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Open Letter to IUCN #2 Leading South Korean Activist Groups Write an Open Letter to IUCN Leadership

The following statement is the 2nd open letter mailed to the leadership of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. It was originally posted here.

Does IUCN Director General Accept Korea’s Environmental Destruction?

Below you will find a disturbing history, prepared by 62 leading activist organizations in South Korea, who have, for many years, been trying to gain attention for environmental devastation taking place in their country.

For example, on the idyllic Korean island of Jeju, construction has begun on a huge new navy base, that is rapidly devastating a region of rare beauty, vibrant soft-coral reefs, pure freshwater springs, numerous endangered species such as Jeju’s last 100 dolphins, and traditional sustainable cultures, and where police actions are brutalizing local populations who attempt to oppose the development.

The letter below explains how the government is also pushing nuclear power plants on unwilling communities, as well as a horrific boondoggle known as the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. Four Rivers has nothing to do with “restoration,” but, rather, is a sweetheart deal for the nation’s largest construction conglomerates to “straighten” Korea’s major rivers and its most loved riparian habitats into concrete canals.

In an astounding display of irony, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will convene its quadrennial convention this September only a few kilometers away from where biodiverse habitats are being blasted to make way for a military base.

As reported in the letter below, the IUCN’s Director General, Julia Marton-Lefevre, has unwisely turned a blind eye to the government’s actions and its distorted descriptions, and has even seemed, in some statements, to condone them. The IUCN has thereby made itself effectively complicit in the continuation of the ecological destruction.

The question remains as to whether IUCN will make firm efforts to speak out and to challenge the Korean government on these dire matters, starting now.

Please read the letter below, and then email the IUCN, demanding that it call on the South Korean government to put an immediate halt to the construction of the Jeju Island navy base, a halt to the construction of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, and a halt to Korea’s development of nuclear power.

STATEMENT TO THE IUCN AND THE WORLD CONSERVATION CONGRESS

July 10, 2012

We, civic environmental groups in South Korea, denounce the IUCN and the World Conservation Congress that have overlooked and misrepresented environmental and social conflicts in South Korea

1. In September 2012, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will organize the World Conservation Congress (WCC) at ICC JEJU in Jeju Island, which is expected to be attended by more than 10,000 people from over 1,100 organizations in 180 countries.

We, civic environmental groups in South Korea, have a high regard for the international cooperation projects executed by the IUCN, which endeavor to help develop and implement policies that contribute to protecting the environment. We also recognize that IUCN is globally influential; the organization carries significant weight over the registration of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, sets criteria regarding internationally endangered species and develops conservation plans.

We also respect the milestones achieved by the IUCN, including the Ramsar Convention in 1971; the World Conservation Strategy in 1978, which proposed the concept of “sustainable development”; the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992, and the Resolution on Biodiversity, passed at the 1996 World Conservation Congress in Montreal. In addition, we recognize that it was the IUCN which enabled numerous technological advancements which are currently in use in the field to protect biological ecosystems, such as the Technical Guidelines on the Management of Ex-situ populations for Conservation.

2. Meanwhile, the Lee Myung-Bak administration has destroyed four major rivers, continues to blindly pursue nuclear power, and continues to forcefully construct a naval base at Gangjeong village on Jeju Island, despite fierce opposition, both locally and nationally.

Against this backdrop, civic environmental groups and activists in South Korea continue to denounce the administration and are taking action against its destructive projects. We call for the South Korean government to halt its construction work at the four rivers and allow nature to reclaim it. We also oppose the Lee administration’s policy of promoting nuclear power under the guise of Green Growth and exporting it to the Third World. Furthermore, we are vehemently against the government’s execution of a plan to build a naval base on Jeju Island, which is destroying biodiversity and brutally violating human rights in the name of national security.

Given the above, civic environmental groups in South Korea state the following to the IUCN, the organizer of the World Conservation Congress (WCC) in 2012, and its Organizing Committee:

3. The World Conservation Congress will be held this year in South Korea, yet the Congress gravely neglects or misrepresents environmental and social conflicts in the host country. Because the Congress is financed by the Lee Myung-Bak administration and sponsored by industrial conglomerates, there is growing public concern that the WCC is promoting policies of the Lee administration without examining whether they are truly designed to preserve the environment.

This year – 2012 – is the fifth, and last, year of President Lee’s tenure, in which his administration is taking advantage of the WCC to justify his poor environmental, peace, and labor policies. The South Korean government is using the convention to advocate for its questionable “Low Carbon Green Growth” campaign, its appalling Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, as well as its policy of prioritizing nuclear power and favoring corporate construction conglomerates.

We are concerned that the IUCN Secretariat is not addressing any of the current environmental issues in South Korea among the themes for the upcoming WCC. Rather, Director General Julia Marton-Lefevre of IUCN faithfully endorses the Korean government and its dubious policies.

The Director General said “Korea’s green growth policies and Four Major Rivers Restoration Project are the results of the efforts to ensure nature conservation and sustainable development” during a meeting with President Lee on June 4. In an interview with a Korean reporter, she described the rivers project as “reasonable.”

4. We civic environmental groups of South Korea raise this question: Are members of the IUCN and its Director General aware of the grave implications of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project?

Under the Lee administration, South Korean society has endured tremendous social tensions and environmental conflicts. The government has prioritized development at the expense of wreaking havoc on the environment and the health of its citizens.

For example, in 2008, the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands was held in Korea. At that meeting, President Lee publicly declared to withdraw a plan to build a “Grand Canal” in Korea, only to re-allocate its budget to execute the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, which has devastated the nation’s four crucial rivers. Sixteen dams were built at the rivers, destroying habitats for endangered species, critical biological diversity, and nearby wetlands. The rivers project violated several national laws, such as the National Budget Law, the River Law and the Environmental Impact Assessment Law. Construction contracts for the rivers project are reported to total around $900 million.

Before its Director General asserted that the Four Rivers project was “reasonable,” the IUCN should have conducted an on-the-ground assessment of the project, which would have shown how it is, in fact, undermining the organization’s hard work of preserving biological diversity. In December 2002, the Technical Guidelines on the Management of Ex-situ populations for Conservation were approved at the 14th Meeting of the Programme Committee of Council, in Gland, Switzerland. Nonetheless, the South Korean government’s Four Major Rivers Restoration Project has been committing gross violations of IUCN guidelines, by decimating the habitats of several endangered species, including the Danyang aster (Aster altaicus var. uchiyamae). Does the IUCN, the international environmental steward, recognize that the rivers project has utterly destroyed a haven for migratory birds’ – the Haepyeong wetland located at Gumi City, Kyeongsangbuk-do province in a flagrant breach of the Ramsar Convention? Is the IUCN aware that organic farmers in Paldang, Dumulmeori, continue to defend their farmlands against forced evictions by the Lee Administration?

5. We respectfully ask for the position of IUCN on these critical matters. Is the IUCN aware that 3,000 university professors and five leading religious groups in South Korea oppose this project? The environmental organizations in South Korea are united in opposition to this project, demanding punishment of those responsible, the removal of the dam, and the restoration of the rivers. We respectfully ask for your official position on this dire situation.

We, the civil environmental organizations of the South Korea, challenge the IUCN Director General’s position on the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project and therefore request the IUCN to clarify its position.

6. In addition, we express deep concern with the IUCN’s support of the construction of a naval base in Gangjeong village, Jeju Island. Last April, based on false information provided by the South Korean government, the IUCN issued an official position stating that “construction of the naval base in Gangjeong is valid according to legitimate processes.” It is questionable whether the IUCN put any effort into verifying the credibility of the data provided by the South Korean government.

The IUCN’s statement on the Gangjeong naval base contradicts its earlier resolutions regarding the negative impacts of military bases on the environment. At the General Assembly in 2008, the IUCN adopted “the Recommendation for protection of dugongs in Henoko, Okinawa, Japan” and at the General Assembly in Buenos Aires in 1994, passed a resolution addressing the relationship of “military base to conservation area.” The IUCN’s objective to protect global ecosystems cannot coexist with the goals of increasing militarization at the regional or global scale. We oppose the IUCN’s position regarding the naval base project in Gangjeong village, on Jeju Island.

7. The civil environmental organizations of South Korea, which seek peaceful coexistence on the Korean peninsula and with all our Northeast Asia neighbors, urge IUCN to express its clear position. Specifically regarding the naval base project in Gangjeong, we would like you to clarify whether the IUCN is aware of the serious violations of environmental laws, which have led to the destruction of species which are assigned as “endangered” by the Korean government. These endangered species include the red-footed crab (Sesarma intermedium) andClithon retropietus V. Martens. We ask you to clarify how the IUCN arrived at its conclusion that the naval base construction “is valid according to legitimate processes.”

Just to clarify, the naval base is being built at a UNESCO Biosphere Conservation Area (designated in 2002), and was designated a Cultural Protection Zone by the South Korean government in 2000 and 2004. In 2002 the government’s Ministry of Land designated it a Marine Ecosystem Conservation Area; in 2006, the government of Jeju Island designated it a Marine Provincial Park; in 2006, the Ministry of Environment designated it an “Ecological Excellent Village”; in 2007, the Jeju Island government designated it an Absolute Retention Coastal Area; and in 2008, the Ministry of Environment designated it a Natural Park. We ask you to please clarify how the IUCN would consider a project as “legitimate,” when the government mobilizes both public and private police forces against residents who have committed no crime other than to object to the project’s desecration of this precious conservation area.

Gangjeong village in Jeju is an area that must be conserved in accordance with the values of the IUCN. That would mean that the military base construction must be blocked. The IUCN must actively seek to halt the naval base construction at Gangjeong and to restore and preserve the area’s natural ecosystems through a resolution at the WCC General Assembly.

8. We, in the spirit of peace on our Korean peninsula, are besieged by the South Korean government’s arbitrary administration of law in regard to the environment, and its dictatorial push for national projects for whom only the nation’s largest corporations benefit. Since President Lee took office, his administration has expressly weakened laws which had protected South Korea’s environment.

South Korea environmentalists are gravely concerned that the government will take advantage of the WCC General Assembly proceeding this September in Jeju to advance its illegitimate national projects. We therefore demand a clear explanation of the IUCN’s position regarding the Four Rivers Restoration Project and the Gangjeong Naval Base project. We formally request the IUCN and the 2012 WCC Organizing Committee’s clear position and response, which will be a central factor to the position taken by the Korean civil environmental organizations at the WCC General Assembly.

9. In keeping with the IUCN’s prodigious achievements toward preserving the biodiversity of the planet, we expect the IUCN and the WCC Organizing Committee to show significant efforts to resolve environmental disputes and related social conflicts in the Republic of Korea, the host nation of the WCC.

As funicular cable cars on the sacred mountains of Jiri-san and Seorak-san threaten Asiatic Black Bears; as sustainable farmers from Gangwon province struggle with the seizure of their land to build a golf course; as tidal power plants at Incheon Bay and Garolim Bay threaten the livelihoods of local fishermen; as residents battle nuclear power plants in Gori, Youngduk and Samcheok; as the farmers and fisherpeople of Jeju Island cope with the destruction of their reef and farmland in order to build a navy base; as country folk struggle to exist after their villages were subsumed by water to construct dams on Mt. Jiri and Youngju; as laborers strike against brutal working conditions at SSangyoung Motors– As these manifold violations take place, we shall, with our partners in the international community, take actions to expose the daily brutality levied upon the environment and the people of South Korea, and to correct the wrong doings of the Lee Myung-Bak regime.

We wish for a peaceful resolution to these many environmental and social conflicts, and request that the IUCN and the WCC Organizing Committee clarify their position on these issues as soon as possible.

For more background information, click here.

Support Committee

National Network of Korean Civil Society for Restoration of Four Major Rivers Provincial Civil Committee against Golf Courses in Gangwon Province

Gangjeong Village Association

Jeju Islanders in the Mainland Caring for Gangjeong

National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing to cable car in National Park

Military Bases Peace Network (Gunsan US Military Airbase Retake Civil Movement)

Counseling Office of U.S. Base Victims in Gunsan

The National Campaign for Eradication of Crime by U.S. Troops in Korea

Pyeongtaek Peace Center

Peace Nomad

Green Korea United

NANUM MUNHWA

Cultural Action

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions

Life Peace Fellowship

Seoul Human Rights Film Festival

Civil Society Organization Network in Korea

Center ‘Dle’ for Human Rights Education

Korea Human Rights Foundation

Jeju Council of Social Issue

Jeju Pan-Island Committee for Stop of Military Base and for Realization of Peace Island

National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing to the Naval Base in Jeju Island

Jirisan Action Network

Jirisan Netwoks

Institute for Sustainable Society

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy

Pastoral committee of Environment in Seoul Diocese

Catholic Human Rights Committee

Korea Culture Heritage Policy Research Institute

Korea Institute For Peace Future

Korea Wetland NGO Network

Korea Alliance for Progressive Movement

The National Network of Environmental Organisation of Korea

Green Korea Gongju

Green Korea Kwangju

Nation Park Conservation Network

KCEMS Korean Christian Environmental Movement Solidarity

Korean Network for Green Transport

Green Future, Green Korea United

Green Korea Daegu, Green Korea Daejeon

Green Korea Busan, Citizens Alliance for Bundang Ecosystem

Buddhist Environmental Solidarity

Forest for Life, Korean Ecoclub

Eco-Horizon Institute, Suwon Eco Center

Energy Peace

Eco Buddha

Korean Women`s Environmental Network

Good Friends of Nature – Korea

Cheonji Boeun Environmental Group of Won Buddhism

Green Korea Wonju

Indramang Life Community

Green Korea Incheon

Back to Farm National Movement Headquarters

Jeju Solidarity for Participatory Self-government and Environmental Preservation

Nature Trail-For the Beauty of This Earth

The National Council of YMCA‘s of Korea

National Young Women’s Christian Association of Korea

Korea Resource Recycling Federation

Environment and Pollution Research Group

Korean Teacher’s Organization For Ecological Education And Action

Pastoral Committee of Environment in Seoul Diocese

Korea Federation for Environmental Movement

Citizens’ Movement for Environmental Justice

September 1, 2012
Open Letter to IUCN #1: Requesting Postponement of IUCN Convention on Jeju Island, Unless Military Destruction is Ended

The following statement with 131 signatories, is the 1st open letter mailed to the leadership of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. It was originally posted here.

OPEN MEMO TO: All Leadership, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

FROM: Undersigned Environmental/NGO/Academic Leaders

THE IUCN 2012 WORLD CONSERVATION CONGRESS (WCC), scheduled for September 6-15 at Jungmun Resort on Jeju Island, was apparently planned several years ago by IUCN leadership without full awareness of current circumstances on Jeju—circumstances that display values and behaviors exactly opposite to the historic goals of IUCN.

The IUCN describes the Congress as “the world’s largest and most important conservation event,” aiming “to improve how we manage our natural environment for human, social and economic development.” Nothing could be more diametrically opposed to sustaining those values than the environmental and social assaults now underway only minutes away, along the nearby coastline, and in the traumatized Gangjeong Village. That is where construction has begun on a huge new military base, rapidly devastating a region of rare beauty, vibrant soft-coral reefs, pure freshwater springs, numerous endangered species, and traditional sustainable cultures and villages, and where police actions are brutalizing local populations who attempt to oppose the development.

The undersigned believe it would be massively ironic, contradictory, and scandalous, for the IUCN to ignore the attacks on living nature, and on traditional sustainable culture, that are daily underway a few miles from the scheduled IUCN meeting. Holding a conference in the face of such nearby, ongoing devastation, would destroy the credibility of IUCN, and be an eternal embarrassment for all participants at the meeting.

We therefore insist that the leadership of IUCN demand that the government of South Korea immediately stop this appalling development, remove its military, and free the local population trying to recover the environment and traditional culture that is being actively destroyed. In lieu of that, IUCN should immediately cancel its meeting in Jeju, and reschedule in a timely manner, in another place with values that are aligned with the organization’s mission. Details follow.

Crimes Against Nature:

Five years ago, the South Korean government announced that it would begin blasting Gangjeong’s rare lava-rock coastline, the only rocky wetland on Jeju Island, to make way for a new naval base intended to berth South Korean and U.S. Aegis missile-carrying warships, a thinly veiled threat against China. The base project is located 1.7 km away from sacred Beom Islet (Tiger Isle), which is a UNESCO biosphere preserve.

Coastal blasting began in earnest in March 2012, despite continuous passionate protests from local Gangjeong residents. It has already transformed an extraordinary coastline into an ecological disaster area. Uniquely beautiful soft-coral reefs, with very high levels of native biodiversity, extend widely across the area, directly in front of the base project. They are now being aggressively destroyed. Environmentalist and actor Robert Redford recently reported on the 57 four-story-tall caissons poised to drop on miles of soft coral reefs.

The coastline features a single massive Andesite bed rock, with year-round fresh water streams and springs. Bubbling through the lava for millennia, these precious waters have now been contaminated by the dynamiting of the coastline. The blasting and construction are also shattering the rare ecosystem in places where fresh spring water mixes with sea water. The brackish water’s life-giving qualities are recognized by villagers, who call it “grandmother water.”

These places provide unique habitat for many endangered species, including the narrow-mouth toad (Kaloula borealis), which is, ironically, on the IUCN’s critical Red List! Other endangered species threatened by the destruction include the red-foot crab (Sesarma intermedium); the Jeju fresh water shrimp (Caridina denticulate keunbaei); and mollusks such as the Gisoogal godong (Clithon retropictus).

Another endangered species doomed by the development, are Jeju’s last 100 Indo-Pacific bottle-nosed dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) which are still visible in island coastal waters.

Crimes Against Humanity

Clearly, this base construction is not only a crime against nature, but a crime against humanity. In a single blow, the base will destroy not just ecosystems and endangered species, but also resilient livelihoods within a thriving traditional village. The reef, the farms and the spring water have provided for the local village for centuries. And yet, the government has razed many acres of tangerine farms, and removed people from their land and their reefs in order to make room for a military base.

The Los Angeles Times has reported: “The new base will subsume the picturesque harbor, and its security perimeter will shut out fishermen and women who for generations have fished for abalone, sea cucumber and brown seaweed.”

One “haenyo” (traditional woman sea diver) says that pollution from the naval base has already turned the clean seawater to gray, threatening the haenyos’ livelihoods. “The Naval base will destroy the natural resources. I see cranes and large machinery at the base. I can’t believe it.”

The villagers were recently notified that the government will be seizing more land to build housing for 600 military personnel who, with their families, will outnumber the 1,930 villagers. New businesses will open to service the newcomers: Big box stores will replace village gardens; parking lots will replace farms; bars and prostitution will replace Jeju’s women divers. Gangjeong, as it has miraculously existed for centuries, will be wiped off the face of the Earth.

According to a Jeju newspaper, the base controversy has caused increased suicide rates in Gangjeong. Last year, one villager drank pesticide in a failed attempt to kill himself. He said he couldn’t live with all the destruction.

Finally, this development is also a crime against democracy. Ninety-four percent of villagers voted against base construction in a recent referendum, but local wishes are ignored by the Korean government. The mayor of Gangjeong and fellow villagers have hosted numerous press conferences in Jeju City, citing continuing environmental violations by the construction crews. The Navy is never punished. Instead, the government sends hundreds of riot police to arrest protestors every day for holding prayer vigils at the gates to the construction site. They are charged with “obstruction of government activities.” The mayor himself was jailed for three months.

Our Demand

The undersigned strongly assert that it would be highly contradictory for the IUCN to ignore such startling social and environmental realities as described above, while it claims to convene global environmental leaders to protect and restore natural systems. If the 2012 World Conservation Conference proceeds as currently planned, it would permanently damage the credibility of IUCN, and be a major embarrassment for all participants. This situation must be faced, and stopped. To participate as if everything is fine will cast a black mark across the conference and all its attendees.

IUCN leadership must immediately demand that the Republic of Korea cease, at once, these unconscionable crimes against the Earth, humanity and democracy. If the government refuses, IUCN should postpone the conference and reschedule at another time and place consistent with IUCN’s urgent mission and stated values. This would be in keeping with IUCN statements on the prime necessity to act on behalf of survival of the Earth and culture.

Thank you for your attention.

EMERGENCY ACTION TO SAVE JEJU ISLAND

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

savejejunow@gmail.com

Christine Ahn

             Global Fund for Women; Korea Policy Institute

Imok Cha, M.D.

             SaveJejuNow.org

Jerry Mander

            Foundation for Deep Ecology; Int’l. Forum on Globalization

Koohan Paik

            Kauai Alliance for Peace and Social Justice

SIGNERS (AS OF JULY 10):

Maude Barlow

              Food and Water Watch, Council of Canadians (Canada)

John Cavanagh

              Institute for Policy Studies (U.S.)

Vandana Shiva, Ph.D.

              Navdanya Research Organization for Science, Technology and

              Ecology (India)

Douglas Tompkins

              Conservation Land Trust, Conservacion Patagonica (Chile)

Anuradha Mittal

          Oakland Institute (U.S.)

Meena Raman

              Third World Network (Malaysia)

Walden Bello

              Member, House of Representatives (Philippines)

Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher

              Environmental Protection Authority (Ethiopia)

Lagi Toribau

Greenpeace-East Asia

Mario Damato, Ph.D.

              Greenpeace-East Asia

Debbie Barker

              Center for Food Safety (U.S.)

Pierre Fidenci

              Endangered Species International (U.S.)

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz

Tebtebba Indigenous Peoples’ Int’l. Centre for

              Policy Research and Education (Philippines)

John Knox

Earth Island Institute (U.S.)

David Phillips

Int’l Marine Mammal Project, Earth Island Institute (U.S.)

Mary Jo Rice

Int’l Marine Mammal Project, Earth Island Institute (U.S.)

Bill Twist

             Pachamama Alliance (U.S.)

Jon Osorio, Ph.D.

            Chair, Hawaiian Studies, Univ. of Hawaii (U.S.)

Sue Edwards

Institute for Sustainable Development (Ethiopia)

Gloria Steinem

          Author, Women’s Media Center (U.S.)

Medea Benjamin

          Code Pink, Global Exchange (U.S.)

Randy Hayes

          Foundation Earth (U.S.)

Noam Chomsky

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (U.S.)

Galina Angarova

          Pacific Environment (Russia)

Bruce Gagnon

          Global Network Against

          Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space (Int’l)

Andrew Kimbrell

          Center for Food Safety (U.S.)

Jack Santa Barbara

          Sustainable Scale Project (New Zealand)

Renie Wong

           Hawaii Peace and Justice (Hawaii)

Kyle Kajihiro

           HawaiÊ»i Peace and Justice/DMZ-HawaiÊ»i (Hawaii)

Terri Keko’olani

          Hawai’i Peace and Justice/DMZ-Hawai’i (Hawaii)

Wayne Tanaka

          Marine Law Fellow, Dept. of Land & Natural Resources (U.S.)

          (signing independently)

Tony Clarke

          Polaris Institute (Canada)

Sara Larrain

          Sustainable Chile Project (Chile)

John Feffer

          Foreign Policy in Focus (U.S.)

Victor Menotti

          International Forum on Globalization (U.S.)

Arnie Saiki

          Moana Nui Action Alliance (U.S.)

Nikhil Aziz

          Grassroots International (U.S.)

Lisa Linda Natividad

          Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice (Guam)

Rebecca Tarbotton

          Rainforest Action Network (U.S.)

Kavita Ramdas

          Visiting Scholar, Stanford U., Global Fund for Women (India)

Raj Patel

          Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First (U.S.)

Alexis Dudden

          Author, Professor of History, Connecticut University (U.S.)

Timothy Mason

          Pastor, Calvary by the Sea, Honolulu (U.S.)

Katherine Muzik, Ph.D.

          Marine Biologist, Kulu Wai, Kauai (U.S.)

Claire Hope Cummings

           Author, Environmental attorney (U.S.)

Ann Wright

           U.S. Army Colonel, Ret., Former U.S. Diplomat (U.S.)

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ph.D.

            Educator, Singer-Songwriter (U.S.)

Lenny Siegel

           Center for Public Environmental Oversight (U.S.)

Yong Soon Min

           Professor, University of California, Irvine (U.S.)

Eugeni Capella Roca

           Grup d’Estudi I Protecció d’Ecosostemes de Catalunya (Spain)

Jonathan P. Terdiman, M.D.

           University of California, San Francisco (U.S.)

Evelyn Arce

International Funders for Indigenous Peoples  (U.S.)

Brihananna Morgan

The Borneo Project (Borneo)

Frank Magnota, Ph.D.

           Physicist (U.S.)

Delia Menozzi, M.D.

           Physician (Italy)

Aaron Berez, M.D.

           Physician (U.S.)

Begoña Caparros

          Foundation in Movement: Art for Social Change (Uganda)

Antonio Sanz

           Photographer (Spain)

Cindy Wiesner

Grassroots Global Justice (U.S.)

Gregory Elich

Author, “Strange Liberators” (U.S.)

Joseph Gerson, Ph.D.

American Friends Service Committee (U.S.)

Piljoo Kim, Ph.D.

Agglobe Services International  (U.S.)

Peter Rasmussen

He-Shan World Fund (U.S.)

Wei Zhang

He-Shan World Fund (U.S.)

Harold Sunoo

          Sunoo Korea Peace Foundation (U.S.)

Soo Sun Choe

          National Campaign to End the Korean War (U.S.)

Angie Zelter

Trident Ploughshares, (UK)

Ramsay Liem

Visiting Scholar, Center for Human Rights, Boston College (U.S.)

Kerry Kriger, PhD

Save The Frogs (U.S.)

Marianne Eguey

Jade Associates, (France)

Claire Greensfelder

INOCHI-Plutonium Free Future (U.S.-Japan)

Laura Frost, Ph.D.

The New School (U.S.)

Chris Bregler, Ph.D.

New York University (U.S.)

David Vine

Assistant Professor, American University (U.S.)

Simone Chun

Assistant Prof., Gov’t Department, Suffolk U., Boston (U.S.)

Matt Rothschild

Editor, The Progressive magazine (U.S.)

Henry Em

Professor, East Asian Studies, NYU (U.S.)

Eric Holt-Gimenez

         Institute for Food and Development Policy (U.S.)

Maivan Clech Lam

Professor Emerita of Int’l Law, CUNY (U.S.)

Mari Matsuda

          Professor of Law, Richardson Law School, Univ. of Hawaii (U.S.)

Beth Burrows

          The Edmonds Institute (U.S.)

Aileen Mioko Smith

          Green Action (Japan)

Susan George, Ph.D.

          Transnational Institute (The Netherlands)

Marianne Manilov

          The Engage Network (U.S.)

SOUTH KOREAN SIGNERS

Kangho Song, Ph.D.

          Leader, Save Our Sea Team, Gangjeong village

          (Presently in prison for civil disobedience)

Youngdeok Oh

          Korea Federation for Environmental Movement of Jeju

Ho Myong

          Eco Horizon Institute

Jingu Yeo

          Korean Environment Education Network

Myungrae Cho

          Citizens’ Movement for Environmental Justice

Kyeongjo Park

          Green Korea United

Yoonmo Yang

Film critic

          (Imprisoned for civil disobedience for four months in 2011)

Stephen Wunrow, Martha Vickery

          Publisher/editor of Korean Quarterly

Seonghwan Min

          Korean Ecoclub

Youngsun Ji

          Korea Foundation for Environmental Movements

          (Friends of the Earth, Korea)

Youngsuk Pak

         Korean Women’s Environmental Networks

Raegun Park

         Human Rights Foundation, Saram

Mihyuk Kwon

         Korean Women’s Association United

Sunghee Choi

         Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space

          (Imprisoned for civil disobedience for two months in 2011)

Giryong Hong

          Jeju Peace Human Rights Center

Chuyoung Chang

           Minbyun-Lawyers for a Democratic Society

Eunkyung Oh

           Jeju Women’s Assocation

Gwisook Gwon

           Jeju National University

Hyekyoung An

           Director, Jeju Women’s Film Festival

Jeonghae Park, Ph.D.

           The Academy of Korean Studies

Gilchun Koh

           Jeju artist

Misun Kang, Ph.D.

          Artist

Jungjin Lee

         Artist

Hyungtae Kim

        Catholic Human Rights Committee

Hunjung Cho

        Chun Tae-Il Foundation

Giyoung Hyun

        Jeju People on Mainland who Love Gangjeong

Hongsik Kim

        Jeju People on Mainland who Love Gangjeong

Moonheum Yang

        Jeju People on Mainland who Love Gangjeong

Sangsoo Heo

        Jeju People on Mainland who Love Gangjeong

Chansik Park

        Jeju People on Mainland who Love Gangjeong

Youngjin Kim

        Korea Democratic Street Venders Confederation (KDSC)

Yoonjae Cha

        Masan YMCA

Boowon Nam

        National Council of YMCAs of Korea

Geunyeom Chang

        Peace Ground

Wooksik Cheong

        Peace Network

Hyunbach Chung

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy

Regina Pyon

        Korean House for International Solidarity

Hyangyoon Mee

        The Korean Council for the Women Drafted

         for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

Rev. Haehak Lee

The National Council of Churches in Korea

        Committee of Justice and Peace

Hyesook Yeo

Women Making Peace

Youngjun Choi

         Workers’ Solidarity All Together

Yeook Yang

         World Without War

Jungmin Choi

         World Without War

September 1, 2012
Join Robert Redford in petitioning the IUCN to save Jeju

Pristine Jeju Island, home to one of the world’s largest soft coral reefs, is under threat from plans to build a naval base. Local protesters have been beaten by police, but now the world’s leading environmental organisation, the IUCN, is holding its annual summit there and could turn the tide by speaking out against the destruction.

If the IUCN was to change its position and condemn the plans, it would fundamentally weaken the government’s position. Let’s seize the opportunity of their summit, to call on IUCN Director-General Julia Marton-Lefevre to support the campaign to Save Jeju. We only have days left — the meeting starts on September 6th. Sign the petition on the right and the Mayor of Gangjeong village will deliver it to the IUCN Director General.

Click here to sign the petition and read a letter of support from Robert Redford

August 31, 2012
IUCN blocks anti-naval base Jeju Villagers from participation

IUCN leadership refuses to criticize Korea’s destructive naval base that is killing numerous endangered species, and destroying indigenous communities. This stance from IUCN defies its traditional mission, conserving nature and a “just world.”

The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Conservation Congress is the world’s largest environmental event. Held every four years, the 2012 World Conservation Congress (WCC) will be held from September 6-15 on Jeju Island, the “jewel” of South Korea. Over 7,000 leaders from government, the public sector, non-governmental organizations, business, UN agencies and social organizations will meet at this event.

Meeting just a few miles from Gangjeong village the IUCN has over and over again resisted requests from those living in the 450-year old fishing and farming community to help them protect their sacred nature and coastline from Navy base construction. A five-year non-violent campaign rages in the village and more than 500 people have been arrested for attempting to block the destruction of their way of life.

While continuing to proclaim its devotion to protecting Nature through democratic process, IUCN leadership has ignored or whitewashed projects that are assaulting these wonders, and undermining human rights and sustainable livelihoods.

The naval base project, meant to become homeport for Korean and U.S. “missile defense” warships 300 miles from China, is threatening one of the planet’s last great soft coral reefs, and other coastal treasures, killing numerous endangered species (including one on IUCN’s famous Red List), and destroying centuries-old sustainable communities.

The Gangjeong villagers are being met with daily police brutality. Such activities represent all that IUCN has traditionally opposed. Samsung corporation construction division is building the Navy base and has made significant financial contributions toward the WCC.

On August 22, an official letter arrived from IUCN leadership informing the Gangjeong villagers that their request to host a small Information Booth at the convention was denied. No explanation was offered.

“The Korean government announced that it would not permit any demonstrations or even picketing within two kilometers of the Convention. So, no speaker from the village or information table inside. No demonstrations outside. We are disappointed because we thought the IUCN stood for democratic participation,” commented Sung-Hee Choi, a Gangjeong resident and member of the International Organizing Committee.

Gangjeong villagers continue to press for a chance to address the IUCN and for a public display booth at the event. Efforts have been made to contact most of the thousands of IUCN delegates coming to the event and several have volunteered to introduce resolutions opposing the Navy base. Villagers intend to invite IUCN members to visit Gangjeong and see the environmental devastation for themselves.

Concerned citizens around the world are being encouraged to send messages to IUCN demanding fair treatment for Gangjeong villagers. Messages can be directed to: jml@iucn.org, president@iucn.org, congressforum@iucn.org; congress@iucn.org;

EMERGENCY ACTION TO SAVE JEJU ISLAND

Organizing Committee & International Support Group includes:

Christine Ahn

Global Fund for Women; Korea Policy Institute

Imok Cha, M.D.

SaveJejuNow.org

Jerry Mander

Foundation for Deep Ecology; International Forum on Globalization

Koohan Paik

Kauai Alliance for Peace and Social Justice

Maude Barlow

Food and Water Watch, Council of Canadians (Canada)

John Cavanagh

Institute for Policy Studies (U.S.)

Vandana Shiva, Ph.D.

Navdanya Research Organization for Science, Technology and Ecology (India)

Walden Bello

Member, House of Representatives (Philippines)

David Suzuki

The David Suzuki Foundation (Canada)

Robert Redford

Actor, founder of Sundance Institute (U.S.)

Gloria Steinem

Author, Women’s Media Center (U.S.)

Noam Chomsky

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (U.S.)

Raj Patel

Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First (U.S.)

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ph.D.

Educator, Singer-Songwriter (U.S.)

Angie Zelter

Trident Ploughshares, (UK)

Matt Rothschild

Editor, The Progressive magazine (U.S.)

Susan George, Ph.D.

Transnational Institute (The Netherlands)

Galina Angarova

Pacific Environment (Russia)

Lagi Toribau

Greenpeace-East Asia

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz

Tebtebba Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education (Philippines)

Lisa Linda Natividad

Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice (Guam)

Eugeni Capella Roca

Grup d’Estudi I Protecció d’Ecosostemes de Catalunya (Spain)

Sara Larrain

Sustainable Chile Project (Chile)

Korean Federation for Environmental Movement and Citizen Institute for Environmental Studies (South Korea)

August 31, 2012
Support an INDEPENDENT Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to combat the Navy’s Lies

The Global Campaign to Save Jeju Island is collaborating with Greenpeace International, Endangered Species International, and the Marine and Environmental Research Institute to conduct an independent EIA that can challenge one conducted by the South Korean Navy.

Your donation will help us put environmental scientists to work! They will conduct site visits to areas where the three endangered species (frog, crab and shrimp) were relocated and an underwater survey of Jeju soft coral habitat near the naval base construction site.

Please help us convene a scientific team to conduct this independent EIA! Your grassroots support will help villagers fight the base construction with concrete, scientific evidence that can challenge the Navy’s assessment. Your support will also go towards providing other emergency needs of the villagers in their struggle to stop this naval base.

Donate Now

August 29, 2012
Environmentalists Miss Chance to Protest Base

On July 5, South Korea’s Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings against the Ministry of National Defense for proceeding with construction of a naval base on Jeju Island without an environmental impact assessment (EIA). It also ruled that the governor of Jeju had the authority to change the designation of absolute preservation areas. This ruling wasn’t just a major blow to residents of Gangjeong village where the navy base is being built but also to the many voiceless marine organisms. As you read this, massive caissons the size of four-story buildings are about to drop on soft coral reefs, forever destroying local marine ecosystems home to several endangered species.

Although the villagers’ hopes of winning in a retrial in Seoul’s High Court are slim, they have a golden opportunity to influence the court of public opinion by garnering the support of thousands of environmentalists worldwide. This upcoming September the world’s largest and most important environmental conservation event, the World Conservation Congress (WCC), will take place at Jungmun Resort, just four miles from Gangjeong.

Read Full Article

August 28, 2012
Open Letter to IUCN

An open letter to the IUCN:

Statement to IUCN and WCC

August 28, 2012
Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly News from the Struggle | August Issue

In this month’s issue:

The villagers fight illegal dredging, base pollution destroys crops, and activists point out the irony of IUCN’s choice of Samsung as one of its leading sponsors.

Download PDF

August 28, 2012
IUCN遭質疑：因三星贊助沉默應對軍港破壞濟州島生態

世界自然保育聯盟（IUCN）9月6日到9月15日將於南韓濟州道中文旅遊區舉辦世界保育大會（World Conservation Congress，WCC）。WCC大會每4年舉辦一次，可說是當前最大的自然保育盛會。諷刺的是，濟州道中文旅遊區距離江汀村僅約十多分鐘的車程，當地正進行海軍軍港開發，但IUCN對此議題沉默以對，讓居民頗為失望。

江汀村村民從江汀村遊行至IUCN會議現場

江汀村原是韓國政府認定的｢絕對保護地區｣，江汀村附近海域同時也是聯合國教科文組織（UNESCO）劃定的生物圈保留區，是許多珍貴的海洋以及海岸生物的棲地，然而因為海軍基地建設的關係，江汀村珍稀的自然美景遭受無可挽回的破壞，江汀村許多瀕臨絕種的沿岸海洋生物也面臨絕大的危機。

舉辦日期漸漸迫近的IUCN世界保育大會，本應為江汀村反海軍基地運動帶來一線希望。

尤其2012年7月5日，韓國大法院（最高法院）就濟州道居民針對國防部長官提起的訴訟做出裁決，推翻原審中被告敗訴的判決，並將此案移交首爾高等法院審理。此前，濟州道江汀村438名居民針對國防部長官提起訴訟，要求法院判國防部取消濟州海軍基地建設計畫。據原審判決，韓國國防部2009年在並未切實進行環境影響評估的情況下批准建設專案實施計畫，因此這一計畫無效。

然而大法院認為，原審法院對有關法律規定存在錯誤理解，因此推翻原審中被告敗訴的判決。這也意味著，根據大法院的最新判決，韓國國防部將可如期推進濟州海軍基地建設項目。

居民仍對首爾高等法院寄予期待，並期許韓國國內以及國際公民社會盡全力展現其聲援江汀村之勢，然而在此關鍵時刻，身為世界最大環保團體的IUCN卻靜默了。

「江汀村和國際各界要求停止海軍基地建設、停止此案對環境與生態帶來不可逆破壞。但到目前為止，IUCN對的回應令人灰心。」江汀村反對海軍基地委員會國際組組長崔成希表示

IUCN僅含糊地於其網站上表示「針對韓國的環境議題，IUCN鼓勵開放及建設性的對話。」然而於此同時，IUCN卻一方性刪除了該網站上來自世界各地的留言，其中軍事針對海軍基地破壞江汀村生態、瀕絕生物與傳統文化的訊息。

IUCN對濟州島海軍基地的態度如此退縮，使許多民眾質疑：｢環境正義是否為IUCN以及WCC的核心價值？若是，問題究竟出在哪裡？｣

軍港承包商保育大會主要贊助者

菲律賓、孟加拉、印度、斯里蘭卡等市民社會聲援濟州島反海軍活動。圖片來源_No Naval Base Group

許多反軍港運動人士轉而質疑今年WCC的贊助資金來源：三星（海軍基地建設案主要承包商）為2012年WCC主要贊助商，名列「大會夥伴」（Congress partner）。

同時，E-Mart（易買得，韓國最大的零售商）也是WCC大會的「金牌」贊助商。E-Mart過去一直為新世界集團所擁有，而新世界集團則是由三星集團創辦人李秉喆最小的女兒李明熙擔任董事長。三星集團一直擁有新世界集團，直到1991年兩公司分立。去年5月，新世界集團分拆了E-Mart，並將其交由李明熙的兒子鄭溶鎮經營。

同時，其他WCC的大會贊助夥伴還包括現代汽車集團、起亞汽車（現代汽車子公司）。韓國現任總統李明博，推動江汀村海軍基地、以及國內許多破壞環境的大型開發案不遺餘力，他曾擔任現代集團總裁多年。

運動人士質疑，IUCN是世界級保育組織，其中不乏關心環境者，但針對濟州島海軍基地議題的態度，他們是否忘了IUCN的任務及責任。

「江汀村反對海軍基地建設委員會」將9月2日~9日訂為「反對濟州島海軍基地建設」國際行動日，此期間於村內將舉辦各式參訪活動、座談會提供國際人士深入參予。

該委員會國際組組長崔成希表示，希望無法親訪江汀村，卻願意表達支持的民眾直接聯絡國際組表達支持，聲援行動日期間在村內舉辦的各類活動；聯絡方式 gangjeongintl@gmail.com 。

August 14, 2012
Paralyzing designation of a trade port… The military will control in reality

The below is the arbitrary translation of the Jeju Domin Ilbo on July 4, 2012. Sorry for mistakes in advance.

The water area of the so called civilian-military dual port ( Jeju naval base) was designated as a trade port. Therefore the legal basis that cruises can enter and exit the related water area was secured. However complete entry and exit of port for cruise is not guaranteed. For a cruise to enter the military facility in the water area designated as a trade port, it has to get permission from the jurisdiction unit commander. The cruise entry and exit of port can be controlled according to the condition of military unit, such as drill.

On June 26, the government having a cabinet meeting, reviewed and resolved on the ‘bill on the revision on the enforcement decree on the Port Act (*Law on harbor & bay),’ and ‘bill on the revision on the enforcement decree on Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act.’ On June 29, those bills were promulgated.

Following the enforcement decree on the Port Act, the Gangjeong area was added to the maritime zone of the Seogwipo port that is currently designated as a trade port. However, the ‘bill on the revision on the enforcement decree on Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act,’ is still in controversy. The promulgated bill is of more or less mitigation in the regulation on the cruise entry and exit of port, compared to that at the time of advance legislation notice (on April 26) but is not guaranteeing completely free entry and exit of port for the cruises.

In the April 26 legislation notice, “the ships (including passenger and crew) that are ‘designated’ by the jurisdiction unit commander are guaranteed their entry and exit of port at maximum.’ It was the bill to let the unit commander to choose the ships that can apply for the entry permission. On the other side, the bill promulgated on June 29 reads that crews and passengers in the ships that want to enter the military base and facilities with the installation of marks on control zone in the maritime area of so called civilian-military dual port (limited to the maritime zone designated as the trade port), can apply for the entry permission themselves to the unit commander or though the Jeju Island governor.

The ships that are possible for application for the entry permission is the licensed cruise ships according to the Maritime Transport Act or ships defined by the Minister of Justice according to the Immigration Control Law.

The jurisdiction unit commander should notice the applicant directly or through the Jeju island governor within 24 hours. If he does not notice the matter on yes or no within 24 hours, it is considered as yes. The crews and passengers that are to apply for the entry permission should notice the jurisdiction unit commander etc seven days before the planned date of port entry.

However the matter on the entry and exit of cruise within the trade port is totally dependent on the judgment by the military therefore the title of so called civilian-military port is suspicious as it is only in surface in reality.

For further information, see Navy attempts to define the naval base construction area as military restriction zone: an alarm for people (April 3, 2012)

…………………………………………

Reference

http://www.jejudomin.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=34041
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2012.07.04 19:54:14

July 5, 2012