Civic groups hold a press conference on Feb. 7 in front of the entrance to Jeju Naval Base to criticize the South Korean and American governments’ discussion of the deployment of the USS Zumwalt, a stealth destroyer. (by Huh Ho-joon, Jeju correspondent)
Protesters worry that Jeju will become a front-line in a military confrontation between the US and China
After it was reported that the US navy has suggested deploying the USS Zumwalt, a stealth destroyer, at the Jeju Naval Base, civic groups in Jeju held a press conference on Feb. 7 in front of the entrance to the base to criticize the South Korean and American governments’ discussion of its deployment.
On the morning of Feb. 7, the Gangjeong Village Council, the Island Residents’ Action Committee for Blocking the Jeju Military Base and Realizing an Island of Peace, and the National Action Council for the Jeju Naval Base held a press conference in front of the entrance to the Jeju Naval Base in Gangjeong Village, Seogwipo, to condemn discussion about the US navy deploying the Zumwalt.
“We have recently learned that US Pacific Commander Harry Harris proposed deploying the USS Zumwalt, a stealth guided missile destroyer, to the Jeju Naval Base. If this destroyer is deployed, it is obvious that Jeju Island would become a front-line American outpost against China,” these groups said.
“We have been concerned that the Jeju Naval Base would be used as an American front-line outpost against China, but the [South Korean] navy has strenuously denied this, stating that the [South Korean] government’s approval would be required before American naval vessels could enter or leave the base. Deploying the USS Zumwalt would begin the transformation of the whole island into a military base,” the groups said.
“If a Zumwalt-class stealth guided missile destroyer is deployed at the Jeju Naval Base in addition to deploying THAAD on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea and China will be forced down the road toward inevitable military conflict. The ultimate result of deploying American combat vessels to Jeju will be further increasing military tensions in Northeast Asia,” the groups said. They urged the US to retract its comments about deploying the USS Zumwalt to Jeju and urged the South Korean government to flatly reject the proposal to deploy the ship to Jeju.
The USS Zumwalt on the Kennebec River in Maine (AP/Yonhap News)
Koh Kwon-il, vice chair of the village committee and chair of the action committee against the naval base in Gangjeong Village, Jeju Island, calling for the government to waive its right to indemnity.
With indemnity, government apparently trying to send a message about what happens to people who oppose government projects
On Jan. 30, during the Lunar New Year holiday, I visited Gangjeong Village in Jeju Island. Faded and tattered yellow banners were fluttering in the fierce wind around the Jeju Naval Base, with slogans such as “No naval base in Gangjeong Village,” “Resolutely opposed to the naval base” and “Forfeit the right to indemnity.” The rough waves of the dark blue sea ceaselessly battered Gangjeong Port.
Today, the residents of Gangjeong Village feel a mixture of resignation and rage against the government. I met with Koh Kwon-il, vice chair of the village committee and chair of the action committee against the naval base. Koh and I were in the same class in high school. Koh has enjoyed drawing comics since his high school days, and he was always serious and optimistic. When he was attending graduate school in Seoul, he made a name for himself as a cartoonist, and his cartoons were syndicated in monthly magazines and sports newspapers. When he returned home to Jeju in 2008, after 26 years, he stood on the front line of the struggle. He did not stand by and watch what was happening to his home.
When I met this bronze-faced man at the site of the struggle, he no longer looked as he had in his late teens, but his personality remained mild and reasonable. Overcome with homesickness during his university years, he told me he had gone home and found healing for his body and soul by fishing and going for walks on the Gureombi Rocks.
The Gangjeong villagers’ campaign against the naval base is now in its tenth year. When the campaign began in Apr. 2007 with most villagers objecting to a unilateral decision by the minority to allow the base to be built, few thought it would last so long.
Despite the long struggle of the residents of Gangjeong Village, construction of Jeju Naval Base was completed in Feb. 2016. But the psychological and physical pain inflicted upon the residents during the construction process, as well as the damage to their property, continue today. More than 700 people were arrested by the police, and 392 cases were taken to court. They have been fined more than 400 million won (US$364,000). The naval base changed the face of the village and plunged the residents into conflict.
When construction ended on the base, President Park Geun-hye said she hoped that “this would be a significant opportunity for coexistence and harmony with the local community.” But when Samsung C&T asked to be compensated for the delay in the construction, the navy paid 27.3 billion won (US$23.64 million) and then stabbed the villagers in the back by demanding that 116 individuals and five organizations, including the village council, pay 3.45 billion won (US$2.98 million) just one month after the ribbon-cutting ceremony. In addition to this, Samsung C&T and Daelim Industrial are moving forward with a request for the navy to pay tens of billions of won in compensation.
After severely scarring the villagers during the construction of the naval base, the government, far from resolving the conflict, continues to provoke their anger. In Oct. 2016, 165 lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties submitted a resolution asking the government to forfeit its right to indemnity. “The government must never use lawsuits against the people (to whom sovereignty belongs) to push the people to the brink of the cliff of pain,” the lawmakers said.
Not only Jeju Island Governor Won Hee-ryong and the Jeju Island legislature but even the Jeju Island Lawyers’ Association advised and urged the government to forfeit its right to indemnity, but the government’s position is unshakeable. The government apparently intends this to be a warning to the public about what happens when people oppose a government project.
There is no precedent for the government demanding that its citizens pay it billions of won in restitution. During a meeting of the Gangjeong Village Council on Jan. 23, villagers angrily asked, “Is this a country?” They described the indemnity as “bloody pus” — sweat and blood squeezed out of hurting people.
“Just because it’s a government project doesn’t mean you can suppress the people‘s voices. The people have already endured so many inconveniences during their struggle to defend their community, and forcing them to pay restitution is state violence,” Koh said angrily.
The villagers are doing their best to avoid conflict. These people already experienced state violence during the Apr. 3 Incident, more than 70 years ago, and we must not dredge up that trauma. Unless we embrace the residents of Gangjeong Village, “coexistence” and “harmony” will be no more than empty words. The presidential candidates need to clean the bloody pus off the people of Gangjeong Village.
By Huh Ho-joon, Jeju correspondent
Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
The Grand March for Life and Peace concluded last night with a rousing rally in Jeju City along the sea wall (that reminds one of the Malecón in Havana).As our east team met the west team in the center of the city each side carried one of two large banners depicting wooden totems that now stand in front of the peace center in Gangjeong village. The two banners were brought into the busy traffic clogged intersection and symbolically joined. From there the two merged teams walked the last few miles to the rally site. The totem banners were erected onto the large stage and as dark came, and the stage lights hit the banners, the beautiful colors came alive in a brilliant display. I was very moved to stand on that stage and deliver the message representing the international guests.
As you can see in the short video above, taken of the west team during a storm, not even a down pour bothered the walkers. Very few pulled out umbrellas or raincoats – most just keep moving along to the music coming from the sound trucks.
There is so much to say about this walk including the many things I learned and about the Korean people that we had the great fortune to meet during these days. I will likely write a series of posts, with many more photos, in the coming days as time and the words make themselves available to me.
In the meantime I must say thank you to all our new friends and co-walkers for this incredible experience. Despite the fun and the excitement of the walk what must come first is the reminder that the people in South Korea are witnessing their democracy being dismantledeach day by the right-wing Park government. They are seeing their country, already long a US military colony, become even more so as Washington rushes to prepare for war with China and Russia.
People here, like in Okinawa and Guam, know they are a prime target in a conflict because of the US bases on their islands. They are doing all they can NOW while they still can. They wonder why people in the US and in Europe are largely so silent and inactive when it comes to the massive expansion of the US-NATO war machine into the Asia-Pacific (including new NATO partnership agreements with South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand).
In my short talk last night I told the hundreds who were assembled at the final rally the story of our protest in Bath, Maine last June when 12 of us (Zumwalt 12) were arrested at the Bath Iron Works shipyard for blocking the road and gate into the ‘christening’ ceremony for a new warship. I said that warship was likely to visit Gangjeong village at some point. I told the people that they inspired us in Maine to act – in fact five of the 12 of us who were arrested have been to Gangjeong village over the past few years. I said we’d continue to support them into the future.
The only way we can prevent WW III is to become bolder during this dangerous time of military expansion and the drowning of democracy. The people of Korea who have come to Jeju Island in large numbers (union members, human rights activists, peaceniks, parents of the Sewol ferry students killed in that terrible accident, Korea Green Party members, priests & nuns, environmentalists, and community leaders) are showing that it is possible to build effective coalitions in order to protect democracy, peace and our Mother Earth.
We all have much to learn from the biggest little village on the planet called Gangjeong.Bruce
…………………………………………
See Bruce K. Gagnon’s records on the march (Click the words)
VFP members Ken Jones (left), Bruce Gagnon (center) and Will Griffin (right) remembering the two Korean-American women who were to lead our trip to Korea but were denied entry into the country due to their work against US deployments of the THAAD ‘missile defense’ system here that will be aimed at China and Russia.
We gathered at the new Navy base front gate this morning just after 8:00 am in order to get registered for the six-day peace walk around Jeju Island, South Korea. Many in the crowd walked down an entry road to the main gate that of course was blocked off with higher than normal security standing guard while military music blasted out for all to hear.
It was sad to see the new base housing for military personnel and their families and to get a glimpse of the warship docks. I was imagining very soon that US Navy destroyers, nuclear submarines, and aircraft carriers will be ported there. Gangjeong village has a population of 2,000 people and there are expected to be anywhere from 3,000-7,000 navy personnel based here at some point. And then figure in the many hundreds of sailors on visiting warships. This once quiet fishing and farming community will be torn asunder even more than it already has been.
Gangjeong villagers though have proven to be determined and resilient during this 10-year non-violent struggle to oppose the Navy base. Before we began walking this morning a news conference was held right in front of the main gate and the village Mayor Cho Kyung Cheol said that “People in the village have been treated like dogs and pigs” by the Navy and the government. He spoke of even more lawsuits being filed by the government and Samsung (the lead base construction contractor) seeking $3 million in ‘damages’ against the village and 116 persons in the village (and their supporters) because they allegedly impeded the construction process. One activist called the fines “A new form of oppression” against the village.
Former Mayor Kang reminded the walkers of the “dignity of nature” and said, “We will continue to work to stop the Navy base. We remember the people all over the country, and around the world, who have helped us. The Navy base will help lead to war.”
Six hundred people registered for the peace walk with two teams evenly divided – one heading East and the other West. The international guests (from Taiwan, New Zealand, US, Japan, Philippines and Ireland) were split between the two teams. Our Veterans For Peace delegation is with the east team.
We walked 11.5 miles today in the high heat and the hot top (what Boston folks call the asphalt) only made it worse – sort of like walking for six hours through a steam room. Everyone was sweating but it was remarkable to see our large group stay together the whole way – especially so because many families came from the Korean mainland and brought their small children and they walked the entire way.
The food was prepared by teams of volunteers back in Gangjeong village and trucked out to us for lunch and dinner. During breaks and lunch the iconic Catholic priest Fr. Mun joined us hobbling around with his cane but still inspiring people as he as done in virtually every progressive movement in South Korea for many, many years.
Legendary Catholic priest Fr. Mun
A van with a sound system (which included three speakers on top and two big ones in the back of the van) led the walk with its back door open blasting music to keep us singing and dancing to popular movement songs – many of which I recognized from previous trips to Korea. Now and then people were handed the microphone as we walked and asked to speak. I got a turn and told the story about the recent arrests in Bath, Maine when the Zumwalt 12 blocked the road and a gate at the June ‘christening’ of another Navy destroyer at the Bath Iron Works shipyard. I told people that before we did our action we read a statement of solidarity from Gangjeong village. (The Zumwalt 12 will go through arraignment on August 2 in the West Bath court, I obviously won’t be there. Our lawyer will offer my ‘not guilty’ plea on my behalf.)
Jeju is a tourist haven during the summer so the traffic was heavy while we walked today. We walked along the beautiful ocean, through small villages, and through a densely populated city – even spending at least an hour taking up one lane in a very busy four-lane highway. So we are being seen – it’s really quite a sight to see a couple hundred people singing and dancing with their yellow shirts and flags flapping in the breeze.
I am glad to be here – sun burnt, sore feet, but soaring heart. There is only one way that we might be able to stop the crazy US imperial war machine and that is by organizing global protests and taking the war and peace issue directly to the people. It’s an honor to be part of this peace walk.
Bruce
Walking for Peace on Jeju Island
…………………………………………..
See Bruce K. Gagnon’s records on the march (Click the words)
The Sewol ferry sinking on Apr. 16, 2014. Two years and two months have passed, but the facts of the case have still not been properly revealed. (by Kim Bong-kyu, staff photographer)
Investigation shows the ferry was overloaded with iron bars meant for Jeju naval base, and may have left to keep the construction schedule
It has been officially confirmed that the Sewol ferry was carrying 410 tons of iron bars meant for construction at the time of the sinking. The government acknowledged that 278 tons of these iron bars were bound for the construction of the naval base on Jeju Island.
But instead of closing the case, the government’s confirmation is only stirring up more suspicions. If the investigative period of the Special Sewol Investigative Commission comes to an end on June 30 as the government intends, we will be even further away from learning the truth about the tragedy two years ago that claimed the lives of 304 people, nine of whose bodies have never been recovered.
The real reason the ferry was overloaded: how many iron bars were bound for the Jeju naval base?
The causes of the sinking of the Sewol as ruled by the Supreme Court were that the ferry was overloaded with cargo, that the cargo had not been fastened down securely enough, and that the ferry had undergone structural changes. In connection with overloading, which is one of these causes, the revelation that the Sewol was carrying a large amount of iron bars intended for use in constructing the Jeju naval base is raising new questions.
“The results of our exhaustive investigation is that the Sewol was carrying a total of 2,215 tons of cargo at the time of the tragedy even though the maximum amount of cargo it was authorized to carry was 987 tons, which means it was overloaded by 1,228 tons,” the commission said on June 27. The commission learned that iron bars accounted for 410 tons of this cargo and that a portion of these iron bars were supposed to be transported to the naval base on Jeju Island.
On Tuesday, Hwang Ju-hong, a lawmaker with the People’s Party, also quoted a document from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries stating that there were 426 tons of iron bars on the Sewol Ferry and that 278 of them were bound for the naval base. This information was gleaned from the list of compensation money paid in connection with the Sewol.
The reason that this figure of iron bars is 16 tons higher than the commission’s findings is because it includes not only iron bars that were loaded as a separate item but also iron bars belonging to Jeju Seondeok Shipping that were carried by vehicles inside the ferry.
“The 54 tons of H-beams should be added to the 278 tons [that the government acknowledged] in order to find out how much of the cargo on the Sewol was bound for the naval base,” the commission said.
The figures revealed on Tuesday only concern what was loaded on the Sewol ferry on the day of the accident. Further investigation is needed to determine with what regularity the ferry was overloaded with iron bars and other building materials bound for the naval base prior to the accident and how much of an effect overloading the ferry with iron bars had on the accident.
The government’s responsibility: why did the prosecutors fail to uncover this?
When the joint investigation by the police and public prosecutors announced the findings of its investigation into the Sewol sinking in Oct. 2014, it said that the ferry had been carrying a total of 2,142 tons of cargo. The investigation data that was submitted to the commission indicated that the iron bars had weighed 286 tons. This figure omits 124 tons from the 410 tons of iron bars that the commission announced.
“We conducted an exhaustive investigation ourselves and even confirmed the location of the vehicles using footage from security cameras. Our estimate was conservative, but we included everything that could be verified,” the prosecutors said on June 28.
But now that the government claims that there were no iron bars bound for the naval base on the Sewol have been disproven, the prosecutors’ investigation is wide open to accusations of shoddiness.
“We didn’t deny it. The army’s position was that it could not confirm it,” explained an official with the Defense Ministry.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries also says that it had been aware of this fact. “We learned that the 278 tons of iron bars were supposed to be delivered to the Jeju naval base after we saw a news report in April and checked the Sewol compensation records,” a ministry official said.
The Ministry is claiming that it only recently learned of this fact, but this is effectively an acknowledgement that it had documents in its possession with which it could have determined the amount of iron bars on the Sewol. When the commission asked the Ministry in April to submit a variety of documents needed for it to investigate the amount of cargo on board the Sewol – including the compensation list, the cargo manifest and the shipping instructions – the Ministry did not submit any of it.
This was why the commission had to investigate each of the individual cargo owners in order to determine the amount of the cargo, a commission spokesperson said.
An imprudent departure: why did the Sewol set out on its own?
Around 9 pm on Apr. 15, 2014, the Sewol ferry departed Incheon Harbor on its own, while poor weather compelled other ships to remain in port. Following the disclosure of the iron bars that were intended for the Jeju naval base, allegations are being raised that the ship put to sea rashly in order to meet the construction schedule for the base.
Significantly, suspicions that have been raised over the past two years about a “special relationship” between the Sewol and South Korea‘s National Intelligence Service (NIS) continue to smolder. Employees from Chonghaejin Marine spoke on the phone with the NIS on the day of the Sewol accident and the next day; the Sewol was the only ship among 17 coastal ferries in the 1,000-ton class or above that was supposed to report to the NIS at the time of the accident; and the name of an NIS agent surnamed Seo appears on a document prepared by Chonghaejin Marine when the Sewol ferry was bought from Japan in 2012.
These facts point to the need for an investigation into whether the NIS was connected to the construction of the naval base at Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island, which was fiercely opposed by demonstrators, and whether the NIS gave orders for the ferry to be rashly overloaded in order to keep the base’s construction on schedule.
Determining why and by whom the ferry was overloaded is important because overloading affects a ship’s stability.
“If there’s a lot of cargo, it’s very likely to reduce the ship’s stability. When we ran a simulation of the ferry’s course using the amount of cargo that turned up in the police and prosecutors’ investigation, it did not match the ferry‘s actual wake. The figures would only work with a lower stability, and I thought that we would have to check the amount of cargo when the Sewol was raised,” said Lim Nam-gyun, a professor at Mokpo National Maritime University.
“This shows that even the government is not free of responsibility for overloading the Sewol, which is considered to be a primary cause of the ferry’s capsizing,” said Rep. Hwang Ju-yong on the fact that the Sewol was carrying iron bars intended for the naval base. “We need to ensure that the Sewol Commission has enough time to conduct its investigation so that it can inspect the hull of the ship to determine the cause of the capsizing.”
The commission, which has received notification from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries that its investigative mandate will end on June 30, said that it was planning to submit a petition to the National Assembly on Wednesday to request the appointment of a special prosecutor.
By Kim Mi-young, Kim Jin-cheol and Choi Hyun-june, staff reporters
Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
Photo by Oum Mun-hee/ In solidarity with the people, in Maine, against the Christening of Zumwalt Destroyer on June 18, 2016. To be c-incident, a big international missionary group of 40-50 people visited the village during the human chain around noon. We briefly told them what the photo is for and they were willing to join us ! On the day, there were two other same world missionary groups visiting the village in such a big size and different time. Adding to June 17 banner, we also had a sign in English and Korean which is from the Maine activists’ statement on civil disobedience. It reads: “NO ZUMWALT: We stand in solidarity with people around the world who are protesting at bases where the US will port these warships. Not only would these destroyers kill innocent people but their sonar also severely impacts ocean life [..].”
Hello from Gangjeong village, Jeju Island, South Korea. Despite our struggle against base construction for nearly nine years, there was a ceremony for the completion of the Jeju navy base construction this February. However, despite the navy base, we will do our best to maintain village community. And we cannot get along with the navy as long as it continues to foster conflicts.
We heard that there is a ceremony for the christening of a recently built Zumwalt destroyer in the Bath Iron Works (BIW), Maine, United States on June 18 and that this destroyer is the most threatening naval ship in history, with a production cost of more than 4 billion USD per ship. According to the Korean media, the U.S. Secretary of Defense said that all three Zumwalt-class destroyers, once being made, would be deployed in the East Asia Sea by the end of this year. It is very worrisome as it would intensify tension in Northeast Asia and threaten peace. We heard that you would carry out protest to the christening ceremony on the Zumwalt destroyer and some of you plan non-violent civil disobedience on June 18.
Many of you have visited Gangjeong and have made solidarity with us with deep concern for the struggle in opposition to the Jeju navy base project. Thanks to you, we came to know that our fight is not isolated but connected to all the peace movements in the world. Therefore we send deep gratitude, friendship, and solidarity to you all who are to magnificently expressing faith on peace in protest to the christening of the Zumwalt destroyer. We also resolve that we will endeavor more fully to keep our struggle.
Despite the navy and government manipulation 9 years ago, more than 94% among more than 70% of the electorate of the village strongly opposed the Jeju naval base construction. However, the government ignored villagers’ opinion and enforced base construction destroying democracy, environment and human rights. Further, the government and navy filed a wrongful lawsuit demanding around 3 million USD against the people of Gangjeong and are preparing to evict our community protest site, at the entrance to Gureombi Rock, which is now covered by concrete. The Jeju navy base was built on the destruction of democracy and threatens the peace of northeast Asia. That is why we continuously oppose to it and will do so in the future, too.
The Gangjeong sea with UNESCO-designation and the world’s largest soft coral habitat, a place where the 100 remaining Jeju Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins often came, has changed into a site infested with aegis destroyers and submarines. It is currently only used by military vessels of the South Korean navy. However given that Lisa Franchetti, the ex-commander of US naval forces of South Korea mentioned last August that the US wants to ‘send its ships’ to the ports of South Korea, including the Jeju navy base, it is very worrisome to imagine that the Zumwalt destroyer, the so called most threatening military vessel, might enter the Jeju naval port.
We think peace can be made through peace not through war. Even though the base was completed and oppression on the opponents to the Jeju navy base has been heavy, we will not stop our efforts to oppose militarism and make Gangjeong a ground for life and peace, on behalf of future generations and the living creatures in the sea.
We thank for your noble dedication and solidarity.
In peace,
The Anti-navy base committee of Gangjeong Village, Jeju Island, Korea
Photo by Pang Eunmi on June 17/ Gangjeong people in solidarity with the peace activists in Maine, USA for the June 18 protest against christening of the Zumwalt destroyer, BIWPhoto by Pang Eunmi on June 17/ same as above. In front of the villagers’s tent ‘village hall’ in protest to the navy lawsuit of 3 million USD against Gangjeong people
You’re trashing our home town and we’ll have nowhere to go! Photo: pagansweare.com
By Rose Bridger
June 10, 2016
Communities on Jeju, South Korea’s ‘island of peace’, are resisting a second airport that’s threatening the island’s farming, nature, culture and way of life, writes Rose Bridger. Linked mega-projects include an ‘Air City’ of shopping malls, hotels and offices, plus high-speed transport corridors, luxury resorts, casinos, theme parks and golf courses – all catering to wealthy outsiders.
Government and corporate powers are combining to impose aviation-dependent tourism megaprojects in Jeju. But islanders’ resistance gives hope of a more sustainable tourism, enabling visitors to enjoy the island without contributing to its destruction.
In November 2015, a sudden announcement of a new airport on the South Korea island of Jeju, came as a huge shock for residents of five villages – Onpyeong, Sinsan, Susan 1, Nansan and Goseon.
They were not involved, or even consulted, in the decision-making process about the airport, and are and worried that they face displacement from their lands, homes and villages and total disruption of their lives.
Most of the site, 70%, is a farming area, placing agricultural livelihoods and food production at risk. Little consideration had been given to the impact on rural communities that have thrived in the area for many generations.
Villagers immediately became distressed at the prospect of being forced to relocate, worried that they might receive a low level of compensation that would be insufficient to build a new life.
Situated 100 kilometres off the southern coast of South Korea, with a dramatic volcanic landscape featuring black sand beaches, waterfalls and lava caves, Jeju is already a major tourist attraction.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation stated that the airport, aUS$3.5 billion project to be built by 2025, would enable a dramatic increase in the number of visitors. Initially with one runway the new airport would be large enough to accommodate 25 million passengers annually. If the airport were to operate at full capacity this would constitute an enormous influx of tourists to an island with a population of just over 604,000.
Yet planners envisage that the airport could be expanded to accommodate an even higher number of passengers, with the possible addition of a second runway 20 or 30 years into the future.
The largest project in the island’s history
Governor of Jeju, Won Hee-ryong, said the new airport would be “the largest project in the island’s history.” And it would be the starting point for an even larger megaproject; the province has plans for an ‘Air City’ around the new airport, a complex of shopping malls, convention facilities, hotels and financial centres.
An ‘Air City’ is another name for an ‘aerotropolis’, urban development that is built around an airport and designed to be aviation dependent. Pursued by governments and corporations worldwide, many aerotropolis projects are meeting with resistance from communities facing displacement and destruction of farmland and ecosystems, including in Taipei (Taiwan), Bhogapuram (Andhra Pradesh, India), Kulon Progo (Indonesia), Kilimajaro (Tanzania) and Istanbul.
A second Jeju airport would jeopardise the pristine natural environment that is key to the island’s distinctiveness as a tourist destination. The tranquillity of Sunrise Peak, a 182 metre high cone rising from the sea with a large, green crater on the island’s eastern edge that is UNESCO protected and a particularly iconic visitor attraction, would be ruined if aircraft fly over it.
The area earmarked for the airport has unique ecological and geological features, including 18 subterranean lava tunnels. Honinji Pond, one of the most sacred historical sites, where, according to legend, farming began on the island, is close to the proposed site.
In contrast, various mega tourism projects would be supported by construction of a second airport, most notably Jungmun Tourist Complex and Jeju Myths and History Theme Park. Jungmun Tourist Complex, transformed a small fishing village into one of South Korea’s biggest resorts with upmarket hotels, coachloads of daytrippers, watersports, yachts, shopping, and an 18-hole golf course.
Upon completion Jeju Myths and History Theme Park will be one of South Korea’s largest integrated resorts. Originally conceived as a celebration of Jeju heritage, it was approved in spite of considerable local opposition because the project plans morphed into theme parks based on other ancient cultures such as Persia and the Inca Empire.
There was also disquiet over plans for an underground casino, pursued with a lack of transparency, and concern that little of the profits will reach the community.
Resistance against the new airport
From a provincial government announcement it appeared that a second Jeju airport had already been granted the go-ahead. Banners proclaiming ‘Second Airport Plans Confirmed‘ were displaced in Jeju City. But representatives of communities opposing the airport insisted that the project was not finalised; it had yet to receive the required validation from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the National Assembly.
By late December banners opposing the airport extended 20 kilometres along roads leading to the five affected villages. Hundreds of people, young, old and students, participated in a series of demonstrations against the airport. Protests drew on shamanic traditions, channelling a multitude of spiritual energies including the three founding fathers of the island and Yougdeung, Goddess of the wind and sea.
Resistance was pitted against a considerable weight of pro-airport propaganda. Prominent advertisements extended beyond the affected villages and were highly visible in Jeju City. The media presented reaction to the airport plan as a split of opinion, but the vast majority of locals, who stand to suffer the worst of the negative impacts, were opposed to it.
Unity in resistance against the new airport was still evident in the affected villages in January. Red and yellow protest flags emblazoned with slogans such as “Gieonara!” (Get out!) and “Second Airport Out! Oppose! Stop!” adorned buildings and cars. Protesters challenged the flouting of democratic process.
They blocked the entrance to a briefing meeting, demanding a full public debate and that the full study upon which the site for the airport was selected be made public. Campaign leaders spoke of their concern that the destruction caused by the airport would be compounded by urban sprawl from the ‘Air City’ and vowed to continue their fight for the future of their communities.
Island of peace resists naval base
Jeju islanders have form in sustaining long-term resistance against destructive megaprojects. Construction of an enormous naval base, with space for 24 warships, at the tiny village of Gangjeong on the southern coast of the island. It incorporates infrastructure for mass tourism: a port with space for the largest luxury cruise ships. Due to open in 2017 it is expected to handle 1 million cruise passengers by 2018.
The naval base has met with a nine-year non-violent struggle. Construction went ahead even though the result of a referendum was a resounding ‘no’; 94% of the village population of 1,900 people voted against it.
Rejection of the naval base plan was inevitable. Jeju is widely known as the ‘island of peace’, a culture with deep roots originating in response to the 1948 massacre of between 30,000 and 80,000 people, men, women and children. They were killed by Jeju authorities, at that time under the command of occupying US forces. Brutal repression was triggered by an uprising of locals opposing north-south division of Korea. Bodies were buried in mass graves across the island.
The movement against the naval base opposes militarisation of the island and South Korea, and planned use of the facility by the US military to support its strategic interests in the region. Jeju Naval Base forms part of an arc of US naval and military bases encircling China, aiming to counter the emerging superpower’s military build-up.
Unique marine ecosystems are being destroyed. The sea of Gangjeong is a key habitat for the few remaining Bottlenose dolphins living around Jeju island and the world’s largest soft coral forest began dying after construction commenced in 2011. Marine food sources and fishing livelihoods are being destroyed.
As explosives were laid at the site, to blow up rocks and the sea bed in preparation for construction, a large area of traditional diving grounds, where women have harvested abalone (marine snails) and other shellfish for many generations, was roped off.
Every day, except Sundays, protesters gather at the site entrance, physically blocking bulldozers and delivery of construction equipment such as cement mixers. They have successfully stalled the project many times. Villagers and activists responded to blocking land access to the construction site by taking to the seas, swimming and kayaking, to block cassions and dredging barges and monitor the environmental damage that is being inflicted.
Peaceful protest has been criminalised. About 600 people have been arrested, 400 of them charged with offences, but resistance continues in spite of imposition of fines and imprisonment of two activists. Some anticipate that, if construction of a second Jeju airport goes ahead, an even greater protest movement will rise up against it.
Mega resort complex halted by landowners
Jeju islanders have succeeded in halting construction of a luxury resort and residential complex. The site is in Yerae, Seogwipo City, on the southwest coast of the island. On 30 March 2015, the Supreme Court upheld a suit filed by a group of landowners, overturning land expropriation and requesting cancellation of construction.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the complex had been held on 7th March 2013 and the resort, the largest single foreign investment in the South Korean tourism industry, began to take shape, a major destination targeting northeast Asia. Plans showed that it would be geared towards visitors traveling by air, accessible for over 10 million people via a two hour flight.
The resort complex, called Jeju Airest City, is a joint venture between the Berjaya Group, a Malaysian hotel and resort conglomerate, and a public-private entity, the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC).
A promotional video shows the vision for the project, eulogising Jeju’s pristine environment, then proceeding to illustrate how large areas would be ruined with enormous buildings that supposedly evoke iconic natural features. The focal point, the ‘Casino Town’ complex, features a gigantic tower, the upper reaches vaguely resembling the contours of Sunrise Peak.
Obliteration of natural landscape would be further compounded by construction of the largest shopping mall in Jeju, hotels and condominiums, entertainment venues, corporate premises, a medical centre and a cosmetic surgery centre.
In an interview for an architecture website the Project Director of Berjaya Jeju Resort Limited makes it clear the site for was not just selected for desirability and strategic location, emphasizing support from the government, both national and local, as an important factor, along with various incentives for foreign investors.
Property developers and investors worldwide were so enamoured of Jeju Airest City, that, in 2012, it won a ‘Gold Award for Best Future Mega Project’ at the MIPIM Asia Awards and a 5 Star Award for Best Mixed-use Development at the International Property Awards.
Landowners’ suit upheld the law
The landowners’ suit against Jeju Airest City succeeded in upholding a law stipulating that recreation zone development must contribute to the welfare of residents. The Supreme Court ruled that the project aimed to generate profit for specific parties and that the developer had misled landowners over the use of the site.
Inclusion of luxury condominiums and a casino meant that the project failed to satisfy requirements for serving the public good, and should have been categorised as an ‘amusement park’ rather than a ‘residential type complex’. By not being explicit about its intentions for land usage Berjaya had avoided paying landowners their rightful premium.
Initially, Berjaya ignored the Supreme Court ruling, continuing construction until finally abandoning the project in July 2015. Jeju Airest City had been about 60% completed. Now it lies dormant, but the Jeju province moved to resurrect the project, attempting to push it through the legislature by amending the law to bring management of amusement parks under its auspices.
One of the landowners who refused the increased compensation offer, Kang Min-cheol, chair of Yerae Ecological Village, warned that the resort complex was indicative of a wider picture of inexorable pressure for intensive urban development modelled on Hong Kong and Singapore, urging people to seize the last chance to save Jeju from “reckless development”.
High-speed transport network, tourism hotspot
In February, following the second airport announcement, and in the face of continued resistance against it, another tourism-oriented megaproject plan was announced. A consortium supported by the provincial government called for a high-speed transportation network of rail and bus routes linking Jeju Island’s main commercial and tourism centres.
The scheme raises severe environmental concerns, including the impacts of construction activity and road building. Scope for consulting affected communities will be limited if, as envisaged, design plans are finalised within a matter of weeks.
The proposed route consists of four key nodes. Jeju City would be linked with upcoming tourist hotspots: Seogwipo, Jeju Myths and History Theme Park and the second airport. Amap of the proposed high-speed route indicates plans for an aerotropolis around the second airport site, where the only words written in English appear: ‘Air City’. The high-speed transportation network would support development and growth of the second airport and an aerotropolis surrounding it.
Aviation growth could also be served by a broader programme to make Jeju a luxury tourism hotspot. Announced by Governor Won Hee-ryong at the beginning of March, the focal point is a so-called ‘celebrity town’, provisionally named ‘Star Village’, in Seogwipo.
Won Hee-ryong indicated special backing for the aviation sector, pointing out the high fuel use of aircraft and stating that financial support from central government would be required. He also called on President Park Geun-hye to take steps that would serve to expedite development of a second Jeju airport: minimising the assessment review period and allocating $4.1 million for a development plan.
Government and corporate powers are combining to impose aviation-dependent tourism megaprojects in Jeju, posing grave threats to the environment and cultural heritage.
But islanders’ track record of resistance gives hope that a path for more sustainable tourism can be forged, enabling visitors to enjoy the island without unwittingly contributing to destruction of its treasures.
On the 100 bows and dances mentioned in the main content of the article, click respectively here and here.
By Ann Wright
The South Korean Navy filed a civil lawsuit against 116 individual anti-base protesters and five groups including the Gangjeong Village Association, demanding $3 million in compensation for alleged construction delays caused by protests over the past eight years.
In one of the longest, strongest protests against more military bases in our world, the villagers of Gangjeong, Jeju Island, South Korea have achieved international recognition of their spiritual and corporal resistance and persistence in trying to preserve unique natural features of their community, the Gureombi Rocks.
Samsung was the primary contractor for the $1 BILLION dollar project and who filed a lawsuit against the government for slow down of work caused by the protests. Samsung’s profit margin was impacted by the protests!
Villagers are very angry about the lawsuit that, if upheld, would bankrupt everyone named. To show its displeasure to the Navy, the village moved its City Hall to a tent on the main road across from the entrance to the base. The Vice-Mayor holds city meetings in the tent and sleeps there!
Lawyers for the activists wrote that the navy’s lawsuit is “an unjustified declaration of war against the people. When the reckless development of the state and large construction companies threaten the right of citizens to a peaceful existence, the right of citizens to oppose this must be guaranteed as their natural and constitutional right since sovereignty rests with the people. To condemn this action as illegal is to delegitimize the foundation of democracy.”
To buy off public support for the $1 BILLON dollar unnecessary naval base, the South Korean government built a huge sports complex for use by the local community. The facilities are located on the upper part of the area condemned for the naval base. The area has a track and field sports stadium, a 50-meter indoor swimming pool, indoor gymnasium, library, computer center, two restaurants, a 7/11 convenience store and a hotel on the top floor.
Villagers commented that major sports facilities were built in the nearby city of Segiwopo and have been used by them for years. They say that these facilities will not make up for the loss of the cultural and spiritual areas dynamited and concreted forever.
That’s why the protests continue at Gangjeong Village!
100 Bows Morning Vigil
Every morning for the past eight years, at 7am, rain, snow or good weather, Gangjeong Village activists reflect through 100 bows to the universe on their lives of activism for a peaceful world while confronting the war machine at one of its gates.
The thoughts represented in 100 Bows span all religions and spiritual traditions. A few of the thoughts include:
1. While holding in my heart that truth gives freedom to life I make my first bow.
7. As I hold in my heart that possessions create other possessions and wars only give birth to other wars and cannot solve problems, I make my seventh bow.
12. As I hold in my heart that the way to life-peace is to accept the world’s pain as my own pain I make my twelfth bow.
55. As I resolve to let go of chauvinistic nationalism which makes other countries insecure, I make my fifty-fifth bow.
56. As I resolve to let go of the superiority of my religion which makes other faiths insecure, I make my fifty-sixth bow.
72. As I resolve to respect all lives without any prejudice and bias, I make seventy-second bow.
77. As I remember that the beginning of violence starts from my opinionated ideas and hatred towards others because of differences, I make my seventy-seventh bow.
100. As I pray that the light that I kindle leads all sentient beings to live in peace and happiness, I make my one-hundredth bow.
One day I was at Gangjeong Village this week we endured a cold wind and rain for the noon time “Human Chain” at the entrance of the Naval Base at Gangjeong Village. The winds were fierce — the southern coast is known for its very strong winds and one of the reasons why many were perplexed that the naval base was proposed for an area of the island where high winds and high seas are most frequent around the island.
Other days I’ve been here, the weather was nice for the singing and dancing in the roadway to remind the South Korean Navy that the opposition to the construction of the naval base has not ended, despite the construction being complete.
The great spirit continues to challenge the navy base and militarism with the noon dance. For those who have visited Gangjeong, both events and the sounds remain with us — as we remember that each day dedicated activists in Gangjeong Village continue the struggle against militarism.
Navy Week on Jeju Island — Finding Part of Gureombi Rock
While I was in Gangjeong Village, the South Korean Navy had “Navy Week on Jeju Island.” Navy weeks are designed as a public relations event to get favorable public opinion. Most activists would not have been allowed on the navy base even if they had wanted to go — which they did not want to do. I wanted to see where the massive amount of concrete poured into the area had gone — so I produced my passport and I and another recent arrival were passed onto the base. We saw Aegis missile destroyer ships, helicopters, landing craft and demonstrations of martial arts.
But the most important thing we saw was what we think is the only remaining part of Gureombi Rock. Behind the first building on the left side of the main road past the entrance gate, is a small lake with one side of what appears to be a very small piece of the Gureombi Rock! The other side of the lake is composed of rock fill, but the northern side seems to be original rock.
The coastline surrounding Gangjeong Village consisted of one contiguous volcanic rock called Gureombi which was a 1.2 kilometer-long rock formed by lava flowing into the sea and rocks rising from the seabed. The estuary informed in this area was Jeju Island’s only rocky wetland and acted as home to several endangered species and soft coral reefs.
In 1991, the Jeju Provincial government designated the coastline surrounding Gangjeong Village an Absolute Conservation Area (ACA). In 2002, the area where the naval base construction is currently ongoing was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Conservation Area. In December 2009, Jeju Island Governor Kim Tae-hwan nullified the ACA designation to proceed with the naval base construction. The Jeju Branch of the Korean Federation of Environmental Movements have criticized the Navy’s Environmental Impact Assessment noting that several endangered species are absent from the report.
During its recent archeological excavation of the Gangjeong coastal area the Jeju Cultural Heritage Research Institute discovered artifacts dating back to 4-2 B.C.E. inside the naval base construction zone. According to the director of the Korean Cultural Heritage Policy Research Institute only 10-20% of the site was dug up during construction, violating the cultural properties protection law.
At a talk that I gave two days later, many from the village discussed how to ensure that the tiny portion of Gureombi Rock remains intact and continues its cultural and spiritual ties to Gangjeong Village.
I mentioned that in some military bases in the United States, there are plaques to remind us of those who lived there before the U.S. government took over their lands.
And even in the family housing area on the naval base, there are two murals that represent the indigenous peoples.
We hope that some type of mural will be created on the naval base depicting the importance of Gureombi Rocks so that hopefully the remaining rocks will not be blown up or concreted over!
Peace Farming
How do anti-war, peace activists in Gangjeong village support themselves? Some work in the Peace Farm Cooperative! One rainy morning Joan of Ark took us to two peace cooperative farms. The first was in the protected, covered greenhouse where they grow corn and beans-I asked how big the greenhouse was and she said 800 pyeongs — apparently a word indicating how big a grave should be — the length of a person’s body. An interesting way of measuring!
Then we went out of the village to their second farm in a …cemetery — or actually next to a cemetery where they grow corn and peanuts. The grass in the cemetery is allowed to grow over the gravestones and once a year a family may come to clear out the area around the gravestone. After 30 years, the family may have the ashes removed to another place.
Currie, an activist from the US, mentioned that in the US, some people want to be buried in a natural area where grass and weeds are allowed to grow, not in a formal cemetery.
Customers buy produce online from the Peace Cooperative!
The St. Francis Peace Center in Gangjeong Village has a remarkable history. In the 1970s, Father Mun was jailed for his protests during the military dictatorship and 30 years later he was awarded compensation for wrongful arrest and years in jail. With the compensation money, he purchased land overlooking the pale where the naval base was to be constructed. The Bishop of Jeju Island decided to help build a peace center on the land — and now a wonderful place for those working for peace and social justice is in Gangjeong Village! It is a beautiful building with a 4th floor viewing area so the eyes of the peace house can alert the community to what the war machine is doing!
Ann Wright is a 29 year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March, 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December, 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book “Dissent: Voices of Conscience.” (www.voicesofconscience.com). She has written frequently on rape in the military.
Announcement Regarding the Change in Venue of IPPFIG Film Screenings Originally Scheduled to Take Place at Seogwipo Art Hall
The organizers of the 1st International Peace Film Festival in Gangjeong (IPFFIG) wish to notify all those concerned that we have been given no choice but to relocate the screenings that had been scheduled to take place at Seogwipo Arts Center. Although it had been one of our main venues planned for the festival, the Arts Center has abruptly withdrawn permission to use its space, and it thus canceled an existing agreement negotiated with IPFFIG representatives several months earlier.
This was a hastily announced decision by the Arts Center that we believe is deeply unjust and unprofessional. We will seek legal redress for this unacceptable situation, but in the meantime we have resolved to ensure that all selected festival films will be screened instead in Gangjeong Village.
Regarding the context of this controversy, Seogwipo Arts Center is a public space for culture and art in Seogwipo City, which is run by the local government and supported by our taxes. Since last December, we have been in close contact with Seogwipo Arts Center, and we completed all the necessary steps in the application process to arrange for screenings to take place at that venue for the duration of the festival.
More recently, we were contacted by officials at the Seogwipo Arts Center with unreasonable requests that were evidently an attempt to vet our selection of films, a form of censorship which we resisted. While we were busy preparing for our official press conference that would be held in Seoul on April 6th, the Arts Center officials hounded us with requests to receive our list of the films. Eventually, we were required to send them that information by March 20th, after which point the officials pressured us further, asking for a detailed description of each film. Even though we were concerned that they were attempting to limit freedom of expression, we submitted the descriptions of the films, hoping for the best result. We waited for their response, but we did not receive a clear answer from the venue.
On April 5th, the day before our press conference, a member of IPFFIG’s Program Committee finally heard from an Arts Center official, who explained that the reason for the delay in their decision was because the program included a few films which criticize the government’s policies and also because the mention of Gangjeong Village in the event’s name is itself political in character. We were appalled by this unfair pressure from the government and made this issue official by notifying the press about this development. It became national news and has been regarded as part of the Korean government’s ongoing repression of the cultural scene in the same way that organizers of the Busan International Film Festival have been embroiled in a censorship controversy involving the Busan local government since last year.
Despite the public pressure in support of IPPFIG, Seogwipo Arts Center notified us on April 12th with their final decision to withdraw permission to use its space.
The International Peace Film Festival in Gangjeong denounces such censorship of the arts and the unjust violation of the right to freedom of expression. Accordingly, we are preparing to take legal measures, including a petition for a provisional injunction that would require the Seogwipo Arts Center to take responsibility for all the damages it inflicted upon us in this process.
We believe that gathering to watch films means engaging with urgent social issues and allowing free expression of thought and opinion in response to our shared social and cultural milieu. The International Peace Film Festival in Gangjeong is an event for those who love film, appreciate culture, and think seriously about the challenges facing our society. We seek to embrace the social suffering of Gangjeong Village and Jeju Island and, through an engagement with provocative films, to open a space for experiencing emotions and conversations about social conflict and also about possibilities for the future. Therefore, we are profoundly honored to hold this film festival in Gangjeong Village, as we do our utmost to establish it as an enriching cultural event for Jeju people who yearn for peace.
April 15, 2016
International Peace Film Festival in Gangjeong
• 관련 기사 :
[서귀포신문/기고] 예술을 유린하는 비예술의 극치 (김경훈)
Regarding the Seogwipo Arts Center’s April 12th withdrawal of permission to use its screening hall during IPFFIG, the village association also made a statement (see the original Korean statement, here) three days later. It expressed its outrage, saying “while the village was still recovering from shock and fury because of the navy’s US $2.9 million, [the Seogwipo Arts Center’s] behavior is like adding oil to the fire or pouring hot water on a wound.”
According to the Village Association, the Arts Center gave the rationale for its rejection “that the festival has been organized through prior discussion between the IPFFIG organizing committee and anti-base committee of Gangjeong village; that it is a political event because it calls for the demilitarization of Jeju as “the Peace Island’; that seven films among those to be screened are about Gangjeong; and that some works oppose the government policies since they are either critical of the Pyeongchang Olympics; opposed to nuclear power plants; or warn the danger of GMOs.’
The Village Association concludes that the Seogwipo Arts Center failed to honor its commitment to IPFFIG and went against a signed agreement because of a biased political judgment that discriminates against them, which violates the spirit and mission of the Arts Center as a public venue intended for use by citizens.
In honor of the Global Day Against Military Spending (formerly April 15th, now April 8-18th), here’s an essay about one of the founding organizers of GDAMS, the International Peace Bureau, which named Gangjeong Village on South Korea’s Jeju Island as a co-recipient of its prestigious annual peace prize last fall. A slightly shorter version of the essay will appear in the festival program for the upcoming International Peace Film Festival in Gangjeong, April 23-26th.
The other prize co-recipient is Lampedusa Island in Italy, and it’s meaningful that the IPB has honored ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances in their own communities: in Gangjeong – at the crossroads of increasingly dangerous regional tensions in Northeast Asia – and on Lampedusa – located between Europe and Africa as the primary intercontinental entry point for migrant and refugees.
Although the IPB described the peace movement in Gangjeong Village as an “exemplary non‐violent struggle at a crucial time,” the villagers there have recently been sued for US$2.9 million by the South Korean Navy, which has criminalized their protest. It’s a move that could destroy the democratically elected self-governing body of a centuries-old agrarian community. I’ll post more on this separately, as advocates of the villagers are working to get the lawsuit dropped.
If you are in Korea, please try to make it to IPFFiG, which takes place in Gangjeong Village. As a non-commercial film festival, all the screenings are free, and there will be two public forums, one on Okinawa and Gangjeong, and another on the situation in Northeast Asia. This essay introduces a festival screening that features two films, one about Lampedusa and another about Gangjeong. (by Nan Kim)
……………………………………………………………………………….
“Peacemakers in the Global Public Eye: The Island Communities of Gangjeong and Lampedusa”
by Nan Kim
“…[W]e are in total support of the villagers of Gangjeong and their friends and neighbors who are involved in a non-violent struggle to protect their homes, their environment, their heritage, and their livelihoods from the huge military naval base being constructed on such a stunning coastline. It is shameful to see such a massive military installation despoiling a beautiful world heritage site…. In the long run this military base could well be abandoned. By that time it may have been responsible for horrendous acts of violence and death. Either way the villagers of Gangjeong will be recognized by historians and the wider world to have been right to oppose its construction.
“Please be aware that we will continue to keep in close contact with the peace campaigners and work to ensure that they (and the South Korean authorities) remain in the global public eye.”
– Colin Archer, Secretary General of the International Peace Bureau. Excerpt from an open letter to South Korean President Park Geun-hye, sent on February 11, 2015.
Last August, Gangjeong Village received a rare honor from one of the most eminent peace organizations in the world. The International Peace Bureau – based in Geneva with 300 member organizations in 70 countries throughout the world – selects a person or organization each year to receive an esteemed prize that recognizes outstanding work for peace, disarmament, and/or human rights. In 2015, that award was shared by Gangjeong and another small community, the residents of Lampedusa Island off the southern coast of Italy. The IPB’s announcement described how these two island communities “in different circumstances, show proof of a profound commitment to peace and social justice.”
Located over 9000 kilometers apart, Gangjeong and Lampedusa face challenges quite distinct from each other [for more on Lampedusa, see the IPB announcement below], but the IPB’s announcement of this shared award emphasized the important connections between their respective situations: “Not only do we recognise the common humanity of those who resist without weapons the forces of domination in their own island. We make the argument that public resources should not be spent on massive military installations that only increase the tension between nations in the region; rather they should be devoted to meeting human need.”
In highlighting Gangjeong villagers’ opposition to the newly constructed Jeju Naval Base, the IPB applauded the exceptional bravery of ordinary people in sustaining their struggle for defending peace despite prolonged hardships and repression. It states, “IPB makes the award in order to increase the visibility of this exemplary non‐violent struggle at a crucial time. It takes great courage to physically oppose the government’s growing aggressive and militaristic policies, especially as they are backed by, and at the service of, the Pentagon. It takes even more courage to maintain that struggle over a period of many years.”
Established in Switzerland 115 years ago, the International Peace Bureau (originally called “Bureau international permanent de la Paix”) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910. The IPB’s annual prize is named after Seán MacBride (1904-1988), a distinguished Irish statesman and Nobel Peace Laureate (1974), who served as a visionary leader in the global peace movement as co-founder of Amnesty International, Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists, and the Chairman and later President of IPB.
Gangjeong and Lampedusa now share the honor of a symbolic connection with MacBride’s legacy. In light of the pervasive impact of the Cold War on the Korean Peninsula, it is significant to note that during the same year that MacBride won the Lenin Peace Prize (a prize sponsored by socialist states as an alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize) in 1975, he was also the first non-American to receive the American Medal of Freedom. Despite these exalted honors bestowed by rival states during the Cold War period, MacBride maintained his independence as an advocate for peace, denouncing both the Western military-industrial complex while also vehemently protesting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and martial law in Poland.
Until recently, the IPB prize has been awarded only to individuals or organizations. The only precedent for an island community to receive the MacBride Prize came the prior year in 2014, when the IPB honored the people and government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. That award was in recognition of the legal case submitted by the RMI to the International Court of Justice, against all nine states with nuclear weapons, for failure to honor their disarmament commitments. For Gangjeong and Lampedusa to win this prize last year therefore reflects a commendable trend where the IPB has begun recognizing the difficult and courageous efforts made by ordinary people working among their local communities, where their everyday struggles for the sake of peace have taken on global significance of the highest order.
The prize was formally awarded on October 23, 2015, in Padua, Italy. At the ceremony, Gangjeong’s co-Vice Mayor Go Kwon Il received the medal on behalf of the village, and the island of Lampedusa was represented by Mayor Giusi Nicolini. The awarding of these prizes occurred as part of “Peace Paths,” the IPB’s annual conference, which in 2015 was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the entry into force of the Charter of the United Nations. The “Peace Paths” conference was co-organized by the Human Rights Centre of the University of Padua and the UNESCO Chair in Human Rights, Democracy and Peace.
Recipients of the non-monetary prize each receive the IPB medal made of “Peace Bronze,” an alloy created from disarmed and recycled components of American nuclear weapon systems. The Seán MacBride Prize is also made possible by the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, whose members have sponsored the arrangements for the medal every year since the inception of the Prize in 1992.
Thanks to the International Peace Film Festival in Gangjeong, Lampedusa and Gangjeong again join together in the global public eye. Through the screening of two compelling documentary films, “Persisting Dreams” (dir. Côme Ledésert, 2014) and “Oyster” (dir. Yoonsoo Lim, 2012), this special program focuses on the stories of residents of these two island communities, which now share a profound connection both in history and in solidarity for peace.
Professor Nan Kim is a member of IPFFIG’s Advisory Committee. She is Associate Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Regional Editor of the Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, and a Steering Committee member of the Alliance of Scholars Concerned about Korea (ASCK).
LAMPEDUSA is a small island in the Mediterranean and is the southernmost part of Italy. Being the closest part of the territory to the African coastline, it has been since the early 2000s a primary European entry point for migrants and refugees. The numbers of persons arriving has been rapidly increasing, with hundreds of thousands at risk while travelling, and over 1900 deaths in 2015 alone.
The people of the island of Lampedusa have given the world an extraordinary example of human solidarity, offering clothing, shelter and food to those who have arrived, in distress, on their shores. The response of the Lampedusans stands out in stark contrast to the behaviour and official policies of the European Union, apparently intent only on reinforcing their borders in the attempt to keep these migrants out. This ‘Fortress Europe’ policy is becoming more and more militarized.
Aware of its multi‐layered culture, which epitomizes the evolution of the Mediterranean region where over the centuries different civilizations have blended and built on each others’ developments, with mutual enrichment, the island of Lampedusa also shows the world that a culture of hospitality and respect for human dignity are the most effective antidotes to nationalism and religious fundamentalism.
To give but one example of the heroic actions of the people of Lampedusa, let us recall the events of the night of 7‐8 May 2011. A boat full of migrants crashed into a rocky outcrop, not far from the shore. Although it was in the middle of the night, the inhabitants of Lampedusa turned out in their hundreds to form a human chain between the shipwreck and the coast. That night alone more than 500 people, including many children, were carried to safety.
At the same time the people of the island are very clear that the problem is a European one, not theirs alone. In November 2012, Mayor Nicolini sent an urgent appeal to Europe’s leaders. She expressed her outrage that the European Union, which had just received the Nobel Peace Prize, was ignoring the tragedies occurring on its Mediterranean borders.
The IPB believes that the dramatic situation in the Mediterranean – constantly visible in the mass media ‐ must be at the top of Europe’s urgent priorities. Much of the problem springs from social injustices and inequalities resulting in conflicts in which the West has – over centuries ‐‐ played an aggressive role. We recognise that there are no easy solutions, but as a guiding principle, Europe should be honouring the ideals of human solidarity, over and above the cynical considerations of governments and profit/power/resource‐seeking entities. When Europe contributes to the ruining of the livelihoods of people, as for instance in Iraq and Libya, Europe will have to find ways to help rebuild those livelihoods. It should be below the dignity of Europe to spend billions on military interventions, and yet not to have the resources available to meet the basic needs. The most vital question is how to develop cooperation between people of goodwill on both sides of the Mediterranean in a long‐term, constructive, gender‐sensitive and sustainable process.
