Save Jeju Now

No War Base on the Island of Peace

  • Korean Lawyers Defend Village on Jeju Island from Samsung & Navy

     

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    Image by Oum Mun-Hee/For more photos, see here. Villagers’ press conference in front of the Island government hall on March 30 to demand the navy to drop down the unjust suit on reimbursement against people.

     

    The Navy’s damage claim against Gangjeong residents is a declaration of war against its own citizens

    By Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun)

    The ROK Navy is claiming a sum of 3.4 billion won [approximately 3 million US dollars] in damages against 116 individuals including residents and clergy and 5 organizations. The Navy is demanding this money in compensation for the losses incurred by the construction company due to a 14-month delay in construction in the naval base due to residents, etc. obstructing the work. We (Minbyun) found that this case is an unjustified declaration of war against the people.

    If the state suffered property loss, would it be fair to take individual citizens to trial to claim reparations? In pursuing its objective, the state has the power to seek criminal punishment and to take many steps including administrative measures, fines, penalties, non-compliance charges, etc. and the imposition of various administrative monetary sanctions. If such a state were to suffer financial losses due to a delay in construction and were to claim compensation from individual citizens, this could be used as a weapon to block all those who are critical of any state policy in the future. In this kind of situation, who would be able to oppose state policy?

    When ominous heavy equipment destroys the foundation of life with no hesitation, citizens have no other power but to use their own bodies to stand in front of it. Before carrying out so-called ‘state policy’, the state should listen carefully to its citizens’ voices. 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.

    The insistence that the construction delay was caused by residents is groundless. There are multiple complex reasons for the delay in the construction schedule.The principal reasons include disputes and controversy over the legality of the work, suspension orders issued over illegal construction work, losses and damage to structures caused by the natural environment, the strong wind and waves of Gangjeong’s coastline, Typhoon Bolaven, Typhoon Neoguri, etc. It is sophistry and exaggeration to claim that the residents blocking construction vehicles from entering and leaving the base for only a few minutes at a time caused the delay.

    The responsibility lies solely with the state for threatening citizens’ right to a peaceful existence and causing their pain by enforcing this wrongful government policy. There is no one else as responsible for this as the government. The state rather than the residents bears the responsibility. Without mentioning a word about their own responsibility, it is the height of irresponsibility for the state to shift the blame for the delays in the construction onto individual citizens. The state that should be protecting the basic rights of its citizens is instead declaring war against them.

    The Navy read and copied an enormous amount of criminal case records in the prosecution office in order to prepare this civil case. Individual criminal case files contain very important personal information so they only can be provided to a third party based on legal grounds. For example, in cases where the parties have applied for a trial or where the need to conduct an investigation is recognized, it is possible through a decision of the court. Even before the Navy can properly file a lawsuit on legal grounds, it must reveal whether it copied individual criminal case records.

    Minbyun defines this claim for reimbursement not as one simple trial but as a provisional seizure used to strangle workers. Like this, it has a historical connection to the suppression of labor. It has a dishonest intention to extend dangerous statism to the judiciary. Minbyun will organize a legal team to fight for the 121 people and will make efforts and take measures to inform the public both domestically and internationally about the unconstitutionality and illegality of this case. The state should stop threatening citizens with this case. It should get out from behind this case and get down on its knees in front of its citizens and apologize for causing them pain.

    March 30, 2016

    Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun)
    Han Taek-geun, Chairperson

    Take Action: Please call the South Korean embassy or consulate nearest you and complain about this outrageous action to destroy Gangjeong village. Here is the link to find the ROK consulate nearest you in the US. Do it today!

     

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    To see the original Korean commentary by MINBYUN, see here. The  translation above was done in collaboration by the members of the Gangjeong Village International team and posted here under the permission of the MINBYUN.

    The above is also re-blogged from here.

    To see the article on villagers’ conference on March 30, see here

  • Navy files suit for losses against locals that opposed naval base in Jeju

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    A photo by Gangjeong Village/ Press conference by Gangjeong villagers held in front of the Jeju Island provincial government building (South Korea). The banner said “Navy killed all the Gangjeong villagers and then just take away the property! You have already taken away our land, destroyed our community and now even try to take all our property away!”

     

    Activists, civic and religious groups accused of causing loss of taxpayer money for delaying construction in Gangjeong Village 

    The South Korean Navy is demanding damages from local groups and residents in Jeju Island for “taxpayer losses” incurred by their opposition to the construction of a new naval base.

    The groups targeted include the village association of Gangjeong in the city of Seogwipo.

    “On Mar. 28, we filed a suit with Seoul Central District Court for the exercise of indemnity rights for the Jeju multi-purpose port complex,” the Navy announced in a press release on Mar. 29.

    “The purpose of this exercise of indemnity rights is to hold those responsible accountable for losses in taxpayer money from among the additional costs of 27.5 billion won (US $23.8 million) incurred due to the [14-month] delay in the port’s construction period owing to illegal obstruction of operations,” it added.

    The total compensation claim amounted to 3.4 billion won (US$2.9 million) of the additional costs, with the Gangjeong village association listed among the defendants alongside five groups and 117 residents and activities who took action to oppose the naval base construction.

    Last year, Samsung C&T demanded 36 billion won (US$31.2 million) in compensation from the Navy for delays in the construction schedule; a figure of 27.5 billion won (US$23.8 million) was finally settled on after mediation by the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. Mediation is currently under way for Daelim Construction’s claim for 23 billion won (US$19.9 million) in compensation.

    The Navy called the claim a “legitimate measure for legal responsibility for causing construction delays and losses in taxpayer money through their illegal obstruction of a state effort undertaken according to lawful procedures.”

    In addition to holding residents and activists accountable for the additional costs incurred by their opposition, the Navy‘s decision to pursue the claim following the base’s completion on Feb. 26 appears intended to send the message that those who oppose state efforts in general will face legal action.

    The Gangjeong village association responded with indignation.

    “We intend to discuss this with residents at the village level,” said association head Cho Gyeong-cheol, adding that legal professionals were being consulted on a response.

    “The same Navy that said it would be ‘working with residents’ is now demanding compensation, and it hasn’t even been that long since they finished. It’s shameful to see the Navy going on about the ‘shared benefits for residents,’” Cho said.

    Hong Gi-ryong, the head of the provincial countermeasures committee‘s executive committee, said it “makes no sense for the Navy to demand compensation when resident lives have been devastated.”

    Hong went on to say residents and groups planned a joint legal response with the group MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society.

    In 2007, the administration selected Gangjeong as the site of its naval base construction despite procedural objections over an ad hoc general village association meeting attended only by a portion of residents. The construction went ahead despite the objections of local residents, activists, and religious workers, and was finally completed in February. Around 600 people were prosecuted over obstruction, with some 400 million won (US $346,000) in total fines to residents and activists.

    Take Action:  Please call the South Korean embassy or consulate nearest you and complain about this outrageous action to destroy Gangjeong village.  Here is the link to find the ROK consulate nearest you in the US.  Do it today!
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    Rebogged from here.

    Related post is here.

    For more photos, see here and here

  • Gangjeong Villagers billed 3 MILLION USD by the Korean Navy

    On 29th of March, the Korean Navy revealed that on the day before, it filed a complaint to Seoul Central District Court regarding the delay of the Jeju Naval Base construction, and demanded recompense.

    This order was given to Gangjeong Village Association, 5 related organizations, and 120 individual personnel, all implicated in interrupting the base’s construction.

    As a result, the date of infrastructural completion was delayed by 1 year and 2 months, while racking up an additional 23 million USD for the construction’s fee.

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    The Navy demanded the Gangjeong Villagers to take about 3 million dollars out of that 2 billion as their own burden. This order was based on the hefty loss of public tax revenue used to build the base as evidence. Using this logic, the Navy concluded the command as morally just and legally sound, and placed the activists with the legal blame that came with the supposed financial responsibility.

    This obviously has stirred massive indignation among the villagers and ignited another conflict with state actors. Why using public revenue to fund the base’s construction in the first place is not a point of legal and moral concern or how demanding about 3 million USD to peace activists, mandarin farmers and fishermen is anything but rational and just are among the thousands of actual questions that are not raised.

    But for now, how to address this massive financial burden is the primary question on everyone’s mind, and it’ll need another consolidated spirit to overcome one of the biggest obstacles yet that has descended upon the village.

     

     

  • Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly Newsletter |February 2016 Issue

    February 2016-Page 1In this February Edition:

    A Declaration for Life, Peace and Culture Village; Interview with Gangjeong villagers; Remembering Father Bix; International Conference on Women, Peace and Security, Philippines; Hotbed of irregularities at the Jeju naval base construction; The Police’s Reasonable Judgment?; War Tax Resistance; trial update; The Precarious Spring of Korea; The first International Peace Film Festival In Gangjeong(IPFFIG); Fr. Mun Jeong-Hyeon’s speech trip to NY; Gangjeong Friends Candle vigil in Jeju City; and more.

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  • Declaration for Life, Peace, and Culture Village

    Web-featured
    Image by Lee Wooki, Feb. 26, 2016

    A full translation from people’s statement on Feb. 25, 2016,  here

    Our Position on the Jeju Navy Base Construction Completion Ceremony

     

    1. On Feb. 26, the Jeju navy base construction completion ceremony is held in Gangjeong Village, land of life. It is clear that the Jeju navy base cannot create an era of peace. The Jeju navy base cannot but be an outpost which threatens the peace of northeast Asia, amid conflict for military domination between the United States and China. Rather, it would be a seed of international conflict and would trigger an arms race. Peace should be kept by peace. The Jeju navy base cannot be the answer for the peace of Northeast Asia.
    1. The completed Jeju navy base was built by merciless state violence which trampled villagers’ human rights and the sacred natural environment. The struggle for the last nine years has been a step towards true peace. During this time, villagers have have made efforts to counter the war base built of cement over the remains of Gureombi Rock where Gangjeong villagers had shared the breath of peace.  It has been a history of peace versus state violence pushed through under the guise of a ‘national policy project,’ ignoring even the basic procedures of democracy. We will continue to build this history of peace even after the Jeju navy base construction completion ceremony.
    1. The Jeju navy base, built through the trampling of villagers’ human rights, has ruthlessly destroyed the Gangjeong village community. The responsibility to restore the community lies on the central and island governments which have unilaterally pushed ahead with the Jeju naval base construction. However, neither the central nor island governments have ever made efforts to restore the peaceful community of Gangjeong. The government should make an apology now for the Jeju naval base construction which was continued while the will of Gangjeong villagers was ignored. Won Hee-Ryong, the Jeju Island governor has emphasized in words only the examination of the truth, conflict resolution, and community restoration. From the point of view of the villagers he should suggest a genuine solution. The navy has merely repeated its words that they would support the collection of villagers’ opinions and the resolution of conflicts. It can only fancy itself to have played the role of ‘conflict inducer,’ ignoring the villagers’ opinions, enforcing crackdowns like carrying out military operations, threatening and splitting villagers. How can a military which is not even loved by the local residents be a military for the citizens?

    4. Now by the power of Gangjeong villagers themselves, we would make Gangjeong village to be reborn as a ‘village of life and peace,’ not as a ‘military base icon.’ The declaration of this ‘village for life, peace, and culture’ was held before the navy ceremony on Feb. 26. It is the villagers’ noble step for true peace as well as the start of the restoration of the Gangjeong community. And all of us who pray for the peace of Gangjeong will strengthen our solidarity bear the blossoms of the flower of peace. In resistance we will remember and continue our actions and cries for peace in order to stop the Jeju naval base for even one minute, one second. The Jeju naval base was built with the backing of state violence. We will cover it over with the wave of peace.

     

    Feb. 25, 2016

    Gangjeong Village Association, Jeju Pan-Island Committee for Stopping the Military Base and for Realization of the Peace Island, and National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing the Naval Base in Jeju Island

     

     

     

  • Navy conducts anti-North exercise near new Jeju base (Yonhap news)

     

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    SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) — The Navy conducted its first military exercise near its new base on the southern island of Jeju on Wednesday to improve readiness to intercept suspicious vessels and submarine infiltration by North Korea.

    The Aegis destroyer Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong and three other Navy and Coast Guard vessels joined the drill which took place in the waters off the newly opened naval base on the south coast of Jeju Island, the Navy said in a statement.

    One submarine and two seaborne helicopters also took part in the exercise held earlier in the day.

    The military assets were deployed to intercept an enemy vessel in the scenario-based exercise where the Navy was ordered to stop and search a North Korean ship passing through the area with a load of weapons of mass destruction.

    The naval forces also demonstrated an operation to intercept the infiltration of a North Korean submarine, according to the Navy.

    “Through the latest exercise which the Navy conducted on the occasion of the Jeju private-military port’s completion, the Navy reaffirmed its determination to safeguard South Korea’s maritime life line,” the Navy said in the statement.

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    The construction of the naval base on Jeju makes it possible for the Navy to deploy military forces more promptly and provided a strategic sea stronghold to protect the main maritime traffic route towards the south.

    After 23 years of preparations and having spent more than 1 trillion won (US$810 million), the Navy opened the seaport base last week on the southern coast of Jeju.

    The new base is capable of docking 20 combat vessels and two cruise ships simultaneously.

    Navy officials have said the new facility will dramatically shorten maritime forces’ travel time to strategically important maritime hotspots.

    pbr@yna.co.kr

    (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/03/02/0200000000AEN20160302004200315.html?utm_content=bufferdfed9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer)

    photos by Mpark.

  • Jeju Naval Base’s Completion + South Korean Anti-terrorism Bill

    Video and report by Grace

    “On Feb 26 Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-An visited the naval base opening ceremony. On his way in and out of the base the innocent passersby near the gate were captured by the large number of police and forcefully removed from the road without any notice. The police chief said it was for the safety measures, but the brutality of the operation was only the case of police abuse of power. It seemed that the new controversial anti-terror bill in South Korea had already been put in practice in Gangjeong”

    The completion ceremony of Jeju’s naval base took place on February 26th, nearly 9 years after the confirmation of its construction by the state government. Since then, activists and local villagers have obstructed the progress of its development, facing policy brutality and harsh physical and financial discipline along the way. February 26th was no exception, as showcased by treatments of the activists that day in the video.

     

    Not all was a display of primitivism, however. On the same day, the Gangjeong villagers held a memorial ritual right across from the base’s entrance. Under the totem pole, they vowed with the signal that they will protect the village from external forces.

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    In the middle of the ritual is of course, the village head Jo Kyung Chul (조경철), who recently gave a statement to Hankyoreh news that when he saw the completion of the base, he felt “prostrated, a sense of injustice through the continuous opposition,” while the villagers have retained lasting “disbelief and hostility in the government and the military.”

    This division between the people and the government is as deep as the divide in Korean politics as a whole. Both divisions have prompted the opposition to obstruct the formation of a dangerous creation. For the latter, that is the anti-terrorism bill that has recently been introduced by the ruling Saenuri (conservative) party. This anti-terrorism bill has been promoted in reaction to the recent nuclear developments (or its rhetoric at least) from the North. If passed through, the legislative act will endow the National Intelligence Service (NIS) unprecedented power spy in detail the lives of South Koreans.

    What monitoring its domestic populations has to do with prohibiting North Korean nuclear tests and development is a wonder of logic. Opposition party members have taken upon this improbable nexus to challenge the bill through filibuster. This method has not been utilized since 1969, which sheds light to how controversial this bill is. The historical revelation also demonstrates the link between the situation of Gangjeong and the general political makeup of South Korea: when a monumentally dangerous force is in creation, a deep divide will naturally result, and the opposition force will find every power necessary to challenge entities designed to harm the people.

  • Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly Newsletter | January 2016 Issue

    January 2016- Page 1

    In this January Edition:

    Jeju and Okinawa must become demilitarized Islands; Let’s stop the THAAD development for the Peace of Jeju; Peace for the Sea statement from the peace camp; Okinawa, 2015; Saving dolphins is defending the sea; international solidarity on comfort women; Gangjeong Peace School; trial update; Hammer of justice update etc.

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  • Putting North Korea and Gangjeong together in geopolitics

    By now, many of you must have heard about the recent headlines about North Korea. Its 4th hydrogen bomb test that has been proven successful by its own internal media has disconcerted the international community. South Korean government shown the most alarm (at least the gesture of it), and proceeded to create an assembly happening today with representatives from Japan and the U.S. arriving at Seoul to discuss directives toward the nuclear matter (what’s called 6자회담 or 6 Party Talks). They will take this discussion as a foundation to approach Russia and China for further diplomatic negotiations.

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    The anxiety and gravity of the situation that has triggered a frenzy of media reports and diplomatic talks seem surprising in light of a another crucial fact that has been conspicuously ignored by mainstream media pundits and diplomats in Korea. This is the overwhelming scientific reports that challenge the recent information about the North Korean hydrogen bomb test. International media, ever since the news about the bomb surfaced, has downplayed the situation. Whether it’s VICE, TestTube, ScienceMag, Reuters, etc., reporters have been issuing statements of skepticism. The 5.1 magnitude earthquake along with the detonation yield of 6-9 kilotons (CNTBTO calculation method) have suggested that yes, the experiment probably involved the nuclear, it probably was a failure or involved traditional fission-based weapon rather than a modern thermo-nuclear device.

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    In other words, international community, if you exclude governments, does not seem too worried, focusing on assuaging the intensity of the North Korean reports. On the other hand, Korean media has been treading on the opposite by inflaming the issue, and left-leaning news agencies like 한겨레 and 연합 hasn’t done much to combat the intensification and fear-mongering.

    The reason is obvious; generating fear in the public through mechanisms utilized by those above is profitable for fomenting nationalism, militarism, and strategic alliance among U.S., S. Korea and Japan. Already, U.S. has exploited the situation by investigating the possibility of sending an aircraft carrier earlier for military exercises to “send a warning message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un” (Yonhap). Although the joint U.S.-ROK military exercises like the Command Post Exercise (CPX) and Field Training Exercise (FTX) were slated for March, recent nuclear transpirations have ushered the U.S. officials to ruminate on holding the exercises next month.

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    The irony of the situation is that the carrier that will arrive to South Korea is the Ronald Reagan (currently anchored in Yokosuka, Japan), a nuclear-powered warship, so the western concern about North Korean nuclear projects is met with a certain hypocrisy.

    There are more realistic concern for the people of Gangjeong, however. Although it seems impossible for the gigantic carrier warship to be docked at Gangjeong Naval Base, events like these will slowly enable the other U.S. naval forces to come down to Jeju Island. The U.S. needs a reason to send its forces to Jeju, and North Korea provides the perfect rhetoric and excuse.

    How to slow down this future is always the same: to call out the excuse and present evidences that challenge the mainstream narrative in order to avoid and prevent overreaction of the media and the government that try to create fear among the public for obvious reasons.

     

     

     

     

  • Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly Newsletter | December 2015 Issue


     December 2015- Final Page 1In this December Edition:

    Words by Cho Kyung-Chul, re-elected mayor, facing Nanjing as our future, protest to the entering of the 7th task flotilla, Veterans for Peace solidarity trip to  Jeju and Okinawa, Farewell reflections by Tony Flynn and a direct action by Martha Hennessy, Philippine solidarity events for Gangjeong, Miryang commemorates 10 years, deteriorating human rights condition in South Korea, Park Sung-Soo(Dunguri) was released,  the saddest day of the year 2015, trial update, Christian message of solidarity and more,

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