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The ‘Bomb’ of $ 3million USD

Photo by Hankyoreh/ The villagers set up the sit-in tent on April 10th . The tent is called ‘Gangjeong Vilage Hall.’ The two are mayor Cho Kyung-Chul (right) and vice-mayor Ko Kwon-Il (left)

The ‘Bomb’ of $ 3million USD is murder

: The navy should drop the wrongful lawsuit on damage claim

By Ko Kwon-Il

April 15, 2016

Even though spring, which germinates life, has returned, a fierce cold winter wind is still striking Gangjeong village. The navy has filed an absurd lawsuit claiming 3.4 billion Korean Won [approximately $3 million US dollars] in damages against Gangjeong village.

Since April 10th, Gangjeong villagers have started a tent sit-in in front of our national service monument located in the village, demanding that the navy’s lawsuit on their right to reimbursement be dropped. We are not exceptional, and we dream of living ordinary lives of farming, feeling happiness as our children grow, and living happily together with our parents. However, we are being forced to take to the streets again.

In contrast to the navy’s celebration of the completion of the Jeju navy base on February 26, 2016, we had our own ceremony, declaring Gangjeong a “Life, Peace, and Culture Village,” and entering a new stage of our opposition movement, which began in 2007. It is in an attempt to ensure peaceful lives in our village. However, the navy’s merciless filing of the lawsuit makes it impossible for us to live peacefully.

There are 121 defendants named in this $3 million lawsuit. If each were equally liable, individual liability would be about $24,800 per person. That is a tremendous amount itself.

Another problem is that the right to indemnity is demanded in the way of joint obligation, by which the 121 defendants do not pay equal shares of the damages sought, but are differently ranked according to the size of their assets, as in the case of joint surety. Further, it is possible to focus on one individual in demanding the amount.

Also, it is expected that the trial could take more than three years, as it is a civilian case. The $3 million In damages would be subject to a 15% annual compound interest rate. If the trial lasts more than 5 years, the interest will become greater than the principal. In this case, about $49,000 would be imposed per person. If the amount is focused on small numbers of individuals and groups, they cannot avoid bankruptcy.

No matter how you regard it, the attitude of the navy and the government can hardly be considered normal. They are trying to force us to take responsibility for the financial damages claimed to have been caused by the delay of construction allegedly due to the opposition movement against the navy base.

However, due to the fact that local residents were not properly consulted and did not approve of the construction of the base, it is the state that is responsible for any delays in the construction process. The civilian complaints and resistance were direct results of the state’s aggressive policy and construction of the base.

Therefore, from the moral point of view, it is right for the state to be fully liable for damages. Regarding it as a social cost, it has been natural for the South Korean governments to be in such way in their enforcement of national policies so far.

However, the current government demands damages for construction delay from the Gangjeong village association, villagers, and the people who have worked with them to raise questions on the Jeju naval base construction.

It is the South Korean navy who has conducted the project unilaterally without any prior explanation to the villagers, not to mention the absence of proper environmental assessments or position validity reviews. It is the right and duty of the people to voice differing opinions on the hasty and undemocratic project. Even with the alleged additional costs caused from it, it is solely the responsibility of the navy and state again.

Outspokenly telling us to die, can it be really a state?

The $3 million in damages that the Korean Navy claims is problematic, also. Our resistance to the base could not have caused that much in damages. The damages are primarily the results of suspension orders from the Jeju provincial government due to the hearing regarding docking capacity for two 150,000-ton cruise ships and the uninstallation and damage of silt protectors. It is unfair that the indemnity right is to be exercised against us, but not against those who delayed the construction due to fraudulent or incompetent work.

Also, Samsung C&T demanded 36 billion won ($31.2 million USD) in compensation from the Navy for delays in the construction schedule; a 27.3 billion won ($23.8 million USD) settlement was finally reached after mediation by the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. This was paid to Samsung C&T with funds from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) of the Ministry of National Defense.

Around $23.8 million USD covers the costs for the direct damage from the breakdown of 6 caissons (huge concrete structures used in the breakwater) and damage of 1 caisson during Typhoon Bolaven, as well as for the settlement of civilian complaints following the disassembly and production of caissons, the additional purchase of a 20,000-ton floating dock, and extension of caisson production process

The Korean Commercial Arbitration Board decided in favor of the settlement on the grounds that much of the delay was due to natural disasters, but we believe the ROK Navy must be held accountable for ignoring the natural conditions of the site they selected and for recklessly pushing ahead with the construction.

The Jeju Naval Base construction and the punitive lawsuit has broken peaceful, 450-year-old Gangjeong village to pieces, causing residents much pain and suffering. It is such an atrocious and cruel violence that the lawsuit can be considered “economic murder.”

The Park Geun-hye government has pushed her people into the death by saying ‘keep calm’ throughout the Sewol Ferry Tragedy and the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) situation. In Gangjeong, it is outspokenly telling the residents to ‘die.’ Can we say it is truly a state?

It is already the 14th day since we began our sit-in protest. For nearly 10 years, we have been trampled down by state power. Many have been arrested and imprisoned. We have faced bombs of fines while appealing for the settlement on the naval base issue. But we drew the line at the idea of selling the village association hall, which our ancestors did not give up even under Japanese imperialism.

We said: No matter how heavy and difficult the fines are and how our problems could be smoothly solved by selling our village association hall, we will not sell it, since it is our spiritual pillar.

But all those village common properties which we have tried very hard to save would disappear unless the navy lawsuit on indemnity rights against us is dropped.

When can we Gangjeong residents take our normal daily lives back? It is a time for the ROK government and navy to answer.

By Ko Kwon-Il

April 15, 2016

Ko Kwon-Il is a vice-mayor, as well as the chairman of the Anti-base committee against the naval base, Gangjeong village. His writing above appears in Korean, here , here and here.

*The above was translated by the two village international team members and proofread by Brando. The final was a little edited for readers’ easier understanding.

Photo by Choi. S. H./People lit some candles when the tent was surrounded by the police right after the villagers’ installing it. For more on the story, see here.

For more on the navy lawsuit, see

Gangjeong Villagers billed 3 MILLION USD by the Korean Navy

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

Korean Lawyers Defend Village on Jeju Island from Samsung & Navy

Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly Newsletter |March 2016 Issue(1st page)

Why the village moved its association hall onto the street?

April 23, 2016
Why the village moved its association hall onto the street?

Photo by Choi S. H. / The village association symbolically moved its hall to a tent on the street in protest to the navy’s lawsuit on the rights to reimbursement after the emergency general meeting on April 10. The police surrounded the tent then without any legal ground. Such police move brought about people’s protest to it. For more photos by Oum M. H., Choi H. Y. and Choi S. H., see here.

The below is a translation of the excerpted from the village statement titled, ‘Relocating the village association hall to a tent, ‘ April 11, 2016.

Please see the related sites here and here.

“…We, the Gangjeong villagers, are not activists. However, the reason that we symbolically relocated our Village Association Hall onto the street is because we have had everything taken away from us. For near 10 years, we have been trampled down by state power, and we have faced imprisonment and a barrage of fines while attempting to appeal and settle the naval base issue.

That is why we moved the operations of our Village Association Hall to a sit-in protest tent along the street [in a symbolic expression of our resistance]. When we had been faced in the past with enormous fines that we could hardly afford to settle, we did not consider selling the Village Association Hall because the residents ruled out the possibility. They said the villagers had not given up the Village Association Hall even under Japanese imperialism. They said: No matter how heavy and difficult it may be to resolve the fines, and even if problems could be solved by selling our building, we cannot sell the Village Association Hall because it is our spiritual pillar. Therefore, we endured a barrage of fines without selling it, however challenging the situation we faced. But all of these properties held in common by the village, which we have tried so hard to preserve, will be lost unless the Navy drops its lawsuit against us.

When the Navy first came to Gangjeong Village [9 years ago], its officials said to the villagers, “No matter who dies first, we will continue [this confrontation] to the end.” How horrible their words were at the time! We could not believe what they told us then. However, we may now respond to those words from the Navy as we have nothing to lose now: “If you take away everything we have, you may as well count every Gangjeong villager, whose lives you would also be ending!”

(Translated by Choi S. H then refined by Kim Nan)

Photo by Oum Mun-Hee. For more photos with original Korean statement, see here.

April 16, 2016
Navy files suit for losses against locals that opposed naval base in Jeju

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!”

the hankyoreh

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

April 1, 2016
Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly Newsletter | September 2015 Issue

In this September Edition:

Aegis made the 1st entry to Gangjeong, Peace for the Sea to be Continued, Bishop Kang U-il address, The Real Struggle Starts from Now On, The 2nd Gangjeong Peace Conference, The Trans-Pacific Partnership, Hotpinkdolphins went to Taiji, Henoko Resistance Continues, international solidarity photos, Daelim to suffocate Gangjeong financially again, Watching Samsung, Trial Update, The Song of Gangjeong, Documentary Nomad visit, ‘No to THAAD; actions, Peace Book Cafe Now, Gangjeong people visiting Miryang, Keep Space for Peace Week, Syrian campaign etc.

Download PDF

October 9, 2015
Navy Trying to Kill Gangjeong Village

Re-blogged from here

By Bruce Gagnon

I was invited to come to Jeju City today to appear on live radio show for 20 minutes at 6:00 pm. As we were preparing to leave Gangjeong village we looked into the sky as a formation of Navy Blue Angel war planes came screaming over the village. For the next 15 or so minutes they went back and forth directly over Gangjeong doing various stunts. One of the stunts brought the planes very low in an ear splitting maneuver.

The Navy was sending a message to Gangjeong village. The message was loud and clear. “We own you now. Your village will become a war base. There is nothing you can do. We will project power against China from Jeju Island. You’d better get used to the idea.” This is the way the US military empire thinks and the way they treat people who stand in their way.

Just before we went on the air for the radio interview we learned that the Navy is planning to demand that Gangjeong villagers pay $20 million (USD) in fines for disruption of construction operations on the base now nearing completion. Some activists believe that the Ministry of Defense in Seoul is actually controlled by the Samsung corporation which is the lead contractor for the Navy base construction operation. Just as in the US, where Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and General Dynamics control our government, the Park administration inside the Blue House in Seoul is actually the pawn of corporate interests.

By demanding this outrageous amount of funds from a small fishing and farming community the South Korean puppet government is saying that democracy does not actually exist anymore. In a true democratic nation people who protest oppressive government policies are not fined and driven into poverty – especially an entire village. What was the crime of Gangjeong? They wanted to protect the environment, sacred Gureombi rock, the offshore endangered soft coral forests, the water, the sea life and more. The villagers wanted to protect their way of life – their 500-year old culture.

I’ve learned that only South Korea and Japan have this kind of punishing policy that obviously smacks of fascism. The government of South Korea is controlled by corporations and Washington. How can they claim in Seoul to be a democracy and then turn around and treat citizens this way? How can the government claim they need a Navy base to defend the people and then attack the people who use non-violent protest to challenge the destruction of their village?

This will have to go to court but the courts are ultimately under the control the the same corrupt corporate state. When the Navy demands that the village must pay $20 million in fines that means every man, woman and child owes that debt. It means they would be naked without any land after the court would take all they owned. This is nothing more than an illegal and immoral attempt to finish off Gangjeong village. Every living and breathing human being on this planet should be outraged at this crime against the human rights of the people in Gangjeong village.

After the US directed April 3 massacre on Jeju Island soon after WW II was over a new program was put into place called the ‘Involvement System’. This meant that anyone who was labeled a communist by the US run puppet government could get no job and would have no future. It also meant that any family member would suffer the same fate. This demand for $20 million by the Navy is an attempt to reinstate this ‘Involvement System’ once again. The only way out for a person is to commit suicide.

I am told that the South Korean regime is using this same punitive program to go after striking auto workers on the mainland and other activists around the nation. The decision has been made to kill democracy in South Korea. We are seeing the same method of operation in Japan today as the right-wing government kills their peaceful constitution against popular will. We see the same system in Okinawa as the people demand US bases there be closed. We see the same system underway inside Ukraine where Washington has installed a puppet government.

For those out there sitting on the fence this is the time to wake up and see the writing on the wall. Democracy is being drowned globally by corporate capitalism. Who will be next?

Take Action: Call the South Korean Embassy in Washington DC and demand that they leave Gangjeong village on Jeju Island alone. Call (202) 939-5654.

August 28, 2015
Living the Eucharist: resisting the destruction of Jeju Island

Re-blogged from here.

Police surround Art Laffin and other activists as they protest at the main entrance of a U.S.-backed Korean naval base on Jeju Island.

Fr. Mun Jeong Hyeon, Art Laffin, and another protester during the Mass at the main entrance to the construction site of a U.S.-backed Korean naval base on Jeju Island

Construction continues on a U.S.-backed Korean naval base on Jeju Island.

Art Laffin | Nov. 12, 2014

REFLECTION

I had the opportunity to travel to Jeju Island off the coast of South Korea in the East China Sea from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4. I previously spent four days in Manila, Philippines, where I was invited to speak at the first Asia Pacific Dialogue on Human Rights and Respect for the Dignity of Life with the theme: “No Justice Without Life.” I left an amazing community in Manila standing for life and justice and saying “No” to state-sponsored killing. In coming to Jeju Island, I met another extraordinary gathering of people who are saying “Yes” to creation and “No” to the construction of new naval base that is a crime and a sin.

For several years, I have been closely following this inspiring nonviolent campaign led by local islanders along with priests and sisters to stop the construction of this U.S.-backed Korean naval base on Jeju Island (named the “Island of Peace” by the Korean government).

UNESCO considers Jeju Island and nearby Beom Island, Moon Island, Seop Island, and Hallasan National Park biosphere reserves. The construction of this base, which is a joint Korean, U.S. and Japanese venture with Samsung as the main contractor, is destroying the beautiful ecosystem of the island as well as the majestic soft coral reefs and surrounding ocean life.

The ancient Gureombi rock formation no longer exists, having been blasted away two years ago. Inthe March 2014 issue of the Gangjeong Village Story monthly newsletter, the lead article lamented the second anniversary of the destruction of this sacred formation: “For thousands of years, Gureombi has been a playground, a garden, and a mother’s arms, embracing and embraced by the people of Gangjeong. Thus it was perhaps the most painful and sorrowful moment of this 8 year struggle to experience the partial destruction of Gureombi Rock. Still, though we cannot see Gureombi anymore, it lives on in our memories.”

Ultimately, the U.S. wants to use the base as an outpost to contain China. Peacemakers from the United States, including Bruce Gagnon, Regis Tremblay, David Hartsough, Ann Wright, Jesuit Fr. Bill Bichsel, Nick Mele, Kathy Kelly, Brian Terrell and Michele Naar-Obed, have come here to offer support over the last several years, and the local campaign has been deeply appreciative for this friendship and solidarity.

Upon arriving in Jeju City, I received a very warm welcome by Fr. Pat Cunningham and the Columban religious community, who offered me hospitality for the night. The next morning, Father Pat and I took as bus to Gangjong Village, about an hour from Jeju City. We arrived just in time for the daily 11 a.m. Mass that occurs directly outside the entrance to the base construction site.

Father Pat and I joined with other friends, including longtime renowned peacemaker Fr. Mun Jeong Hyeon, who has spent nearly three years in prison for his resistance, in sitting on plastic chairs stretched out across the base entrance. As grace would have it, I also became reacquainted with two of the local organizers whom I had previously met in D.C.: Sung-Hee Choi and Jung Joo.

There were at least eight people from the community sitting in chairs, blocking the center of the entrance. As streams of cement and supply trucks entered and exited the base, police carried those blocking to the side of the entrance. Then the police permitted those forming the blockade to return to the entrance, where they continued the witness. This back-and-forth went on for at least one and a half hours.

Celebrating Mass and receiving the Eucharist in this context was a very powerful experience. In the face of this monstrous base, which is now halfway complete, the power of eucharistic love, borne out in nonviolent witness, is the means by which true conversion and transformation can occur. Those gathered at the base entrance, along with at least 30 people who also attended the Mass a short distance away, truly believe in miracles and that with God all things are possible.

Following the Mass, the gathered community prayed the rosary. This was followed by a press conference by the Gangjong Village Association, calling for an end to the expansion of military housing units being built in the village as a result of the new naval base. I then was invited on a tour of the port area of the island, where one can see a panoramic view of the massive base construction.

Cranes are visible everywhere on the site, while in the port, there is constant dredging to accommodate future warships. The Korean government has described the new base as a joint military port complex meant to encourage tourism in the beautiful landscape. Despite this and other attempts to deceive the public about the real purpose for the base, local villagers and their supporters refuse to be duped.

In the late afternoon, I met Yang Yoon-Mo, a well-known former film critic who has endured long-term imprisonment and hunger strikes for trying to stop the construction of the naval base. He is one of the more than 650 people who have been arrested for saying “No” to the naval base construction. There have also been 550 indictments for resisters, and about 45 people have served jail sentences for their courageous resistance. Yang and several others have set up a new vigil site at another part of the base perimeter where supply trucks are being redirected from the main entrance. Many villagers are upset that these trucks are now diverted through their neighborhood.

On Nov. 1, All Saints Day, I joined two other friends, Jesuit Fr. Kim Song Hwan and Gayun, in blocking the cement and supplies trucks. Moments after receiving the Eucharist, four police from the base hoisted me in my chair, banner in hand, and carried me over to the side of the road as they had done with Father Kim and Gayun. It was indeed a moving experience in more than one way! Once the traffic cleared, the three of us resumed our positions blocking the main entrance. This would happen two more times, once during the rosary and once when the human chain was formed across the road.

The Eucharist and the rosary have taken on a whole new meaning for me here as they occur in the context of an act of nonviolent resistance. In the face of this new port of death being constructed, I feel a power here that is far greater, that can truly overcome the idolatrous forces of military violence: the self-emptying, transforming love embodied in a living Eucharist.

The resiliency of this community is quite remarkable, and they remain deeply committed to a spirited resistance despite overwhelming odds. After the rosary ended, a human chain of about 30 people stretched across the entire entrance to the construction site. As I was still being surrounded by police who had carried me to the side of the entrance, I was handed the mic to lead several songs. I started off with “When the Saints Go Marching In,” which was followed by “Down By the Riverside” and “Seek Peace and Pursue It,” singing with police literally hovering over me as I sat in my chair. Following the human chain, there was an enthusiastic snake dance, then some exuberant dancing. The police, for the most part, let all this go on but continued to move anyone impeding supply vehicles from going into the site.

On my last day in Gangjeong Village, I joined the blockade at main entrance to the construction site and was carried off four times. After the rosary, I was carried off as I sang “We Shall Not Be Moved.” I later asked Father Kim about the history of having the Mass at the base construction site. He told me that in 2009, Bishop Peter Kang U-il of Jeju Island, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, first celebrated Mass on the land designated to be the base. In 2011, Father Mun initiated having the Mass outside the main entrance of the construction site for the base. Father Kim also shared with me that he is assigned to be part of this nonviolent witness to stop the base construction and has been joined by other Jesuits, including his provincial, in blocking the base entrance.

My friend Bruce Gagnon, longtime peacemaker and coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, was the first one to introduce me, as well as countless others, to the nonviolent struggle in Jeju Island to stop construction of a new U.S.-backed naval base. His inspiring peace work has not only included stopping construction of this new base, but campaigning to stop the militarization of space and for the closing of the nearly 1,000 U.S. military bases worldwide. When addressing the struggle on Jeju Island, Bruce makes an important point that bears repeating: This nonviolent campaign to stop the construction of the new naval base on Jeju Island is an important symbol for the international peace movement. It brings together all the issues — militarization, disarmament, the environment and human rights. I couldn’t agree more with him.

Hopefully, before it’s too late, more people will join and support the courageous people of Gangjeong Village in the struggle to stop the building of this base meant for death and destruction. I encourage people to see Regis Tremblay’s excellent documentary, “The Ghosts of Jeju,” which is the most important resource available about the nonviolent struggle on Jeju Island. For updates about the campaign and ways you can support it, go to savejejunow.org.

[Art Laffin is a member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C.]

November 21, 2014
Sydney Harbour: an unlikely exemplar of military/civilian cooperation

Prince Harry arrives in Sydney Harbour. (Credit: AB Jake Badior, Navy Imagery Unit – East Copyright: © Commonwealth of Australia). Click source here.

The Gangjeong international team has requested to Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition for an article in June 2014 newsletter. The excerpts from the long version was put in the 2nd page of it. We put the whole article here as it provides much information. Thanks to Julie Marlow and friends in the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign to take time on the article.

Won Hee-Ryong, a conservative and right wing, and a new Island governor(who was elected on June 4 and started his term on July 1)has written a reply to the Gangjeong Village Association’s question on the possibility of realization of civilian-military complex port on May 24 that he thinks co-existence of civilian and military port is possible, making examples of Sydney, San Diego, Manhattan, and Rome. His whole short answer was:

“As I know, there are examples of big ports such as Sydney, San Diego, Manhattan, Rome etc that use dock facilities where civilian and military are located next to each other. Especially, in case of Sydneyy, I heard that there is an example of using navy-only dock pier facility when 150,000 ton cruise ship enters[..]If there is any part that civilian-military port is not properly working, it should be fixed.”

His answer is very much in line with the South Korean governments and navy propaganda that deceives people. The navy used to make sugar-coat words on the Jeju naval base project (A so called ‘Civilian-Military Complex port for Tour Beauty’ in another title), projecting false illusion on the ecological conservation and economic development with the base project)

The truth is that 95% of the base-building budget comes from the ROK Ministry of National Defense (which makes the port, in fact, a pure military port); that many UNESCO soft corals have been dying with the base building; that the construction will only benefit big corporations like Samsung; and that the port will be a home to US Nuclear aircraft carriers and Aegis Destroyer etc…, let alone two 150,000 cruises that the gov. has advertised for the future prospect of the base use (It has been already disclosed that the base layout fits to the US nuclear aircraft carriers.. and the layout will never properly work for such big cruise. Yet. the Gov. still pretends and lies as if it would work)

Sydney Harbour: an unlikely exemplar of military/civilian cooperation

By Julie Marlow, Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition

Won Hee-ryong, Jeju’s new Governor, has stated that Sydney Harbour is an example of a port comfortably combining civilian and military uses. This is highly debatable, particularly on past and present environmental evidence.

The new Governor also has suggested that the big cruise lines enjoy an accommodating relationship with Sydney Harbour’s naval base. This is simply wrong. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has made clear that guaranteed access to its terminals by cruise ships is incompatible with the ‘primacy’ of naval operations.

Sydney Harbour has been a naval base since 1788, when Britain’s Royal Navy first arrived and hoisted the British flag. The harbour’s colonial history is tragic, with its Indigenous people largely displaced within a few generations, many murdered or dead of introduced diseases.

A more recent disaster—Sydney Harbour’s dioxin contamination— also has a strong military component. Australian-produced Agent Orange, manufactured by Union Carbide at a site on the western reaches of the harbour, was sold to the US and Australian armed forces for chemical warfare during the Vietnam-America War. Carcinogenic and teratogenic dioxins, originating from the Union Carbide site, now extensively contaminate the harbour’s marine life and sediment, and will continue to do so for decades. Since 2006, commercial fishing in the harbour has been banned and recreational fishers are warned not to eat fish caught in its western waters, and to strictly limit what they eat of their catches in other areas.

Sydney Harbour’s sad history belies the claim made by Won Hee-ryong. So does the nature of Australia’s current military build-up. Most of the build-up is in the north of the country and along the west coast, following recommendations of the government’s 2012 Force Posture Review, developed in sympathy with the USA’s Global Force Posture Review. Nonetheless, Sydney and the east coast are not being spared. Naval activities in the harbour are increasing and these activities are resource-greedy and polluting. It is hard to see how such activities can easily dovetail with civilian uses of the port.

Military activities are among the most environmentally risky of all human activities, yet, here in Australia, assessment of defence environmental impacts is neither independent nor transparent. The Department of Defence has exceptionalist status in regard to environmental legislation, as set out in EPBC Act Policy Statement 1.2 Significant Impact Guidelines May 2006http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/significant-impact-guidelines-12-actions-or-impacting-upon-commonwealth-land-and-actions.

Sydney Harbour, home port for Australia’s newest and biggest warships

The most conspicuous military presence in Sydney Harbour is the Garden Island defence precinct, comprising the RAN’s Fleet East Base and facilities of arms corporations, Thales Australia in particular. Fleet East Base is Australia’s principle east coast naval base. Thales, providing extensive maintenance and other services to the base, operates Australia’s largest dry dock, which artificially connects Garden Island to the mainland. Other corporations have a presence on the base, such as the Naval Ship Management (Australia) Pty Ltd, a joint venture between UGL and Babcock.

Fleet East Base is the home port for at least 12 of Australia’s larger warshipshttps://www.navy.gov.au/establishments/fleet-base-east. The latest to arrive is Australia’s biggest ever warship, the 27, 000-tonne, 230-meter long ‘Nuship Canberra’, an amphibious assault ship called a Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD).

Under strong pressure from the US military, with which Australian armed forces are becoming ever more deeply integrated, the RAN is rapidly expanding. Garden Island’s share in the expansion is a substantial revamp to accommodate more large vessels, including a second LHD and three Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs) equipped with Aegis Combat Systems (sister ships to the US AWDs to be docked at Jeju). Sydney’s AWD and LHD training and sustainment facilities are costing $170.2 million. Favoured status of Defence means legislative environmental approval for this work is not required.

The navy is also considering using Fleet Base East as a supplementary home port for the planned expanded submarine fleet.

Foreign, especially allied, warships are frequent visitors to Sydney, and given the US military’s so-called re-balance to the Asia-Pacific, likely to become more frequent. These vessels require berthing and servicing at Garden Island, adding to its environmental footprint. Further, despite the City of Sydney’s status as a nuclear-free zone, nuclear-powered and unconfirmed nuclear armed US Navy ships arrive without compunction. Years of protest by peace, anti-nuclear and green groups has been of no avail.

Increased naval operations at Garden Island as well as infrastructure upgrades inevitably add to existing pollution and disturbance of contaminated sediment. The NSW Government’s recent $21-million harbour decontamination project included attempts to clean up sediment around Garden Island. However, “heavy metal contamination in soils and shallow sediments around the [Garden Island] precinct” continues to be reported

http://www.defence.gov.au/id/_Master/docs/ncrp/nsw/1022,%20Garden%20Island%20Precinct,%20NSW.pdf)

Commercial/military clash over use of ship terminals

Berths at the Garden Island naval base are among the most accessible in the port, and the RAN keeps a jealous grip on them. Contrary to the suggestion by Jeju’s new Governor, RAN shares its berths with the commercial sector very reluctantly and on an ad hoc, temporary basis.

Today’s huge cruise ships are too tall to pass under Sydney Harbour Bridge. Since 2007, the cruise industry, the fastest growing segment of Australian tourism (and admittedly an environmentally undesirable industry), has been calling for guaranteed access to the navy’s terminals. In 2012, the Australian Government directed the navy to make available three berths to passenger ships per year, but this arrangement does not meet demand and is bound to stop as soon as the next procurement of naval vessels arrives.

In its April 2013 review of cruise ship access to Garden Island, the Department of Defence concluded: “The current and future naval capability requirements at Garden Island are essentially incompatible over the longer term except on the existing ad hoc arrangements that we are following. The provision of the guaranteed shared access sought by the cruise industry would impact on the primacy of the naval operations from Fleet Base East.”http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees.html?url=pwc/cpofitout/report%202/chapter5.htm

Conclusion

Sydney and eastern Australia is a climate change hotspot. Sea levels are rising and the East Australian Current is strengthening. Larger storm surges are predicted, as is the possibility of a southward shift of tropical cyclones.

Such hotspots are proliferating throughout the Asia-Pacific. Climate change is the outstanding security risk of the region, indeed the world. The environmental destructiveness that is caused by the construction of the Jeju Naval Base and, to a lesser extent by naval upgrades in Sydney, demonstrates that the military expansionism of the US and its allies ROK and Australia, can only compound the crisis that is facing our planet.

July 18, 2014
ASIA PEACE PIVOT, FROM JEJU AND AFGHANISTAN

Dr. Hakim, born in Singapore (a man in blue scarf in the photo) who has been doing peace works in Afghanistan for seven years by now delivered a blue scarf to the village representatives. The letters in the scarf read ‘Border Free’ in Dari and English. The village presented him two yellow flags in the photo. It was after the press conference in refusal to pay fines for anti-base struggle in front of the Jeju court on May 22. The people in Afghanistan concern about that nine bases in Afghanistan would be used by the US military in coming years. For more information, see here . End US/ NATO occupation in Afghanistan! (Photo by Toran)

Re-blogged from the Eurasia Review

ASIA PEACE PIVOT, FROM JEJU AND AFGHANISTAN – OPED

By VCNV By Dr Hakim

“Don’t you touch me!” declared Mi Ryang.

South Korean police were clamping down on a villager who was resisting the construction of a Korean/U.S. naval base at her village. Mi Ryang managed to turn the police away by taking off her blouse and, clad in her bra, walking toward them with her clear warning. Hands off! Mi Ryang is fondly referred to as “Gangjeong’s daughter” by villagers who highly regard her as the feisty descendant of legendary women sea divers. Her mother and grandmother were Haenyo divers who supported their families every day by diving for shellfish.

Since 2007, every day without fail, Mi Ryang has stood up to militarists destroying her land.

Mi Ryang, in white cap on the right, challenging a construction truck driver at the naval base gate

Mi Ryang, standing with Ganjeong Village Association members and Gangjeong’s mayor, outside the Jeju Courts, to refuse paying fines for protests against the U.S. naval base construction

In doing so, she confronts giants: the Korean military, Korean police authority, the U.S. military, and huge corporations, such as Samsung, allied with these armed forces.

Mi Ryang and her fellow protesters rely on love and on relationships which help them to continue seeking self-determination, freedom and dignity.

Jeju Island is the first place in the world to receive all three UNESCO natural science designations (Biosphere Reserve in 2002, World Natural Heritage in 2007 and Global Geopark in 2010). The military industrial complex, having no interest in securing the Island’s natural wonders, instead serves the U.S. government’s national interest in countering China’s rising economic influence.

The U.S. doesn’t want to be number two. The consequences of the U.S. government’s blueprint for ‘total spectrum dominance,’ globally, are violent, and frightening.

I recently attended a conference held at Jeju University, where young Korean men told participants about why they chose prison instead of enlisting for the two-year compulsory Korean military service. “I admire these conscientious objectors for their brave and responsible decisions,” I said, “and I confess that I’m worried. I fear that Jeju Island will become like Afghanistan, where I have worked as a humanitarian and social enterprise worker for the past 10 years.”

“Jeju Island will be a pawn harboring a U.S. naval base, just as Afghanistan will be a pad for at least nine U.S. military bases when the next Afghan President signs the U.S./Afghanistan Bilateral Security Agreement.”

When the Korean authorities collaborated with the U.S. military in 1947, at least 30,000 Jeju Islanders were massacred.

How many more ordinary people and soldiers will suffer, be utilized or be killed due to U.S. geopolitical interests to pivot against China?

As many as 20% of all tourists to Jeju Island are Chinese nationals. Clearly, ordinary Jeju citizens and ordinary Chinese can get along, just like ordinary Afghans and citizens from the U.S./NATO countries can get along. But when U.S. military bases are built outside the U.S., the next Osama Bin Ladens will have excuses to plan other September 11th s!

A few nights ago, I spoke with Dr Song, a Korean activist who used to swim every day to Gureombi Rock, a sacred, volcanic rock formation along Gangjeong’s coastline which was destroyed by the naval base construction. At one point, coast guard officials jailed him for trying to reach Gureombi by swimming. Dr. Song just returned from Okinawa, where he met with Japanese who have resisted the U.S. military base in Okinawa for decades.

The Okinawan and Korean activists understand the global challenge we face. The 99% must link to form a strong, united 99%. By acting together, we can build a better world, instead of burning out as tiny communities of change. The 1% is way too wealthy and well-resourced in an entrenched system to be stopped by any one village or group.

‘We are many, they are few’ applies more effectively when we stand together. Socially and emotionally, we need one another more than ever, as our existence is threatened by human-engineered climate change, nuclear annihilation and gross socioeconomic inequalities.

The governments of South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan and even my home country Singapore, have dangerously partnered with the U.S. against China, in Obama’s Asia pivot, dividing human beings by using the threat of armed force, for profit.

The non-violent examples of the people of Gangjeong Village should lead people worldwide to make friendships, create conversations, build alternative education systems, promote communally beneficial, sustainable economies , and create peace parks where people can celebrate their art, music, and dancing. Visit Gangjeong Village and you’ll see how residents have created joyful ways to turn the Asia War Pivot into an Asia Peace Pivot, as you can watch in this video.

Alternatively, people can choose the “helpless bystander” role and become passive spectators as oppressive global militarism and corporate greed destroy us. People can stand still and watch destruction of beautiful coral reefs and marine life in Jeju, Australia and other seas; watch livelihoods, like those of Gangjeong and Gaza fishermen, disappear; and watch, mutely, as fellow human beings like Americans, Afghans, Syrians, Libyans, Egyptians, Palestinians. Israelis, Ukranians, Nigerians, Malians, Mexicans, indigenous peoples and many others are killed.

Or, we can be Like Mi Ryang. As free and equal human beings we can lay aside our individual concerns and lobbies to unite, cooperatively, making our struggles more attractive and less lonely. Together, we’re more than capable of persuading the world to seek genuine security and liberation.

The Afghan Peace Volunteers have begun playing their tiny part in promoting non-violence and serving fellow Afghans in Kabul. As they connect the dots of inequality, global warming and wars, they long to build relationships across all borders, under the same blue sky, in order to save themselves, the earth and humanity.

Through their Borderfree effort to build socioeconomic equality, take care of our blue planet, and abolish war, they wear their Borderfree Blue Scarves and say, together with Mi Ryang and the resilient villagers of Gangjeong Village, “Don’t touch me!”

“Don’t touch us!”

Hakim, ( Dr. Teck Young, Wee ) is a medical doctor from Singapore who has done humanitarian and social enterprise work in Afghanistan for the past 9 years, including being a mentor to the Afghan Peace Volunteers, an inter-ethnic group of young Afghans dedicated to building non-violent alternatives to war. He is the 2012 recipient of the International Pfeffer Peace Prize.

VCNV

VCNV, or Voices for Creative Nonviolence, has deep, long-standing roots in active nonviolent resistance to U.S. war-making. Begun in the summer of 2005, Voices draws upon the experiences of those who challenged the brutal economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and U.N. against the Iraqi people between 1990 and 2003.

May 27, 2014
A Pivot on the Peace Island by Kathy Kelly

Re-blogged from the Nuclear Resister

by Kathy Kelly

May 24, 2014

Jeju Island, South Korea – For the past two weeks, I’ve been in the Republic of Korea (ROK), as a guest of peace activists living in Gangjeong Villageon ROK’s Jeju Island. Gangjeong is one of the ROK’s smallest villages, yet activists here, in their struggle against the construction of a massive naval base, have inspired people around the world.

Since 2007, activists have risked arrests, imprisonment, heavy fines and wildly excessive use of police force to resist the desecration caused as mega-corporations like Samsung and Daelim build a base to accommodate U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines for their missions throughout Asia. The base fits the regional needs of the U.S. for a maritime military outpost that would enable it to continue developing its Asia Pivot strategy, gradually building towards and in the process provoking superpower conflict with China.

“We don’t need this base,” says Bishop Kang, a Catholic prelate who vigorously supports the opposition. He worries that if the base is completed, Jeju Island will become a focal point for Far Eastern military struggle, and that this would occur amid accelerating military tensions. “The strongest group in the whole world, the military, takes advantage of National Security ideology,” he continues. “Many people make money. Many governments are controlled by this militarism. The military generals, in their minds, may think they are doing this to protect their country, but in fact they’re controlled by the corporations.”

Jeju Islanders cannot ignore or forget that at least 30,000 of their grandparents and great grandparents were slaughtered by a U.S.-supported Korean government intent on crushing a tenacious democracy movement. The height of the assault in 1948 is referred to as the April 3 massacre, although the persecution and murderous suppression lasted many years. The national government now asking sacrifices of them has rarely been their friend.

But for the construction, Gangjeong seems a truly idyllic place to live. Lanes curving through the village are bordered by gardens and attractive small homes. Villagers prize hard work and honesty, in a town with apparently no need to lock up anything, where well-cultivated orange trees fill the eye with beauty and the air with inexpressible fragrance. Peaks rise in the distance, it’s a quick walk to the shore, and residents seem eager to guide their guests to nearby spots designated as especially sacred in the local religion as indicated by the quiet beauty to be found there.

One of these sacred sites, Gureombi Rock, is a single, massive 1.2 km lava rock which was home to a fresh water coastal wetland, pure fresh water springs and hundreds of plants and animal species. Now, it can only be accessed through the memories of villagers because the Gureombi Rock is the exact site chosen for construction of the naval base. My new friend, Tilcote, explained to me, through tears, that Gureombi has captured her heart and that now her heart aches for Gureombi.

Last night we gathered to watch and discuss a film by our activist film-maker and friend Cho Sung-Bong. Activists recalled living in a tent camp on Gureombi, successful for a time in blocking the construction companies. “Gureombi was our bed, our dinner table, our stage, and our prayer site,” said Jonghwan, who now works every day as a chef at the community kitchen. “Every morning we would wake and hear the waves and the birds.”

The film, set for release later this year, is called “Gureombi, the Wind is Blowing“. Cho, who had arrived in Gangjeong for a 2011 visit at the height of vigorous blockades aimed at halting construction, decided to stay and film what he saw. We see villagers use their bodies to defend Gureombi. They lie down beneath construction vehicles, challenge barges with kayaks, organize human chains, occupy cranes, and, bearing no arms, surround heavily armed riot police. The police use extreme force, the protesters regroup and repeat. Since 2007, over 700 arrests have been made with more than 26 people imprisoned, and hundreds of thousands in fines imposed on ordinary villagers. Gangjeong village now has the highest “crime” rate in South Korea!

Opposing the real crime of the base against such odds, the people here have managed to create all the “props” for a thriving community. The community kitchen serves food free of charge, 24 hours a day. The local peace center is also open most of the day and evening, as well as the Peaceful Cafe. Books abound, for lending, many of them donated by Korean authors who admire the villagers’ determination to resist the base construction. Food, and much wisdom, are available but so much more is needed.

After seven years of struggle many of the villagers simply can’t afford to incur additional fines, neglecting farms, and languishing, as too many have done, in prison. A creative holding pattern of resistance has developed which relies on community members from abroad and throughout the ROK to block the gate every morning in the context of a lengthy Catholic liturgy.

Priests and nuns, whose right to pray and celebrate the liturgy is protected by the Korean constitution, form a line in front of the gate. They sit in plastic chairs, for morning mass followed by recitation of the rosary. Police dutifully remove the priests, nuns and other activists about ten times over the course of the liturgy, allowing trucks to go through. The action slows down the construction process and sends a symbolic, daily message of resistance.

Returning to the U.S., I’ll carry memories not only of tenacious, creative, selfless struggle but also of the earnest questions posed by young Jeju Island students who themselves now face prospects of compulsory military service. Should they experiment with conscientious objection and face the harsh punishments imposed on those who oppose militarization by refusing military service?

Their questions help me pivot towards a clearer focus on how peace activists, worldwide, can oppose the U.S. pivot toward increasing militarization in Asia, increasing conflict with its global rivals, and a spread of weapons that it is everyone’s task to hinder as best they can.

Certainly one step is to consider the strength of Gangjeong Village, and to draw seriousness of purpose from their brave commitment and from the knowledge of what is at stake for them and for their region. It’s crucial to learn about their determination to be an island of peace. As we find ways to demand constructive cooperation between societies rather than relentless bullying and competition, their struggle should become ours.

Kathy Kelly (kathy@vcnv.org) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org)

May 26, 2014
Why South Korean peace activists walked into a prison on their own feet

“We resist peacefully to the unjust fine and arrest.” . . .To see Some wonderful photos by Wooki Lee at Seoul press conference on May 21, click here

The below is a re-blog from War Resisters’ International

20 May 2014 — javier

Yeo-ok Yang and Jungmin Choi, activists of World Without War, and Reverend Bora Im of Hyanglin Church were put into prison on May 20. They were sentenced to pay a fine of two million won each (approximately 2,000 USD) for taking a direct action to block the construction of Jeju Naval Base, which had been illegally undertaken without an agreement with local residents.

Instead of paying the fine, they chose to be imprisoned in a workhouse. Two million won is a large amount money for an activist. But that is not the main reason of their choices. They thought it is a violation of the constitutional rights to the freedom of assembly and association to impose heavy fines on activists taking a thoroughly nonviolent way of resistance against wrongful state policies. Thus, it is an active civil disobedience that these peace activist refused to pay the fine and walked into a prison on their own feet.

Being punished instead of obeying an unjust law, they are actively revealing the unjustness of law. They are showing that the construction of Jeju Naval Base is wrong and that it is unjust to violate the constitutional rights to the freedom of assembly of association by imposing heavy fines.

We respect their choices to be imprisoned. But we cannot let our friends stay in the prison for too long.

There are several ways you can help them:

1. Fund-raising for the fine

(1) Himneyo >> http://himneyo.com/story/story_detail.jsp?sid=1000334 You can donate a thousand won just by logging in with a Facebook account and a few clicks. The contribution comes from a number of committed donators. (Refer to the attached images for instructions.)

(2) SocialFunch >> http://www.socialfunch.org/peacefund

SocialFunch is a crowdfunding site for social movements. You can donate any amount of money in several payment methods. (Only available in South Korea.)

2. Letters of support Send your letters of support to these activists.

(1) Send an email to: peace@withoutwar.org

(2) You can also write online messages on a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/wearenotguilty

3. Petition Send Twitter messages to South Korean authorities:

(1) Ministry of Justice: @happymoj (Sample message: Release all peace activists of Gangjeong. Nonviolent direct action is not a crime! #wearenotguilty)

(2) Ministry of National Defense: @ROK_MND (Sample message: Stop the construction of Jeju Naval Base! #wearenotguilty)

(3) Samsung C&T: @Samsungcnt (Sample message: Stop the construction of Jeju Naval Base! #wearenotguilty)

Press conference in front of the Seoul regional court on May 20. The sign reads, “We peacefully resist to unjust fines.”

Press conference by Gangjeong villagers and activists in front of the Jeju regional court on May 22. The sign reads, “If you want to imprison us, imprison us!”

May 24, 2014