heart-touching message from Angie Zelter who sent us a message on the 1st anniversary of the Gureombi Rock-blast:
Source: Angie Zelter in Gangjeong on March 8, 2012, 104th International Women’s Day. She held the Earth flagwith Jeong Young-Hee, chairwoman of the Village Women’s Committee to Stop the Naval Base.
Dear Jeju Friends, a year ago I was with you in Gangjeong, crying as the blasting of the sacred rocks started. I know your struggle continues and is very hard and long. You are courageous and are fighting for all of us. Our struggles are the same – to fight against war, oppression, and the abuses of corporate power. I am sorry I cannot be with you but know that I share your pain and struggle.’
Here in the UK I have just started a new direct action campaign to try to stop the replacement of our nuclear weapon system and persuade the Government to give them up. It is linked with your struggle as we must all in our own ways stop our Governments from wasting resources and lives on war preparations.
I send you much love and solidarity and will never forget you. Please send my greetings to all those whose knew me and whose emails I do not have.
Love and hugs, Angie.
( Angie Zelter on March 7, 2013)
The below video (by Yang Dong-Kyu) was taken for the 4.3-memorizing event in Jeju, just before Angie Zelter’s leave of the village where she stayed for a month. It is always great to remember all the valuable experience of international solidarity and to strengthen it. We pay our deep gratitude to all the international friends who have shown friendship and solidarity despite serious hardships that they had to suffer from, continuously reminding us that the universe and we are one.
Photo by Song Dong-Hyo/ The 2nd event for the Jeju as the Demilitarized Peace Island, Gwandeokjeong, Jeju City, March 1, 2013. For more photos and event briefing by Paco Booyah , see here.
1. Yang Yoon-Mo reminds the history and vision of the Jeju
It was exactly here in Gwandeokjeong, Jeju City, March 1, 1947 when 6 people were killed by the constabulary governed under the US Army Military Government in Korea during their parade on commemorating independence movement on March 1, 1919. It was here when Hur Du-Yong, uncle of Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo who hits his 32nd day of prison fast as of March 4, 2013, was one of those six victims. His uncle Hur was only 15 years old then, the youngest among the six. Still Prof. Yang has not said much about his personal history. The personal history must have been for him only a window that would open him toward the vision for the Jeju, as true Peace Island, demilitarized, filled with life and peace.
The 2nd event for the Jeju Demilitarized Peace Island on March 1 happened to coincide with the start of the US-ROK annual war exercise called Key Resolve/ Foal Eagle. In the Gangjeong village, people’s 24 hour protests to night time construction trucks were still going on. It was ever more significant that the active move to build the Peace Island was declared again in the historic place along with the opening of the 4.3 movie ‘Jiseul‘ in Jeju on the same day. A recent article in the Truth Out helps well our understanding on the historic background of modern Korea. See here :
“The Korean War that lasted from June 1950 to July 1953 was an enlargement of the 1948-50 struggle of Jeju Islanders to preserve their self-determination from the tyrannical rule of US-supported Rhee and his tiny cadre of wealthy constituents. Little known is that the US-imposed division of Korea in 1945 against the wishes of the vast majority of Koreans was the primary cause of the Korean War that broke out five years later. The War destroyed by bombing most cities and villages in Korea north of the 38th Parallel, and many south of it, while killing four million Koreans – three million (one-third) of the north’s residents and one million of those living in the south, in addition to killing one million Chinese. This was a staggering international crime still unrecognized that killed five million people and permanently separated 10 million Korean families.” (Source)
Two days before the 2nd event for the Jeju Demilitarized Peace Island on March 1, he wrote the two page long letter to Dr. Song Kang-Ho who being in full comradeship with prof. Yang, has led the campaign. Here is the excerpt from Yang’s letter who urged people joining the day’s event. You can see his original Korean letter, here:
As I enter a long time fast, I happened to have a phenomenon close to dyslexia because I can’t concentrate well due to not smooth brain activities. So I am just focusing my nerve and heart only on the balance of ‘body,’ all day.
So while there are numbers of letters from the overseas, nationwide, and Gangjeong, I could never reply to them. [..] (For more on his status, see the contents in No. 3)
The matter of Gnagjeong suffering illness for the naval base [project] is merely an advance notice. Our agony is that it is not a situation when we talk the “matter of Gangjeong,’ and “matter of the whole Jeju Island” separately. In a big frame, it is the time when there should appear a movement body that seriously realizes and acts considering the two matters as one together [..] Therefore I consider the appearance of the ‘declaration on the [Jeju] as the demilitarized Peace Island,’ very timely. To say strictly, the peace movement in the Jeju reached to the 2nd turning point. I think that the experience in Gangjeong should be more developed and expanded. [..]
“Let’s save Jeju!
Let’s save Jeju entering into one hundred year’s suffering!
The Jeju is now in dangerous forked road!
The Jeju Island should be no more slaves of capital and security.
It is the time to say, ‘No!’
To fully inherit the beautiful nature, environment and Island people’s war-less community to the descendants, I urgently appeal to you to join the march on the declaration rally on the Jeju ‘Demilitarized,’ Peace Island”
( Excerpt from the letter by Yang Yoon-Mo, one of the declarers on the Jeju, Demilitarized Peace Island, from the Jeju prison, Feb. 27, 2013)
You can see Yang’s interview on the Gureombi Rock in 2011, here.
Photo by Paco Booyah/ Yang Yoon-Mo’s letter read during the March 1 event program. See more event photos, here.
2. People’s statement to build the Jeju, Demilitarized Peace Island on March 1.
And here are the excerpts from the people’s statement on March 1. To see the full statement in Korean, see here:
[..] The Jeju Island has been used as a bridgehead for the Mongol to invade Japan during the period of people’s resistance against Mongol [in the 13th century].
It was used as an overseas site for the Japanese military to bomb China in the China-Japan war during the period of Japanese occupation [in 1937].
It has been strained to a breaking point as Japan built the whole Island as a military stronghold at the end of her imperialism [in 1945].
As such, the Jeju Island has often taken a role of military base because of its geopolitical importance.
During the 4.3 period (* 1947 to 1954), Rhee Seung Man, [the puppet government under the United Sates] said that he would let the United States to build a permanent base in the Jeju.
In 1970, President Park Chung-Hee, [the father of Park Geun-Hye, the new South Korean President who was inaugurated on Feb. 25, 2013] said that he would provide the Jeju Island as a new US base in replacement of Okinawa.
Since the construction of the air base, Songak Mt., Moseulpo, about 20 years ago was stranded, the government is building a naval base in Gangjeong after it attempted [but failed] it in Hwasoon and Weemee.
However, the Jeju Island is the World Peace Island!
In last 2005, the ‘Government designated the Jeju Island as the world Peace Island so that the tragedy of Jeju 4.3 can be sublimed with cooperation & co-existence and contribute to the peace of world.
The Jeju Island that has endlessly suffered and been sacrificed by the domestic and overseas power has finally become to rise into a new epicenter of peace.
However, such efforts for the Demilitarized Peace Island has gradually become collapsed as the naval base became to be driven in the Jeju.
We don’t want the Jeju positioned at the intersection point of continent and maritime to be the arena of competition between two powers.
Rather, we pray for it to become the outpost for peace as a buffer zone between the two powers.
It is to build the Peace Island in Jeju, with neither military nor military base, neither war nor violence.
It is to accomplish preservation on nature and protection on environment by clarifying opposition to all the thoughtless developments.
It is to plan for the precious lives’ native growth, opposing the terror to all the lives.
It is eventually to accomplish a self-reliant community of the permanent neutral to which no intervention by a foreign or other powers reach.
That is the essence of the Jeju Demilitarized Peace Island.
On March 1, we, here in the Gwandeokjeong being alive by the spirit of the patriotic forefathers who resisted to wicked foreign powers and tried to save the precious Jeju community,
Are to abandon collapse and destruction, the products of war and violence,
Are to accomplish resurrection and restoration, the fruits of peace and co-existence.
For that, we make resolution to realize the Demilitarized Peace Island through constant practices and peaceful efforts.
We, confirming our determination and practical will, also declare that we would step together with all the conscientious citizens in the world including Jeju.
March 1, 2013
People who make the Jeju as the Demilitarized Peace Island
3. Yang Yoon-Mo’s prison fast inspires overseas
Photo by the Village International Team. Mr. Koh Gilchun and Ms. oh Soonhee, After visiting Yang Yoon-Mo in the Jeju prison.
On Feb. 28, Mr Koh Gilchun, Jeju artist, Oh Soon-Hee, a director of a small theater, and a village international team member visited Prof yang who hit 28th prison fast as of Feb. 28.
Known later… Ms. Oh Soon-Hee is a sister of Mr Oh Myul, a movie director of Jiseul, the Sundance grand prize 4.3 movie.
Thin though, Prof. yang looked bright. He has been in a sick room of the prison for 10 days. in the sick room, he stays with two other people and was wearing a patient cloth.
He has recently begun to take enzyme as he feels powerless.
He said he is getting many support letters from the domestic and international. Even though he wants to reply to them, he feels so energy-less. So he asked to deliver his great thanks to all the domestic and international friends.
Regarding the march 1 event, he said he is pleased for two things.
First, he is pleased that the 4.3 movie ‘Jiseul’, begins to screen on March 1. He wished that at least about 30,000 people could see the movie. it is known that at least 30,000 people were sacrificed during the 4.3 period, 1947 to 1954.
Oh Soon-Hee said that she got the contact from the movie theater manager on Feb. 27 that he would increase the daily screening numbers of Jiseul from 6 to 11 as many people are more and more interested in the movie. she also said the Jiseul team is considering to screen the English subtitled once a day.
Prof yang also said that he is pleased to see a meaningful 3. 1 event , the 2nd event for Jeju demilitarized, commemorating the fuse of 3.1, 1947, when 6 people were killed by the police under the governing of the US military government and became the fuse of 4.3 incident. he said he hopes this could be a momentum for many Jeju island people to be aware of the importance of the jeju as the demilitarized and self reliant .
A postcard from Benj and Five postcards from Okinawa were delivered to Prof Yang. T shirt from Benj (photo) was shown to Yang and he was very pleased. Thanks so much, Benj and friends from Okinawa.
Otherwise, on March 4, Ishle Yi Park‘s message was sent through Benj
‘Aloha, Hope you are well and in light. I am a mother, poet and activist (Poet Laureate of Queens, 2004-2007) who is currently fasting in Hawai’i in solidarity with Professor Yang Yoon-Mo and the beloved people of Jejudo.
I am currently on my fifth day of my fast, and plan on fasting as long as Professor Yang is fasting. Would greatly appreciate an update on his status, how his health is, and if he is still fasting, how long he plans to fast.
I am a nursing mother, so this fast is a big deal for me. I’ve been to Jeju several times, have written numerous poems in praise and tribute for the island, and hold a special place in my heart for Jejudo haenyos (Sea diving women)as well. My prayers and well wishes are with you all, for caring about our beloved island and our future generations.
Thank you so much, and look forward to hearing from you very soon.
God bless, and Peace to Jeju,
Ishle Yi Park’
4. Struggle for Gangjeong and Jeju is one matter.
Photo by Saltcandy Yohan on Feb. 27. The sign reads, “We declare that the Jeju Is the Demilitarized Peace Island.”Photo by Saltcandy Yohan/ 01:57 am, March 1, 2013. The sign reads, ‘Cruise Special District with 1 million tourists? The 1 million tourists will avoid if for the naval base!’Photo by Saltcandy Yohan/ 04:37 am, March 1, 2013. The signs read , ‘Civil Disobedience,’ ‘The Gangjeong Naval Base is a sub-contract base for the US. No War!’Photo by U-Jin Kang / During the day, March 1. The signs read, ”Stop the construction of the civilian-military complex port for tour beauty which is only a sugar-coating cover!’ ‘The Gangjeong Naval base is the sub-contract base for the US. No War!’/ ‘Fr Kim Sung Hwan SJ and Pat Cunningham SSC at the gate in Gangjeong on Independence Movement Day (삼일절) protesting against the occupation of the village by modern day forces preparing for war under the banner of ‘national security’ while all the while jeopardizing the future of lasting peace and security on the Island of Peace! The building of the naval base only serves to dishonor the memory of all who sacrificed their lives for peace and freedom and increases tension and insecurity among people on the island and in the wider region! ( script by Pat Cunningham )
Source: original site/ Troops land at P’ohang-Dong, Korea during the Korean war. (Photo: Expert Infantry / Flickr)
US political leaders and media pundits trumpet North Korea’s recent testing of missiles and nuclear weapons as a great threat. But the US mass media do not tell the whole story. Without the context of history and current events, the actions of North Korea look insane, but when put in context we find that the United States is pushing North Korea on this path. North Korea is really not a significant threat compared to what the United States is doing with nuclear weapons, the Asia Pivot and war games off the Korean coast. In this article, we seek greater understanding by putting ourselves in the place of North Korea.
Historical Context: Korea, a Pawn for Big Power, Brutalized by the United States
The history between Korea and the United States goes back to the late 1800s when the US had completed its manifest destiny across North America and was beginning to build a global empire. In 1871, more than 700 US marines and sailors landed on Kanghwa beach in west Korea, seeking to begin US colonization (a smaller US invasion occurred in 1866). They destroyed five forts, inflicting as many as 650 Korean casualties. The US withdrew, realizing it would need a much larger force to succeed, but this was the largest military force to land outside the Americas until the 1898 war in the Philippines. S. Brian Willson reports that this invasion is still discussed in North Korea, but it has been erased from the history in South Korea as well as in the United States.
Korea succumbed to Japanese rule beginning in 1905, often serving as a pawn between Japanese conflicts with China and Russia. This was a brutal occupation. A major revolt for Korean democracy occurred on March 1, 1919, when a declaration of independence was read in Seoul. Two million Koreans participated in 1,500 protests. The Koreans also appealed to major powers meeting in Versailles after World War I, but were ignored as Japan was given control over the East. The Japanese viciously put down the democracy movement. Iggy Kim, in Green Left, reports they “beheaded children, crucified Christians and carried out scores of other atrocities. More than 7,500 people were killed and 16,000 were injured.”
Near the end of World War II, as Japan was weakened, Korean “People’s Committees” formed all over the country and Korean exiles returned from China, the US and Russia to prepare for independence and democratic rule. On September 6, 1945, these disparate forces and representatives of the people’s committees proclaimed a Korean People’s Republic (the KPR) with a progressive agenda of land reform, rent control, an eight-hour work day and minimum wage among its 27-point program.
But the KPR was prevented from becoming a reality. Instead, after World War II and without Korean representation, the US quite arbitrarily decided with Russia, China and England, to divide Korea into two nations “temporarily” as part of its decolonization. The powers agreed that Japan should lose all of its colonies and that in “due course” Korea would be free. Korea was divided on the 38th parallel. The US made sure to keep the capital, Seoul, and key ports. Essentially, the US took as much of Korea as it thought the Russians would allow. This division planted the seeds of the Korean War, causing a five-year revolution and counter-revolution that escalated into the Korean War.
Initially, the South Koreans welcomed the United States, but US Gen. John Hodge, the military governor of South Korea working under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, quickly brought Koreans who had cooperated with the Japanese during occupation into the government and shut out Koreans seeking democracy. He refused to meet with representatives of the KPR and banned the party, working instead with the right wing Korean Democratic Party – made up of landlords, land owners, business interests and pro-Japanese collaborators.
Shut out of politics, Koreans who sought an independent democratic state took to other methods and a mass uprising occurred. A strike against the railroads in September 1946 by 8,000 railway workers in Pusan quickly grew into a general strike of workers and students in all of the South’s major cities. The US military arrested strike leaders en masse. In Taegu, on Oct. 1, huge riots occurred after police smashed picket lines and fired into a crowd of student demonstrators, killing three and wounding scores. In Yongchon, on Oct. 3, 10,000 people attacked the police station and killed more than 40 police, including the county chief. Some 20 landlords and pro-Japanese officials were also killed. A few days later, the US military declared martial law to crush the uprising. They fired into large crowds of demonstrators in numerous cities and towns, killing and wounding an unknown number of people.
Syngman Rhee, an exile who had lived in the US for 40 years, was returned to Korea on MacArthur’s personal plane. He initially allied with left leaders to form a government approved of by the US. Then in 1947, he dispensed with his “left” allies by assassinating their leaders, Kim Ku and Kim Kyu-Shik. Rhee consolidated power and the US pushed for United Nations-sponsored elections in May 1948 to put a legal imprimatur on the divided Koreas. Rhee was elected at 71 years old in an election boycotted by most parties who saw it as sham. He came to power in the midst of an insurgency.
On Jeju Island, the largest Korean island lying in a strategic location in the Korea Strait, there continued to be protests against the US military government. It was one of the last areas where people’s committees continued to exist. Gen. Hodge told Congress Jeju was “a truly communal area that is peacefully controlled by the People’s Committee,” but he organized its extermination in a scorched-earth attack. In September, Rhee’s new government launched a massive counterinsurgency operation under US command. S. Brian Willson reports it resulted in the killing of “60,000 Islanders, with another 40,000 desperately fleeing in boats to Japan. Thus, one-third of its residents were either murdered or fled during the ‘extermination’ campaign. Nearly 40,000 homes were destroyed and 270 of 400 villages were leveled.” It was an ugly attack, Iggy Kim notes: “Torture, mutilation, gang rape and arbitrary execution were rife. . . a quarter of the Jeju population had been massacred. The US embassy happily reported: ‘The all-out guerilla extermination campaign came to a virtual end in April with order restored and most rebels and sympathizers killed, captured, or converted.’” This was the single greatest massacre in modern Korean history and a warning of what was to come in the Korean War. As we will see, Jeju is part of the story in today’s US Asian escalation.
More brutality occurred on mainland Korea. On October 19, dissident soldiers in the port city of Yosu rose up in opposition to the war in Jeju. About 2,000 insurgent soldiers took control of the city. By Oct. 20, a number of nearby towns had also been liberated and the People’s Committee was reinstated as the governing body. People’s courts were established to try police officers, landlords, regime officials and other supporters of the Rhee dictatorship. This rebellion was suppressed by a bloodletting, planned and directed by the US military.
“The Korean War that lasted from June 1950 to July 1953 was an enlargement of the 1948-50 struggle of Jeju Islanders to preserve their self-determination from the tyrannical rule of US-supported Rhee and his tiny cadre of wealthy constituents. Little known is that the US-imposed division of Korea in 1945 against the wishes of the vast majority of Koreans was the primary cause of the Korean War that broke out five years later. The War destroyed by bombing most cities and villages in Korea north of the 38th Parallel, and many south of it, while killing four million Koreans – three million (one-third) of the north’s residents and one million of those living in the south, in addition to killing one million Chinese. This was a staggering international crime still unrecognized that killed five million people and permanently separated 10 million Korean families.”
Bragging about the massacre, USAF Strategic Air Command head General Curtis LeMay, who blanket-bombed Japan in World War II and later ran for vice president with segregationist George Wallace, summed it up well, “Over a period of three years or so we killed off – what – twenty percent of the population.” Willson corrects LeMay, writing “it is now believed that the population north of the imposed 38th Parallel lost nearly a third its population of 8-9 million people during the 37-month long ‘hot’ war, 1950-1953, perhaps an unprecedented percentage of mortality suffered by one nation due to belligerence of another.”
Context Today: Korea Targeted, Mock Attacks, Learning from Iraq and Libya and the Asia Pivot
This historical context results in North Korea taking the threats of the United States very seriously. It knows the US has been willing to kill large portions of its population throughout history and has seen what the US has done to other countries.
In 2002, President George W. Bush labeled North Korea part of the “axis of evil” along with Iraq and Iran. S. Brian Willson traveled 900 ground miles through six of North Korea’s nine provinces, as well as Pyongyang, the capital, and several other cities, talking with dozens of people from all walks of life; all wanted to know about the “axis of evil” speech. He found that North Koreans “simply cannot understand why the US is so obsessed with them.”
Of course, the North Korean government witnessed the “shock and awe” campaign of bombardments against Iraq and the killing of at least hundreds of thousands (credible research shows more than 1 million Iraqis killed, 4.5 million displaced, 1-2 million widows and 5 million orphans). They saw the brutal killing by hanging of the former US ally, now turned into an enemy, Saddam Hussein.
And, they can look to the experience of Libya. Libya was an enemy but then began to develop positive relations with the US. In 2003, Libya halted its program to build a nuclear bomb in an effort to mend its relations with the US. Then last year Libya was overthrown in a US-supported war and its leader Moammar Gadhafi was brutally killed. As Reuters reports, “‘The tragic consequences in those countries which abandoned halfway their nuclear programs… clearly prove that the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) was very far-sighted and just when it made the (nuclear) option,’ North Korea’s KCNA news agency said.”
The United States stations 28,500 troops in South Korea. In November 2012 the US upgraded its weapons systems and announced an agreement with Japan that would allow South Korea to bomb anywhere in North Korea. In June 2012 the Pentagon announced that Gen.l Neil H. Tolley would be removed as commander of US Special Operations in South Korea after he revealed to a Japanese foreign affairs publication that American and South Korean troops had been parachuting into North Korea on spy missions.
US troops and bases are not popular. Protests erupted in 2002 after two Korean woman were killed and a court martial found the US soldiers not guilty of negligent manslaughter. Several pubs and restaurants put up signs saying “Americans Not Welcome Here.” In anAugust 2005 protest against US troops by 1,100 people, 10 were injured by police. One month before that, 100 were injured in a protest. In 2006 protesters occupied land on which the US planned to expand a base, resulting in a conflict and their eviction followed by installing barbed wire around the area to protect it from South Koreans. The South Korean government banned a rally that was expected to draw more than 10,000 protesters.
•”The first joint military exercises between the US and South Korea since Kim Jong-il’s death suddenly changed their nature, with new war games including pre-emptive artillery attacks on North Korea.
• Another amphibious landing operation simulation took on vastly larger proportions following Kim Jong-il’s death (the sheer amount of equipment deployed was amazing: 13 naval vessels, 52 armored vessels, 40 fighter jets and 9,000 US troops).
• South Korean officials began talking of Kim Jong-il’s death as a prime opportunity to pursue a regime-change strategy.
• South Korea unveiled a new cruise missile that could launch a strike inside North Korea and is working fast to increase its full-battery range to strike anywhere inside North Korea.
• South Korea openly began discussing asymmetric warfare against North Korea.
• The US military’s Key Resolve Foal Eagle computerized war simulation games suddenly changed, too, simulating the deployment of 100,000 South Korean troops on North Korean territory following a regime change.
• Japan was brought on board, allowing the US to deploy a second advanced missile defense radar system on its territory and the two carried out unprecedented war games.
• It is also not lost on anyone that despite what on the surface appears to be the US’ complete lack of interest in a new South Korean naval base that is in the works, this base will essentially serve as an integrated missile defense system run by the US military and housing Aegis destroyers.”
North Korea has shown anger at these drills. In response to the announcement of the largest annual joint exercises for US and South Korean troops scheduled for March and April of this year, in a rare direct message to US Gen. James Thurman, North Korea warned the top American commander in South Korea on Feb. 23 of “miserable destruction” if the US military presses ahead with the joint drills with South Korea set to begin next month.
Add to these drills the “Asia Pivot” President Obama is implementing, which will result in 60 percent of the US Navy being moved to Asia, and one can understand why North Korea believes that it is necessary to have nuclear weapons. Part of this Asia Pivot includes Jeju Island, where the US military is trying to install a massive Navy base. The village of Gangjeong, where the base is to be built, and the elected assembly of Jeju Island have voted to stop the naval base construction. The people of Jeju have mounted protests and resistanceefforts against the base. But the base is a key location for the Asia Pivot. Jeju faces Shanghai across the East China Sea, the South China Sea lies south of the island, and the mainland of South Korea lies to the north.
Jeju – designated as the “Peace Island” as part of an apology for the 1948 massacre – is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is a destination for honeymooners. Bruce Gagnon visited Jeju Island twice and reported on the protests there, which include the mayor of Gangjeong being arrested in protest and Professor Yang Yoon-Mo, who is now in jail on a hunger strike. This is his third hunger strike. The previous one lasted 74 days and he almost died. Gagnon works with the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.
Beyond that, as S. Brian Willson points out, the US is remaking its nuclear arsenal so that nuclear weapons can be used in a war. Three weeks before his “Axis of Evil” speech, President Bush presented a “Nuclear Posture Review” report to Congress that ordered the Pentagon to prepare contingency plans for use of nuclear weapons. The first designated targets for nuclear attack were the “axis of evil” members – along with Syria, Libya, Russia, and China. The US remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons against another nation. The US has approximately 5,113 nuclear warheads, including tactical, strategic, and non-deployed weapons. According to the latest official New START Treaty declaration, the United States actively positions 1,722 strategic nuclear warheads on 806 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and strategic bombers.
While calling for a world without nuclear weapons, President Obama has instead continued Bush’s plan and has increased the budget for nuclear weapons. He has been giving the nuclear arsenal a massive and costly overhaul, modernizing the land-sea-air combination of planes, submarines and missiles that deliver nuclear bombs and warheads. Obama made a commitment in a letter to the Senate in February 2011 to accelerate, “to the extent possible,” the design and engineering of a new plutonium facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico while sustaining a facility in Tennessee. What would a North Korean leader think of all this?
And when it comes to talks with North Korea, there is no progress. As our guests on “Clearing the FOG” – Bruce Gagnon and Elliot Adams, both active with Veterans for Peace – pointed out: China encourages talks, but the US refuses. Gagnon and Adams suggest a first step would be a peace treaty with North Korea – an end to the Korean War, something that was never agreed because the fighting ended in a truce. The US needs to stop boxing North Korea into a corner with escalating rhetoric, military actions off its coast and crippling sanctions, and allow North Korea into the community of nations.
Once again, Korea is a pawn in a bigger battle between the US and China and Russia. Countries like Australia and Japan have joined the US and NATO, which has also been brought into the Asian Pivot. As Gagnon points out, North Korea is very independent and does not want to be anyone’s puppet and feels it must always show it is ready to defend itself. Adams adds, the US military does not fear “pipsqueak” North Korea with their low tech missiles and bombs, but in the media they use every test by North Korea as an excuse to escalate. Adams clarifies, “the US military needs a bogeyman to justify spending 60 percent of US discretionary spending on an insane, incompetent and bloated military.”
The solution begins with the American people understanding what is really going on in Asia and the Koreas. When the context is examined, and Americans try to stand in the shoes of North Korea, a different picture emerges. This is not easy with the misinformation and inadequate reporting by the mass media, which is complicit with the escalation, but this contextual understanding is essential as the US increases military action in Asia, threatens China and uses North Korea as an excuse.
You can hear our interview with Bruce Gagnon and Elliott Adams on North Korea, Nuclear Weapons and US Expansion into Asia and Space on Clearing the FOG Radio (podcast).
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
Source: SPARK/ The large size annual US-ROK war exercise started on March 1. The SPARK (Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea) said. “The biggest problem of the Key Resolve/ Foal Eagle this time is that it could bring the Korean peninsula being at the risk of war. The war exercise this time is more aggressive than ever…After the North Korea conducted nuclear test, the ROK-US ministries of defense made an agreement that the ROK-US war excise could be an actual pressure against North Korea by expanding and strengthening it.. All the aggressive arms are mobilized; such as the George Washington, US nuclear aircraft carrier, F-22, B-52 that were not mobilized last year… President Obama declared on strengthening MD against North Korea and the Ministry of National Defense said it would establish ‘Kill Chain,’ a preemptive attack strategy. That shows the military exercise is to openly become an aggressive military strategy… The Korean peninsula was laid at the risk of war crisis even in days after a new President, Park Geun-Hye was inaugurated. If she wants peace, she should stop the Key Resolve war exercise and start dialogue.” See more photos here.
# About Key Resolve/ Foal Eagle War exercise
The Foal Eagle exercises are scheduled to continue until Apr. 30. The Key Resolve command post exercises (CPX) are also scheduled to take place over a two-week period from Mar. 11 to 21. (Source)
The Foal Eagle exercise is composed of 20 coalition and joint outdoor training such as large size landing training and ROK-US munitions support, air, maritime, special operation training. About 200,000 South Korean personnel from the army corps, fleet command headquarter, flight units and 10,000 US military personnel from the army, navy, air, marine units mostly reinforced from the overseas could join. (Source)
Statement Opposing U.S.-South Korea Joint Military Exercises Key Resolve Foal Eagle
Stop War Games, Start Peace Talks
The Korean War, known in the United States as “The Forgotten War,” has never ended. Every year, the United States stages a series of massive joint war games with its ally, South Korea (ROK). These coordinated exercises are both virtual and real. Among other things, they practice live fire drills and simulate the invasion of North Korea—including first-strike options.
While we – peace, human rights, faith-based, environmental, and Korean solidarity activists– are deeply concerned about North Korea’s third nuclear weapons test, we also oppose the U.S.-ROK joint war games as adding to the dangerous cycle of escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula. North Korea views these war games as an act of provocation and threat of invasion like that which we have witnessed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya and routinely condemns these maneuvers as aimed at “bring[ing] down the DPRK by force” and forcing it to“bolster up the war deterrent physically.” South Korean activists also decry the role of these war games in the hostile perpetuation of the division of the Korean peninsula and are often persecuted for their protests under South Korea’s draconian National Security Law.
The U.S.-ROK “Key Resolve” and “Foal Eagle” annual war games, usually staged in March, and “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” in August, typically last for months and involve tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and deployed from the United States, as well as hundreds of thousands of their ROK counterparts. U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, and Space Command forces will participate in these exercises and practice scenarios including the removal of North Korea’s leadership, occupation of Pyeongyang, and reunification of the peninsula under U.S. and South Korean control.
In South Korea, peace and reunification groups have long opposed these war games. They have called for peninsula-wide demilitarization entailing the eventual removal of U.S. troops. As one organization puts it, “Unless and until US forces are completely and permanently withdrawn from South Korea, it will be impossible to establish peace on the Korean peninsula.”
We call upon the U.S. and South Korean governments to stop the costly and provocative war games and take proactive steps to deescalate the current tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The Perils of the U.S. Pivot
In the past five years, hard-won efforts by the Korean people to ease North-South tensions have been reversed. Through its massive military buildup across the region, the United States has amplified regional tensions. Recent years have been witness to North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, increasing nationalism and militarism in Japan (the world’s sixth greatest military spender), and a host of increasingly militarized territorial disputes. The global Cold War may have ended 20 years ago, but as the recent round of U.S.-led sanctions on the DPRK and threat of a third DPRK nuclear weapons “test” illustrate, the anachronism remains alive and well on the Korean peninsula.
Crisis on the Korean peninsula furnishes a rationale for U.S. militarization of the region, and the Pentagon has committed to deploy 60% of its air and naval forces to Asia and the Pacific to reinforce its air sea battle doctrine. Announced as the “pivot” of U.S. military resources to Asia and the Pacific, President Obama’s policy, which necessitates more training areas, runways, ports of call, and barracks for the massive shift of U.S. military forces, disregards the impact of militarization on the lives of ordinary people in the region.
The disastrous ecological and human costs of this “pivot” are acutely apparent in the current construction of a naval base on Jeju, an “island of peace” in South Korea known for having the planet’s densest concentration of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Once celebrated for its pristine beauty and sea-based culture, Gangjeong, a 450-year-old fishing and farming village is being torn to shreds by the South Korean government in collaboration with the United States, which can freely use any ROK military installation. Base construction crews are dredging acres of world-class, bio-diverse coral habitats and covering them with concrete. The obliteration of these coastal ecosystems also destroys the millennia-old livelihoods of the villagers, 94% of whom voted against the base in a local referendum. Gangjeong villagers are watching their heritage, economy, vibrant local culture, spiritual center, and very core of their identity collapse into rubble.
This same multi-facted people’s struggle is being played out in many places across the Asia-Pacific. Within President Obama’s “pivot” policy, U.S. bases in South Korea, Japan, Okinawa, Hawaii, and Guam are ever more important. Moreover, his administration has been pressing hard to open up previously closed U.S. bases in geostrategically vital nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the July 27, 1953 Armistice Agreement that brought the combat phase of the Korean War to a temporary halt but did not end the war. The Armistice Agreement stipulated that a peace agreement be realized within three months and that negotiations take place for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea. Over the past several decades, North Korea, often portrayed in mainstream media as an irrational rogue state, has repeatedly requested peace negotiations with the United States. Yet today, we station nearly 30,000 military personnel and operate over 40 military bases on the Korean peninsula. We have spent the past 60 years living not in a post-war era, but under a ceasefire whose consequences are borne most acutely by the Korean people. On this anniversary of the irresolution of the Korean War, the longest conflict the United States has been involved in, we as human rights, Korean solidarity, faith-based, peace, and environmental organizations call for attention to the human and ecological costs of permanent war as the modus vivendi of U.S.-Korean relations. Efforts that promote increased militarization and conflict and the destruction of the rich biodiversity in Korea are immoral and go against universally shared values of building peace, caring for Earth, and respecting the human dignity and worth of every person.
Resolution for Peace
We, the undersigned peace, human rights, faith-based, environmental, and Korean solidarity activists, call upon the U.S.-ROK governments to cancel their dangerous and costly war games against North Korea.
We strongly urge the United States to turn to diplomacy for common and human security rather than militarization, which will only undermine regional and U.S. security. We further request that the Obama administration focus its strategic shift to the Asia region on finding diplomatic and peaceful solutions to conflict, and building cooperation with all nations in the region, including China, DPRK, and Russia.
On this anniversary of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice Agreement, which several decades ago called for a peaceful resolution to the Korean War, we join with our peace-minded brothers and sisters in Korea and call on the Obama administration to deescalate the current tensions and do its part in realizing “Year One of Peace” on the Korean Peninsula.
Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific
Christine Ahn, Gretchen Alther, Rev. Levi Bautista, Jackie Cabasso, Herbert Docena, John Feffer, Bruce Gagnon, Joseph Gerson, Subrata Goshoroy, Mark Harrison, Christine Hong, Kyle Kajihiro, Peter Kuznick, Hyun Lee, Ramsay Liem, Andrew Lichterman, John Lindsay-Poland, Ngo Vinh Long, Stephen McNeil, Nguyet Nguyen, Satoko Norimatsu, Koohan Paik, Mike Prokosh, Juyeon JC Rhee, Arnie Sakai, Tim Shorrock, Alice Slater, David Vine, Sofia Wolman, Kevin Martin, Amy Woolam Echeverria
Additional Signers:
– Paki Wieland, Committee to Stop War(s), Western Mass CodePink, Northampton, Massachusetts
– Lindis Percy, Laila Packer, Christine Dean, Anni Rainbow of Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases, Yorkshire, England
– Jill Gough, National Secretary, CND Cymru (Wales), UK
– Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee, California
– Pax Christi Florida
– Alice Leney, Coromandel, New Zealand
– Georgiann Cooper, PeaceWorks, Freeport, Maine
– Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, New York, New York
– Philip Gilligan, Chair, Greater Manchester Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
– Susan V. Walker, Lake Arrowhead, California
– H. J. Camet, Jr., Seattle, Washington
– Helen Travis, Denver, Colorado
– David Swanson, WarIsACrime.org, Charlottesville, Virginia
– Jane Sanford, Belfast, Maine
– Christine Roane, Springfield, Massachusetts
– Natasha Mayers, Union of Maine Visual Artists, Whitefield, Maine
– Lee Loe, Houston, Texas
– Amy Harlib, New York, New York
– Roger Leisner, Radio Free Maine, Augusta, Maine
– Joyce Smith, Tucson, Arizona
– Christine Ahn, Korea Policy Institute and Global Fund for Women, Oakland, California
– Angie Zelter, Trident Ploughshares, UK
– Tim Rinne, State Coordinator, Nebraskans for Peace
– Ellen Murphy, Veterans for Peace Ch. 111, Bellingham, Washington
– Jerry Mander, Founder & Distinguished Fellow, International Forum on Globalization,
San Francisco, California
– JT Takagi, New York, New York
– David Smith, Belfast, Maine
– Jon Olsen, Jefferson, Maine
– Ernest Goitein and Claire Feder, Atherton, California
– Roger Dittmann, Ph.D., Scientists without Borders, Fullerton, California
– Jenny Maxwell, Secretary, Hereford Peace Council, UK
– Anita Coolidge, Americans for Department of Peace, Cardiff, California
– David Diamond, Dover, New Hampshire
– Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota
– Jack & Felice Cohen-Joppa, The Nuclear Resister, Tucson, Arizona
– Jacques Boucher, Chambly, Canada
– Pax Christi Long Island, New York
– Robert Dale, Veterans For Peace, Brunswick, Maine
– Stephanie Son, Livermore, California
– Kevin and Maggie Hall, Dunedin, Florida
– Betty McElhill, Tucson, Arizona
– Don Richardson, Brevard, North Carolina
– Filson H. Glanz, Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of NH, Durham, New Hampshire
– Sasha Davis, Hilo, Hawaii
– Leah R. Karpen, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Asheville, North Carolina
– Sung-Hee Choi, Gangjeong Village International team, Jeju Island, Korea
– Wil Van Natta, Riviera Beach, Florida
– Luis Gutierrez-Esparza, President Latin American Circle of International Studies, Barrio San Lucas Coyoacan, Mexico
– Harry van der Linden, Indianapolis, Indiana
– Lydia Garvey, Public Health Nurse, Clinton, Oklahoma
– Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
– Joan Costello, Omaha, Nebraska
– Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
– Tony Henderson, Lantau, Hong Kong
– Herbert J. Hoffman, Veterans For Peace, Ogunquit, Maine
– Gladys Schmitz, SSND, Mankato. Minnesota
– Loyal C. Park, President Nebraska Peace Foundation, Lincoln, Nebraska
– Jane Milliken, Riverside, Connecticut
– Peter Woodruff, Arrowsic, Maine
– Jeanne Green, CodePink Taos, El Prado, New Mexico
– Maine Green Party
– Peace Action Maine
– Jacqui Deveneau, Old Orchard Beach, Maine
– James Deutsch, M.D., Ph.D., Toronto, Canada
– Judith Deutsch, M.S.W., Toronto, Canada
– Gene Keyes, Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada
– Norma J F Harrison, Central Committee Member, Peace & Freedom Party, Berkeley, California
– Sandy Herndon, Kauai, Hawaii
– Lillia Langreck, SSND, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
– Gerson and Debbie Lesser, Bronx, New York
– Patricia J. Patterson, United Methodist Asia Executive retired, Claremont, California
– George and Dorothy Ogle, Lafayette, Colorado
– Jewel Payne, Davis, California
– Alice Slater, New York, New York
– Harold J. Suderman, Registry of World Citizens-Canada, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
– John Stewart, Pax Christi Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Florida
– Ronald and Caterina Swanson-Bosch, RN, MPH, Mt Snow, Vermont
– Sarah Lasenby, Oxford, UK
– CODEPINK State of Maine
– Lisa Savage, Solon, Maine
– Hye-Jung Park, La Paz, Bolivia
– Fred Jakobcic, Marquette, Michigan
– Makiko Sato, Oita, Japan
– Sister Valerie Heinonen, o.s.u., Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk for Justice and Peace, New York, New York
– Terao Terumi, Yashio, Saitama, Japan
– Ken Ashe, Veterans for Peace, Marshall, North Carolina
– Kathy Ging, Eugene, Oregon
– Benjamin Monnet, No war base on Jeju Island, France
– Penny Oyama, Burnaby, B. C., Canada
– Tarak Kauff, Board member, Veterans For Peace, Woodstock, New York
– Sergio Monteiro, Los Angeles, California
– Paul Cunningham and Jen Joaquin, South Portland, Maine
– Mary Beth Sullivan, Social Worker, Bath, Maine
– Glen Anderson, Lacey, Washington
– Ron Engel, Professor Emeritus, Meadville/Lombard Theological School, Chicago, Illinois
– Occupy Damsels in Distress, Palm Springs, California
– Nikohl Vandel, Palm Springs, California
– Katherine Muzik, Kauai, Hawaii
– Carolyn S. Scarr, Program Coordinator Ecumenical Peace Institute/CALC, Berkeley, California
– Don Lathrop, Canaan, New York
– Karen Boyer, CodePink Portland, Oregon
– Joan McCoy, Home for Peace and Justice, Saginaw, Michigan
– Douglas Hong, Stony Brook, New York
– Alice Zachmann, SSND, Mankato, Minnesota
– Sandra Frank, Toledo, Ohio
– Jeanne Gallo, North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice, Gloucester, Massachusetts
– Martha Shelley, CodePink, Portland, Oregon
– Kevin Zeese, October2011.org, Baltimore, Maryland
– Margaret Flowers, October2011.org, Baltimore, Maryland
– Alfred L. Marder, President, US Peace Council, New Haven, Connecticut
– Charlotte Koons, CODEPINK Long Island, Northport, New York
– Jodi Kim, Associate Professor, University of California-Riverside
– Granny Peace Brigade, New York, New York
– Art Laffin, Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Washington DC
– Jean Sommer, Performers and Artists for Nuclear Disarmament, Cleveland, Ohio
– Lee Siu Hin, national coordinator of National Immigrant Solidarity Network, South Pasadena, California
– Robert Palmer, Rosemount, Minnesota
– Yoshiko Ikuta, Cleveland, Ohio
– Dr Kate Hudson, General Secretary, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, UK
– Professor Dave Webb, Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, UK
– Helen Caldicott, the Helen Caldicott Foundation, Australia
– Coleen Rowley, Women Against Military Madness, Apple Valley, Minnesota
– Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs, Livermore, California
– Rebecca Barker, Los Angeles, California
– Rosalie Riegle, author of Crossing the Line: Nonviolent Resisters Speak out for Peace, Evanston, Illinois
– Amy Chung, Diamond Bar, California
– Theodore Chung, Diamond Bar, California
– Dale Nesbitt, Berkeley, California
– Sally-Alice Thompson, Veterans For Peace, Albuquerque, New Mexico
– Cynthia Howard, Biddeford Pool, Maine
– Paul Liem, Berkeley, California
– Dr. Bill Warrick, Veterans For Peace, Gainesville, Florida
Following the Jan. 27 event, the 2nd event to build the Jeju as the Demilitarized Peace Island is held in the Gwandeokjeong, Jeju City, Jeju island on March 1, from 11 am to the afternoon. Internationals are welcome to join. Please see the detailed information in the below (translation of the event notice sent by the preparatory people)
Otherwise, Dr. Song Kang-Ho has written an article on the meaning of the Jan. 27 event for the monthly newsletter. See the top article in its 1st page, here.
Photo by Paco Booyah/ A gathering for the declaration of the Jeju as the demilitarized Peace Island on Jan. 27, 2013
On Jan. 27, we, gathering at the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park, declared that “the Jeju Island is the demilitarized Peace Island.’ It was to emphasize that the Jeju should not be armed but be the Demilitarized Peace Island with neither military nor military base.
For that, we, the 111 declarers, made a resolution to realize the Demilitarized Peace Island by constant practices and peaceful efforts not merely by one time declaration event. We also decided to hold the 2nd meeting to make the Demilitarized Peace Island in front of Gwandeokjeong (*see the bottom) on March 1st, to reconfirm our resolution and practical will and to share the will with many more citizens.
March 1 is the 94th anniversary of the March 1 movement [ in 1919] when [the Koreans] declared that Korea is a self-reliant and independent nation in a non-violent and peaceful way, against the violence of Japanese imperialism. It is also a date when the ceremony commemorating the 28th anniversary of the March 1st was held in Jeju [in 1947] that became the fuse of Jeju 4.3 uprising.
Drawing on the incident of March 1st, 1947, by Kang Yo-Bae, Jeju artist. The drawing is included in his famous drawing book on 4.3 incident (Source). The current political prisoner, Yang Yoon-Mo has a personal historical connection to the incident. See here.
The Gwandeokjeong is the place that has been with the history of Jeju. It was the historic site at the time of Lee Jae-Sou-led uprising in 1901 ( *Jeju people’s uprising against the dominance and oppression by the French Catholic Missionaries) and 3.1 ceremony in 1947 when about 20,000 people gathered. It is the site of the living spirits of the patriotic forefathers who resisted against the wickedness of foreign power and made efforts to save the precious Jeju Community.
The reason that we set ‘the Gwandeokjeong, March 1’ for the date and venue of the event is to succeed the spirit of our forefathers. It is to cherish the memory of the patriotic forefathers who faced against unjust violence and to break through the deplorable reality in which justice is suffering.
Participation by the conscientious citizens who love peace becomes the force to change the world. We have a confidence that a small action can fill you and your children’s future with peace. We oppose the Jeju naval base. Yang Yoon-Mo who was imprisoned for the forth time and is making prison fast, risking one’s life, urgently hopes your participation as well.
We invite you to the Gwandeokjeong on March 1.
Feb. 22, 2013
17 People present in the preparatory meeting including Dr. Song Kang-Ho and Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo (Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo in prison also agreed to be as one of the proponents for the March 1 event)
The 2nd declaration rally for the Jeju Demilitarized Peace Island
Schedule and program
March 1, Friday, 2013
Part 1: declaration ceremony
11am, Gwandeokjeong
12pm Moving to the Seoyoodang (a small library) and lunch
Part 2: Small group discussions at Seoyoodang, 1 pm
