In the past, Jeju as a colony of Japan was forced to be militarized by Japanese Imperial military. Alddreu Airfield in Jeju was originally developed in 1926-30 during the Japanese Imperial period. The base was used to support the Japanese forces’ invasion into China. During World War II, the base was used for training of Kamikaze pilots and by the end of the war it housed 2500 naval aviation troops and 25 aircraft in hardened aircraft shelters (Wikipidia).
To begin the historical dialogue between Nanjing and Jeju, we can at least trace back to the year of 1937 when Nanjing Massacre took place. In 1937 before Japanese Imperial military occupied Nanjing City and conducted massacre on December 13th, the Nanjing people’s suffering of war had already begun since the air-attack by Japanese fighter jets began in August until December 1937. Many of those fighter jets took off from Jeju’s Alddreu Airfield. More killing was committed due to the function of Alddreu.
#Current situation
A new base is being constructed in Jeju again, and this time it was somehow forced by both Korea and US government, and then somehow passively accepted by Jeju people themselves due to the issue of national security and economic growth, a sad path in which the people of Okinawa have also gone down.
Jeju has been the historical base provider, but we could hardly find any information that has been carried out to reflect on the militarization history of Jeju and the impact it had on its people. Not surprisingly, the suffering and the post-trauma of Nanjing, China, or in a bigger picture, North East Asia has not been seriously considered as a related issue to Jeju.
In Nanjing, it is clear to see this year that the history and territory dispute between China and Japan becomes sharper and more emotional (China-Japan’s relation has become worse especially since the “purchasing Senkaku/Diaoyu Island” policy was launched in 2012). The China’s legislative body set December 13th as a national memorial day to commemorate the victims of Nanjing Massacre as a response to the Japanese government’s denial on this historical event.
It was said that designating a national Memorial Day is a peaceful and wise action rather than conflicting militarily. However, through all these incidents, we can sense the created atmosphere has led both sides to be stricter to their way of nationalism and militarism. As a result the new Jeju Naval Base among many other new base projects in our region.
#Invitation
We invite you to commemorate the 77th year of the Nanjing Massacre, not in Nanjing but in Jeju, with a different lenses to reflect the history, present time, and our future.
We invite you to feel the pain of Nanjing and Jeju, and to witness the encountering of two kinds of suffering.
We invite you to draw a more peaceful future of Jeju, North East Asia, and the world together.
Come to join us!
<the 6th Symposium for Declaration on The Demilitarized Island of Peace >
In commemoration of the 77th year of Nanjing Massacre
Seeing Nanjing in China from Alddreu Airfield in Jeju
Time: Saturday December 13th 2014
Session 1 Commemoration Ceremony: At 2 PM, Alddreu Airfield)
– Tribute poem (by Poet, Kim Suyeol), Tribute song by Singer, Choi Sangdon, Memorial Service
Session 2 Symposium: At 3 PM, Seminar room of Daejeong NH Bank
– Cho Seongyun (Professor of Jeju University Sociology Department) ‘Nangjing in the history of Alddreu’
– Seo Seung ( Professor of Ritsumeikan University) ‘Nanjing Massacre and Japanese Militarism’
– Emily Wang (International Peace Activist) ‘Seeing Nanjing from Gangjeong’
– Park Chan Sik (Historian/the director of truth finding team of April 3rd Peace Foundation) ‘Value of Peace in the history of Jeju’
By bus: 1) From Jeju-si, take bus No. 755, 750-1~4 2) From Seogwipo-si, take bus No.755, 780
= Get off at the stop, Daejeong NH Bank
Co Host Group: People for the Demilitarized Jeju Island of Peace, Inter Island Solidarity for Peace Korea Committee, Gangjeong Peace School
Support Group: Jeju Federation of Environment movement, Seogwipo Citizen’s Alliance, Gangjeong Village Association, Gangjeong Village International Team,
The Frontiers, hotpinkdolphins, Peace Wind, Jeju Peace&Human Rights Center, Martyr Yang Yongchan Memorial Foundation
On Nov. 18, 2014, activists gathered in front of the National Assembly in Seoul to demand the whole cut of the 2015 Jeju naval base construction budget . Mr. Choi Yong-Beom, co-vice mayor of the Gangjeong village association (right in the photo) joined the press conference, representing the village (photo by a press conference participant)
A press conference to demand the whole cut of the 2015 Jeju naval base construction budget, in front of the ROK National Assembly, Seoul, on Nov. 18, 2014 (Photo by a press conference participant)
On Nov. 18, the Gangjeong village association, Jeju Pan-Island Committee for the Stop of Military Base and for the Realization of Peace Island, and National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing to the Naval Base in Jeju Island officially demanded the National Assembly to cut the 2015 Jeju naval base budget of 298 billion won (about $290 million USD) filed by the Government. In their opinion statement, the groups claimed that the Government has habitually ignored National Assembly decisions and promises with the Island people (See the below sources)
The seven reasons to the cut the 2015 Jeju naval base budget
(* Only big titles were translated here. Each details are currently available only in Korean in the below sources)
_Violation of the 2014 budget collateral conditions given by the National Assembly
_Need to reexamine the safety matter of 150,000 ton cruise navigation
_Harbor construction without the measures on environment contamination
_Stagnation on the executive results and annual transfer possibility
_Invalid Jeju naval base project
_Continued human rights infringement and government negligence on conflicts
Proposals by the Gangjeong village association and civic society
There should be an inquiry on the responsibility of the Ministry and navy’s habitual violation of National Assembly collateral conditions.
There should be the prompt stop of military housing building that amplifies conflicts. There should be the whole cut of 9,819,000,000 KRW (about $ 9 million USD) construction budget; of 347,000,000 KRW (about $300,000 USD) supervision cost; and of 36,442,000,000 KRW (about 30 million USD) purchase cost for military apartment.
In relation to entry & exit of the military-related vehicles, the construction budget for 19.5 billion KRW (about $ 18 million USD) for the entry road of which its building has not been agreed with villagers should be frozen until measures for noise and environment matters are prepared for.
Also there should be the cut of harbor & bay facility construction cost of 96.4 billion won (about $ 90 million USD); of land facility construction cost of 112 billion KRW (about $110 million USD); of harbor & bay supervision cost of 2.3 billion won (about $2 million USD); and land supervision cost of 2.3 billion won(about $2 million USD), with an inquiry on the responsibility of the supervising committee’s poor management, as well as a demand that the execution of construction budget should not be done unless there is preparation for the measures on the protection of ecology system and soft corals.
In the project promotion budget, there should be the whole cut of about 11 million KRW (about $10,000 USD) for the events such as local residents-invitation events, visitor-welcome events, conflict-management activities. And in the indirect cost, there should be the cut of about 36.5 million KRW (about $ 30,000 USD) for the public relation material production (booklets, leaflets & other materials) and newspaper advertisement. Those budgets bring concern that they could stir up conflicts as the navy makes unilateral public relation, justifying the Jeju naval base project.
The problem of location selection was proved again. Following the destruction of seven caissons – huge concrete structures for the breakwater installed on the maritime of the Jeju naval base construction site- by the typhoon Bolaven in 2012, three caissons were also pushed or slanted down by the typhoon Neoguri ( with the maximum wind speed 19.5 m/s ) in 2014. Fundamental examination on the matter is necessary.
To resolve the conflict on the Jeju civilian-military complex port, the should-be–clearly-examined in the truth investigation raised by the current Won Hee-Ryong Island government (See the Oct. newsletter, Page 1) are the propriety matter of the village general meeting (* which was manipulated by the navy) at the time of the invitation of the Jeju naval base project; validity matter of environment impact assessment; propriety matter of annulment of absolute preservation area not to mention validity matter of location selection; layout errors in relation to the safety matter of 150,000 ton cruise navigation; and suspicion on the data manipulation raised in the process of simulation and the substance of external pressure. To resolve those matters, the Government and National Assembly should be responsible to act.
Before more construction progress, there should be through verification on the reason of the postponement of layout change on the west side jetty and safety matter of 150,000 ton cruise navigation. Also there should be a prompt environment and legal examination whether the planned sea route (changed) can properly work as the Jeju naval base sea route.
Further, there should be total reexamination on the location and military validity as there is a big concern that the Jeju naval base is fundamentally to be used as an outpost for the ROK-US-Japan trilateral military missile defense and naval cooperation targeting China and is to aggregate nuclear arms cost and military confrontation in the Northeast Asia.
In this October Edition:
Villagers’ opposition to military housing, villagers skeptic over the Island governor’s proposal on truth investigation, Sister Soh Stella becoming the 1st Korean nun to get the court sentence, people’s free speech being blocked in the CBD, international solidarity, sea contamination due to damaged caissons, Chossudovsky and nation-ruing SCM, Gashiri peace festival, Keep Space for Peace week, trial updates and more.
In this September Edition:
Catholic Conference, anniversary of Catholic solidarity and the fence around Gureombi, International Day of Peace, remembering an Japanese anti-base activist, North East Asia Regional Peace-building Institute, hunger strikes, Okinawa updates, trial updates, international solidarity, and more!
On Sep 20th, there’s a mass gathering in Henoko, Okinawa to protest against the military base construction and the violence conducted by the coast guard in order to enforce the military base construction. Gangjeong villagers and activists also participated directly in the gathering in Henoko to show our friendship and support to the Okinawa struggle for peace.
Gathering in Henoko beach on Sep 20thGangjeong villager, uncle JungHwan, and one of the Gangjeong peace activists was holding the banner written “Jeju, Okinawa, Taiwan to be the Demilitarized Peace Island” in the Henoko Gathering. Photo forwarded by TakahashiGathering in Henoko Beach on Sep 20th. Photo forwarded by TakahashiGathering on Henoko Beach on Sep 20th. Photo forwarded by Takahashi
A solidarity message was delivered from Gangjeong Village Association, Gangjeong Peace Keepers, Gangjeong International Team, and Inter-Islands Solidarity for Peace Team to Henoko. Here’s the solidarity message:
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We people in Gangjeong are eager to express our outrageous anger to what’s going on in Henoko, Okinawa. We have watched many of photos and videos of the violent action conducted by the coast guard of Okinawa against the innocent peace activists.
It’s not a crime to defend the nature, peace, and be-loved hometown but it’s doubtlessly a crime to defend the base construction plan no matter how it is legal or illegal in the law system under a state. The action of the coast guards in Henoko seem to us the military itself but the enemy target is the peace-loving civilians who they declared to protect for.
It’s a lie that the military and military base protect people. It must be a real ironic lie for Okinawan who have learned the painful lesson to be a base islands under the war.
We have learned from our Okinawa friends that the nightmare of war experiences and state violence in Okinawa has been extended through the long-lasting existence of military bases, just like the enforcement of the naval base here has reminded many the nightmare of 43 and the history of forced militarization of Jeju by the Imperial Japan government. We are both together standing on the top of the uneven historical trauma and probably again the crossroad of the war.
We people in Gangjeong want to make a possible new way together with you.
Just like the thing we pray every day in Gangjeong during our struggling that the world peace will begin from our small village, so does Henoko. We people in Gangjeong request the cancelation of Henoko Bases, not only in Henoko, but all the military facilities in Okinawa islands while we are also struggling here to make Jeju a real DMZ peace island.
Henoko friends, you are in our heart in our daily struggle. Our solidarity for you is really from many Okinawa friends’ inspiring friendship for us. Peace is our way.
2014 Sep 19th in Gangjeong
Gangjeong Village Association, Gangjeong Peace Keepers, Gangjeong International Team, and Inter-Islands Solidarity for Peace Team
Inter-Island Solidarity for Peace Team’s hand-made banner written “Jeju, Okinawa, Taiwan to be the Demilitarized Peace Island” has been hang up in the booth in Henoko, Okinawa by the visiting group from Gangjeong, Jeju. Photo by Director Cho SungBong
Peace for the Sea International Peace Camp, aimed to build up the inter-island solidarity for peace among three islands, Okinawa, Taiwan, and Jeju, in East Asia has been successfully held from Aug 3rd to 6th in Gangjeong village, Jeju Island with around 50 participants from Indonesia, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, Unites States, Korea, not to mention Okinawa, Taiwan, and Jeju.
On Aug 3rd, participants visited Jeju 43 Peace Park to get the basic introduction of the traumatic history of Jeju island.
Presentation about Nuclear Issue in TaiwanOkinawa’s presentationParticipation in the Human Chain activity and sing the beautiful songs by Peace Camp participants.Ocean Activities
On the morning secession from Aug 4th-6th, people learned and exchanged the different stories on Okinawa, Jeju, and Taiwan following the different topics on each days. Every day, the presenters from Okinawa, Taiwan and Jeju brought us their different but connected island stories. And in the last day, we even have the Peace activist from Hawaii to present one of the most representative case of the evilness of the US militarism in Hawaii. And through the volunteering discussion in the late night of Aug 5th and part of the time in morning secession on Aug 6th, the peace camp participants made the common statement and presented it in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English language in the press conference during the Daily Human Chain Time in front of the Naval Base Construction gate with the shouting in 4 languages of NO Base, No Violence, No Killing, No War, No Nukes, No Destruction of Nature.
The following is the statement by the Peace Camp participants.
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“Peace for the Sea, From the Islands to the World”
Statement by Korean and Overseas Delegates to the 2014 Peace for the Sea International Peace Camp
We have gathered here in Gangjeong Village as witnesses of conscience who have also formed new bonds of friendship. We are peacemakers from across four different continents who have gathered to help promote inter-island solidarity among Okinawa, Taiwan, and Jeju. As part of our “Peace for the Sea” International Peace Camp, we feel moved to join together to issue this statement of solidarity.
We believe that the building of this naval base is wrong and a clear violation of local and international law. As members of the global community who love Korea, we are appalled that the construction of this naval base is poised to destroy the fragile ecology of an island renowned throughout the world for its natural beauty and geological significance. The projected impact of this base would forever change the character of the island and could potentially cripple Jeju’s thriving tourist economy. We emphasize in the strongest terms that militarizing this island stands to ruin Jeju’s pristine environment with toxic pollution, and would dishonor the island’s character as a sacred island of peace and a place of collective healing from historical trauma.
Here in Jeju, we are furthermore inspired by the courage and integrity of those who have long opposed militarism and state violence in Okinawa and Taiwan and on other islands in East Asia. We share parallel backgrounds and many common experiences, and we stand in solidarity as we engage in a common struggle against anti-democratic militarism.
We also share a close kinship with the sea, and we embrace our duty to protect the right to peaceful oceans, which is our common human inheritance.
We therefore challenge the manifestations of state violence on Okinawa, Taiwan and Jeju. Given that reducing military tensions in Northeast Asia is essential to promoting peace throughout the world, all three islands must be demilitarized and restored to their former long-standing existence as peaceful communities at the maritime crossroads of Northeast Asia. For the sake of a more secure future in the region and for the world, we urgently call for a newly Demilitarized Peace Area without military bases in Okinawa, Taiwan and Jeju.
This statement was written collaboratively among all of the participants of the International Peace Camp.
August 6, 2014
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In the afternoon from Aug 4-6, the ocean activities had been carried out in the Gangjeong port, Gangjeong river and Gangjeong sea. The activities includes having fun in the Gangjeong river, swimming and riding the kayaks in the sea, Peace Demonstration in the sea…
Peace Camp participants held the sign of “DMZ Peace Island”
In the night, the peace festivals were held. In the first day’s “Welcoming night”, Gangjeong villagers, Go, GwonIl, the vice mayor of Gangjeong, and Jeong YoungHee, the chairwoman of Gangjeong anti-base committee gave the welcoming speech to these domestic and international peace delegates. In the second day’s “Cultural Night”, people learned and enjoyed the Gangjeong, Okinawa, and Indonesia traditional dances. And in the movie night, we watched the Gangjeong documentary–“Gureombi, the Wind is blowing” and had the dialogue with Director Cho, SungBo. In the last night, the music concert was held and the closing speech had been done by the other Gangjeong vice mayor Mr. Choi, Yong-Beom and the video message from the Jeju Bishop Mr. Kang U-Il to the Peace Camp participants. Through these festival nights, people got time to exchange and share our cultures from different islands and areas and some also use this time to give the solidarity to the palatine people who is now suffering by war.
All the participants in this peace camp are the precious presents who make the inter-island solidarity for peace be on the way of realization. We exchange our promise not to let one struggle alone against militarism. And the 2nd, and 3rd Peace Camp in Okinawa and Taiwan are under preparation.
In this this July and August Special Edition:
The Pope visits Korea, more caissons broken by typhoons, World Council of Churches calls for a stop to the base, special section on the 2014 Grand March, special section on the 2014 Peace for the Sea Camp, update on Milyang, Emergency Jeju DMZ forum, youth camps in Gangjeong, Gangjeong housing co-op, prison updates, trial updates, international solidarity, and more!
At the time, Gangjeong’s struggle was also brought before the assembly as an issue to be discussed in the official statements released each time by the WCC. The public issues committee and the WCC delegates which had the delegated authority to choose which issues would appear in official statements, voted to choose Gangjeong. Gangjeong and its supporters were overjoyed, however due to unresolved issues, there was not time to finish and release the official statement by the end of the assembly and it was pushed back to July 2014 when the WCC central committee would meet again to resolve remaining issues.
The World Council of Churches central committee, meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, 2-8 July 2014, therefore calls on member churches and related ministries and networks to:
[…] 8. Oppose the expansion of military bases, nuclear forces and missile defences in Asia or targeting Asia, and raise awareness of public resistance to such military expansion including the new naval base at Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea.
Please spread this great news around and encourage those you know in WCC related churches, networks and ministries, to join in this new mandate of the WCC!
The Gangjeong international team has requested toAustralian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalitionfor an article inJune 2014 newsletter. The excerpts from the long version was put in the 2nd page of it. We put the whole article here as it provides much information. Thanks to Julie Marlow and friends in the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign to take time on the article.
Won Hee-Ryong, a conservative and right wing, and a new Island governor(who was elected on June 4 and started his term on July 1)has written a reply to the Gangjeong Village Association’s question on the possibility of realization of civilian-military complex port on May 24 that he thinks co-existence of civilian and military port is possible, making examples of Sydney, San Diego, Manhattan, and Rome. His whole short answer was:
“As I know, there are examples of big ports such as Sydney, San Diego, Manhattan, Rome etc that use dock facilities where civilian and military are located next to each other. Especially, in case of Sydneyy, I heard that there is an example of using navy-only dock pier facility when 150,000 ton cruise ship enters[..]If there is any part that civilian-military port is not properly working, it should be fixed.”
His answer is very much in line with the South Korean governments and navy propaganda that deceives people. The navy used to make sugar-coat words on the Jeju naval base project (A so called ‘Civilian-Military Complex port for Tour Beauty’ in another title), projecting false illusion on the ecological conservation and economic development with the base project)
The truth is that 95% of the base-building budget comes from the ROK Ministry of National Defense (which makes the port, in fact, a pure military port); that many UNESCO soft corals have been dying with the base building; that the construction will only benefit big corporations like Samsung; and that the port will be a home to US Nuclear aircraft carriers and Aegis Destroyer etc…, let alone two 150,000 cruises that the gov. has advertised for the future prospect of the base use (It has been already disclosed that the base layout fits to the US nuclear aircraft carriers.. and the layout will never properly work for such big cruise. Yet. the Gov. still pretends and lies as if it would work)
Sydney Harbour: an unlikely exemplar of military/civilian cooperation
Won Hee-ryong, Jeju’s new Governor, has stated that Sydney Harbour is an example of a port comfortably combining civilian and military uses. This is highly debatable, particularly on past and present environmental evidence.
The new Governor also has suggested that the big cruise lines enjoy an accommodating relationship with Sydney Harbour’s naval base. This is simply wrong. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has made clear that guaranteed access to its terminals by cruise ships is incompatible with the ‘primacy’ of naval operations.
Sydney Harbour has been a naval base since 1788, when Britain’s Royal Navy first arrived and hoisted the British flag. The harbour’s colonial history is tragic, with its Indigenous people largely displaced within a few generations, many murdered or dead of introduced diseases.
A more recent disaster—Sydney Harbour’s dioxin contamination— also has a strong military component. Australian-produced Agent Orange, manufactured by Union Carbide at a site on the western reaches of the harbour, was sold to the US and Australian armed forces for chemical warfare during the Vietnam-America War. Carcinogenic and teratogenic dioxins, originating from the Union Carbide site, now extensively contaminate the harbour’s marine life and sediment, and will continue to do so for decades. Since 2006, commercial fishing in the harbour has been banned and recreational fishers are warned not to eat fish caught in its western waters, and to strictly limit what they eat of their catches in other areas.
Sydney Harbour’s sad history belies the claim made by Won Hee-ryong. So does the nature of Australia’s current military build-up. Most of the build-up is in the north of the country and along the west coast, following recommendations of the government’s 2012 Force Posture Review, developed in sympathy with the USA’s Global Force Posture Review. Nonetheless, Sydney and the east coast are not being spared. Naval activities in the harbour are increasing and these activities are resource-greedy and polluting. It is hard to see how such activities can easily dovetail with civilian uses of the port.
Sydney Harbour, home port for Australia’s newest and biggest warships
The most conspicuous military presence in Sydney Harbour is the Garden Island defence precinct, comprising the RAN’s Fleet East Base and facilities of arms corporations, Thales Australia in particular. Fleet East Base is Australia’s principle east coast naval base. Thales, providing extensive maintenance and other services to the base, operates Australia’s largest dry dock, which artificially connects Garden Island to the mainland. Other corporations have a presence on the base, such as the Naval Ship Management (Australia) Pty Ltd, a joint venture between UGL and Babcock.
Fleet East Base is the home port for at least 12 of Australia’s larger warshipshttps://www.navy.gov.au/establishments/fleet-base-east. The latest to arrive is Australia’s biggest ever warship, the 27, 000-tonne, 230-meter long ‘Nuship Canberra’, an amphibious assault ship called a Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD).
Under strong pressure from the US military, with which Australian armed forces are becoming ever more deeply integrated, the RAN is rapidly expanding. Garden Island’s share in the expansion is a substantial revamp to accommodate more large vessels, including a second LHD and three Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs) equipped with Aegis Combat Systems (sister ships to the US AWDs to be docked at Jeju). Sydney’s AWD and LHD training and sustainment facilities are costing $170.2 million. Favoured status of Defence means legislative environmental approval for this work is not required.
The navy is also considering using Fleet Base East as a supplementary home port for the planned expanded submarine fleet.
Foreign, especially allied, warships are frequent visitors to Sydney, and given the US military’s so-called re-balance to the Asia-Pacific, likely to become more frequent. These vessels require berthing and servicing at Garden Island, adding to its environmental footprint. Further, despite the City of Sydney’s status as a nuclear-free zone, nuclear-powered and unconfirmed nuclear armed US Navy ships arrive without compunction. Years of protest by peace, anti-nuclear and green groups has been of no avail.
Increased naval operations at Garden Island as well as infrastructure upgrades inevitably add to existing pollution and disturbance of contaminated sediment. The NSW Government’s recent $21-million harbour decontamination project included attempts to clean up sediment around Garden Island. However, “heavy metal contamination in soils and shallow sediments around the [Garden Island] precinct” continues to be reported
Commercial/military clash over use of ship terminals
Berths at the Garden Island naval base are among the most accessible in the port, and the RAN keeps a jealous grip on them. Contrary to the suggestion by Jeju’s new Governor, RAN shares its berths with the commercial sector very reluctantly and on an ad hoc, temporary basis.
Today’s huge cruise ships are too tall to pass under Sydney Harbour Bridge. Since 2007, the cruise industry, the fastest growing segment of Australian tourism (and admittedly an environmentally undesirable industry), has been calling for guaranteed access to the navy’s terminals. In 2012, the Australian Government directed the navy to make available three berths to passenger ships per year, but this arrangement does not meet demand and is bound to stop as soon as the next procurement of naval vessels arrives.
In its April 2013 review of cruise ship access to Garden Island, the Department of Defence concluded: “The current and future naval capability requirements at Garden Island are essentially incompatible over the longer term except on the existing ad hoc arrangements that we are following. The provision of the guaranteed shared access sought by the cruise industry would impact on the primacy of the naval operations from Fleet Base East.”http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees.html?url=pwc/cpofitout/report%202/chapter5.htm
Conclusion
Sydney and eastern Australia is a climate change hotspot. Sea levels are rising and the East Australian Current is strengthening. Larger storm surges are predicted, as is the possibility of a southward shift of tropical cyclones.
Such hotspots are proliferating throughout the Asia-Pacific. Climate change is the outstanding security risk of the region, indeed the world. The environmental destructiveness that is caused by the construction of the Jeju Naval Base and, to a lesser extent by naval upgrades in Sydney, demonstrates that the military expansionism of the US and its allies ROK and Australia, can only compound the crisis that is facing our planet.
Photo by Dir Cho Sung-Bong , which is told to be taken around 6 pm on July 9. For more photos, see here.Photo by Dir Cho Sung-Bong (1, 2) , which is told to be taken around 6 pm on July 9. For more photos, see here.
If you remember the seven destroyed caissons (*a caisson is a huge concrete structure for building breakwater) by the big typhoons in 2012, you will also remember how unreliable the caisson construction has been; how wrong the base location is as the village is located on the very way of typhoon; how dumbfounding is waste of people’s tax for war base; and how the sea has been polluted by the navy who has illegally destroyed those seven without any environmental concern… Here are a few words (excerpted) by some witness who are observing another damage on caissons by a medium typhoon that hit Jeju on July 9…
…………………………………………
‘It is the 1st typhoon since the [navy’s] caisson construction in the area of South breakwater, an area operated by the Samsung C & T.’ (By Kim Kook Nam, peace keeper, July 9)
‘Neoguri, the 1st level typhoon in Okinawa has become weaken into the 2nd level when it affected the Jeju Island. [..]’ (By Go Gwon-Il, co-vice mayor, July 9)
‘Due to the typhoon Neoguri influence, two caissons at the end of the naval base (currently built) south breakwater were completely separated. A one-story caisson at the end of south breakwater, which is barely exposed on the sea surface, is slant, as well, while the two caissons next to it become separated from the existing ones with the great gap from those and looking slant, too. It is likely to take lots of time for those to be restored..” (By Fr. Kim Sung-Hwan, July 10, 8:30am)
‘According to Koh Sung-Shik, Yonhap news reporter who inquired to the naval base project committee, the 1st caisson has been filled with about 40% inside while the 2nd with 100%[..] There seems no way except for smashing those. Steel rods in those became all crooked with the concern of getting rusty in the sea water.. (By Go Gwon-Il, co-vice mayor, in the morning of July 10)
The naval base project committee got tens of billions of damage by total destruction of seven caissons when the typhoon Denvin and Bolaben hit the Jeju in 2012. At the time, the navy said, “The naval base caisson is laid out to stand against big typhoon every 50 years.” (Jeju Sori, July 9)
”The damaged caissons shown from the land is No. 1 and 2. But when I accessed to the site, today, the No. 3, following 1, 2, became slant, too, toward the Beom Island(Tiger Island) about 15 degree. The last picture is the front of No. 3. ( Writing and photos By Kim Kook Nam, Peace Keeper, on July 10)’ (See also Yonhap News, July 10)
‘1. Three caissons in the south breakwater were damaged and distorted. Though the size is different, each costs from 1.5 to 3 billion KRW. It is our tax.
2. The same scene with No. 1, taken from the Moetppuri,[ the eastern tip of the base project]
3. All steel rods along the south breakwater became to be laid
4. Same with tetra pods that have been piled up at the end of the east breakwater.
The villagers used to say,
“The Gangjeong Sea will settle what we cannot do with our struggle.”
(Writing and photos by Cho Sung-Bong, July 10. For more photos by Dir. Cho, see here. )
A Jeju media reminds the words of Yang Hong-Chan, the chairman of the villagers’ anti-base commitee in the earliest period of the struggle: “Do you know why there is no tree in the sunny south side on the top of the Beom Island? It is because the sea wave even over rides the top of it during big typhoons. How there can a base be built up in such location? ( Jeju Internet News, July 10)
