No War Base on the Island of Peace
In this April/ May 2017 Edition:
No to the 1st US Warship after 10 Years of Struggle /The United States should not pressure THAAD deployment!/ Resisting THAAD in the United States/ Vietnam Pieta and Fr. Bix statues placed in Gangjeong/ The Navy’s damage lawsuit and the new President Moon/ A Murderous History of Korea by Bruce Cumings / Gangjeong Peace Travel Team / Making a Demilitarized Island with No Air Base / Remembering the Sewol ferry tragedy and Gwangju uprising/ Jeju march 2017 ad. etc.
See the related article, here and photos, here.
Gangjeong Village statement on March 24, 2017
We reject the US navy’s port entry into the Jeju navy base which would bring to an end the Island of Peace.
The Ministry of National Defense announced that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem (DDG 63) would arrive in the Jeju navy base port on March 25.
All trust is lost in the words spoken during the Jeju navy base construction that ‘the base would be a pure South Korean base which US military would not use.’
It is, of course, very likely that the Ministry of National Defense and the navy would explain that the visit is not for military operations, but for logistic supply, friendly relation between ROK-US navy military personal, service activity in social welfare facilities and learning about Jeju culture, and they would say that the visit is natural for allied countries to increase amity and cooperative relations between both nations’ navies and to give US soldiers a chance to experience Korean culture.
However, it calls to question why the US navy Aegis ship of all ships is entering into the Jeju navy base while the other war ships are returning back to their home nations or posts. Further, the Key Resolve war exercise this time is said to have been filled with programs for detecting and shooting down missiles and for pre-emptive strikes on the premise of THAAD being deployed in Seongju [in the mainland of Korea]. Because of the planned deployment of THAAD in Soseong-ri, Seongju, the Republic of Korea is already having serious friction with China and the quiet lives of Seongju county people are all being destroyed. Still the ROK Ministry of National Defense is acting only according to the intentions of United States.
On the US Navy Aegis Destroyer entering into the Jeju Navy Base at this moment, we suspect it is by impure intention of the United States who wants to put Jeju Island in the US Missile Defense System. We think the true purpose of the US navy’s activities, such as so called ‘visits on Jeju culture and community service’ is likely to be a cover-up to strategically deploy Zumwalt stealth destroyers to the Jeju Navy Base. Further it is told that the departure dates are not yet set, so what’s the difference from the situation of US Navy deployment?
The United States has stated that her true allied country is Japan and that South Korea is only a subordinate partner. The United States and Japan are showing their shameless intention to use the whole Korean peninsula as their shield and front line of war so that, for their safety, they can stop the spark of war from being extended to their own mainlands. If the US military enters into Jeju Island with whatever form amid the fluctuating situation of Northeast Asia in which confrontation is being deepened and the arms race is intensified, it means that Jeju Island would be put in the center of a whirlpool of hegemonic completion between the United States and China.
Jeju Island would suffer from China’s various retaliation measures, and then would be a target of nuclear missiles as the threat of war increases. And there is a high concern that, with less population and with enough geographic distance from the mainland, Jeju Island would be a strategic trade or trash card in case of war.
For that reason, we resolutely refuse the US navy Aegis ship’s entry into the port of Jeju navy base.
Even though the navy attempts to silence us by filing a lawsuit against the Gangjeong villagers, it should keep in mind that it cannot take away our hearts wishing for peace.
March 24, 2017
Gangjeong Village Association
Watch the Halla Ilbo video, here (Korean though)
(A video fwd by JoYakGol)
When the US war ship came to the Jeju navy base for the 1st time, we danced in protest in front of the base, as the usual. We knew the USS Stethem was watching us! US Military KEEP OUT! No Jeju Navy Base!
A video by Pang Eunmi
In this February/ March 2017 Edition:
Remember Gureombi: Neither Zumwalt Nor THAAD/Unilateral Enforcement of the Jeju Air Force Base/ The 4·3 Massacre and the USA/ A Future of Hawaii and Today of Jeju/ Zumwalt 12 Trial Update/ Peace school with Kyoko Okumoto/ Lecture on Women’s Voices in Militarism/ Demilitarized Peace Island a Work in Progress/ No More Dolphin Imports from Japan/ Navy’s strategic lawsuit against participation /The navy secretly works to restore soft corals/ Park Out, People In/ The GN 25th annual conference ad.
Corrected: Regarding an article on ‘Zumwalt 12 Trial Update,’ in page 2, the USS Zumwalt is a 4 ‘billion’ USD, not 4 ‘million’ USD. Please see the renewed version in the ‘Download the PDF,’ above.
NA MU MYO HO REN GE KYO
When I got to Gangjeong Village, I soon met many beautiful spirits there, I quickly regretted my past mistakes, in other words, I thought “Why was I not one of peace group members who visited Jeju twice from Tacoma, U.S. in 2013 and 2014?”
My little sister Melissa from US and Korean sister Choi Sung-Hee picked us up at the bus stop on Jan. 20 with big smiling faces. Rev. Imai Shonin, 86 years old, my teacher monk from Japan got off the bus too. We had an unusual snowstorm during our short 3 day stay in Jeju, including our visit to 4/3 Museum.
Only a few hours and one overnight passed, I’ve already recognized the people here are real, and that was a really beautiful moments in my life. The very next morning we joined the 100 prayer bows with long time activists and young students visitors at the gate of the Navel base. Although the obnoxious construction was completed, that prayer is still continuing not just in my heart but also on the earth for our better future. I will never forget it and I promise to come back here again in my life time. Thank you everybody include Dongsok-san who has great spirit.
Gangjeong is in the same latitude as my hometown Usa in Kyushu, Japan and we also produce sweet mandarin orange. “Usa” is proud of it’s ancient history and advanced people from Silla settled here. Since after WW2 the reservoir area “Hijudai” behind my hometown has been used as a live firing field by US Marine Corps in Okinawa. I visited Okinawa for one week with 23 US citizens before visiting Jeju. To my regret we could not stay Jeju in even for 5 days because I wished to visit Putagol(Pagoda) Park in Seoul for the prayer for the souls of Korean victims under Japanese occupation especially for Jugun-ianfu(comfort women). I came back to Seattle now and I am thinking what is the next step for peace walking with the people whom I met in Gangjeong. Not just a word. Gassho(palms together)
Kanaeda, Senji, Japanese Buddhist monk belong to Nipponzan Myohoji order-Gangjeong visit Jan 20-23rd 2017
Repost from here. See the related article, Solidarity Statement from Jeju Island to BIW Protest in June 18, 2016
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.
In this January 2017 Edition:
No Samsung! the No.1 power of South Korea!/ For a Jeju native to survive/ Solidarity Trip to Hawaii From Jeju Island/ Henoko struggle goes on despite hardships/ Welcome the judgment of acquittal on reservist objector/ Jeju sea, covered with wind farms?/ Trial update/ The 18th Gangjeong Peace School etc.
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]
In this December Edition:
Weave Together, Collective peace works; The 1st Anti-THAAD Peace Bus and Lotte; Borderfree Friends of the Sea in Jeju ; Seeing Nanjing from Alddreu; M and Flags; Grandmother’s 800 Dollars; Stop SLAPPs!; Two members of Gangjeong community arrested in December; Byeopssi School Graduation etc.
In this November Edition:
Step Down Park Geun Hye! Mass Anti-Government Rallies; GSOMIA etc. are INVALID; Navy brings children to experience war culture; International Tribunal on Forced Eviction’s recommendation on Jeju navy base; Choi Soon-sil gate with Lockheed Martin and Samsung; Why I object to my fourth year of military reserves training; Trial updates; Solidarity message for the Standing Rock protesters etc.
In this October Edition:
Gangjeong Case at The International Tribunal on Evictions; The 5th Anniversary of the Gangjeong Life and Peace Mass; Cultural relics found, buried, destroyed again at Jeju naval base site; No life can live near Jeju naval base The National Assembly inquiry on the navy lawsuit; Trial update; Peace Festival and Keep Space for Peace Week; Calls for Park Geun-hye to resign in wake of “Choi-Gate”: Three COs declared Not Guilty: Security meeting amid protest etc.