Search Results for “Environment destruction” – Page 7

International Solidarity Messages for Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo

Update: See the photos on the candle vigil for Yang Yoon-Mo in front of the Jeju prison, here, here and here

Update: See the photos of solidarity for Yang Yoon-Mo in Okinawa, see here.

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International Solidarity Messages for Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo

(Feb. 11 to 14, 2013)

The Gangjeong Village International Team has requested the peacemakers in the world to send the solidarity message for Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo with about 100words, through the website and facebooks. Here are the messages collected from Feb. 11 to 14. You can see the Korean translations here. Thanks so much, friends to send the messages. Thanks, Mr. Kang Dong-Seok, and Ms. Park Youn-Ae, for translation.

# Alphabet order by last name

Catherine Christie

Dear Professor Yang,
From the U.N. Environmental Sabbath Program:

We join with the earth and with each other,
To bring new life to the land
To restore the waters
To refresh the air

We join with the earth and with each other,
To renew the fields
To care for the plants
To protect the creatures

We join with the earth and with each other,
To celebrate the seas
To rejoice in the sunlight
To sing the song of the stars

We join with the earth and with each other,
To recreate the human community
To promote peace and justice
To remember our children of the earth

We join with the earth and with each other
We join together as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery:
For the healing of the earth and the renewal of all life.

Professor Yang – you have showed us this prayer in your living and acting for Gangjeong land and sea. Thank you. –

Catherine Christie, Seoul

Coco (Peninsula Peace & Justice of Blue Hill, Maine, United States)

We invite you to sing these lightly revised words from Les Miserables as Mr. Yang liked the movie and the book so much:

Will you join with us today?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes…

Peninsula Peace & Justice of Blue Hill, Maine, sings with you as we hold Mr. Yang in our thoughts during his courageous hunger strike. May his release from his unjust imprisonment be swift.

(Coco on behalf of the Peninsula Peace & Justice of Blue Hill, Maine, USA)

Ron Engel

‘Dear Professor Yang Yoon-Mo,
We have never met in person but it is clear that we have met in spirit.
When you say your faith is to save the things of beauty in the world we understand and share this with you.
We visited Gangjeong Village last September and we beheld there a thing of beauty that should be preserved.
We tried to bring this to the attention of the world through the World Conservation Congress with the help of wonderful people like.
We revere your courage and commitment on behalf of the beauty of the people and place of Gangjeong Village and stand in solidarity with you.

Ron and Joan’

# Ron Engel has greatly supported the Gangjeong village and made a beautiful speech for Gagjeong on Sept. 15 during the 2012 WCC Jeju. You can hear Ron’s speech on Sept. 15, here.

Bruce Gagnon

‘Professor Yang:

I am once again deeply touched by your determined stand to hunger strike while in jail to call attention to the illegal and unjust “laws” that protect the destruction of nature so an insane and provocative Navy base in Gangjeong can be built. How can good people go to jail for trying to protect nature while people who destroy the future are not charged with any crimes?

I can assure you that I will do all that I can to help educate people in the US and around the world about the struggle to stop the Navy base.

Please know that you are not alone in your effort. Please take good care of yourself. You are important to all of us.

For justice and peace,

Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ (blog)

Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. ~Henry David Thoreau’

Andrew Jackson

I can’t think of a more perfect example of an ‘unharmful gentle soul misplaced inside a jail’ than Yang Yoon Mo. He has already been imprisoned for the struggle for peace and nature on Jeju, and has suffered greatly due to his hunger strikes in prison. The ridiculous South Korean law against ‘obstructing business’ is designed to frustrate legitimate protest, and in Gangjeong peacemakers can be picked off at will for huge fines or spells in prison.

One of my favourite videos about the Gangjeong struggle is Yang Yoon Mo interviewed at The Gurumbi rock. In this long interview his words are full of intelligence, wisdom, morality, justice and love. He is overflowing with the human qualities that can not even be traced among the greedy, the blind, the ignorant and the corrupt who are bringing this disaster to Jeju. His return to jail, following appealing the terms of his probation, is the result of spite, and possibly insanity, in one judge. The decision must be reversed.

Last year I was fortunate to visit Gangjeong for a few days in summer. I can’t count the number of wonderful, kind, loving people I met. I also met Yang Yoon Mo, but it was not until my last night in Gangjeong that I realised this quiet, dignified, seemingly elderly man, who I had greeted daily at the destruction site gates and who had sat silently as we drank rice wine outdoors with villagers in the evening, was the youthful-looking middle aged guy in the Gurumbi interview. His 70 day hunger strike seemed to have changed his physique and appearance. I was pleased I could express my admiration to him and receive words of kindness from this wonderful man.

The news of Yang Yoon Mo’s imprisonment is simply terrible. His renewed hunger strike is something I wish was not happening. But one can only respect his decision and pray that liberty and health is restored swiftly to this ‘unharmful gentle soul’.

FREE YANG YOON MO!!

Andrew Jackson

London

Masami Kawamura

Message from Okinawa to Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo

The Okinawan islanders’ hearts are broken to hear that you are in prison again.
We send our solidarity to you, Prof. Yang Yoo-Mo, brave activist, struggling for the peace, environment and justice of Jeju.

While we light candles in Okinawa together with Gangeong people on February 15, we believe, Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo, you yourself are the candle which shows us the right direction to move on to.
You are not alone. We stand with you.

Masami Kawamura
Okinawa Outreach

Renie Wong Lindley

‘Dear Yang Yoon-Mo,

I understand why the Gureombi Rock is so beautiful to you. I too love rocks. In California I have hiked far above the timberline where there is only sun, rock and water and where the energy between those simple forces make a profusion of life happen. Our lives belong to these forces. You are not misled. You are led by your heart, your soul.
I will think of you every day and hold you in the Light.

Renie Lindley
Quaker, Honolulu Friends Meeting.’

Okamoto Yukiko

日本語で書くことをお許し下さい。

ヤン先生が早く解放されることを強く望んでいます。
私は、動画で拝見した、
ヤン先生がクロンビ岩の上で静かに語っている姿を、
いつも鮮やかに思い描いています。

済州島の海軍基地計画は、
沖縄での新しい米軍基地の建設と同様、
アメリカの世界戦略の一環です。
済州島の苦しみは、私たち沖縄の苦しみであり、
済州島の闘いは、私たち沖縄の闘いです。

沖縄では、知事をはじめ全ての市町村長、議会、住民の反対にもかかわらず、
日米政府は辺野古に基地を造ろうとあがき、
米軍の新型輸送機MV22オスプレイを強行配備してきました。

私たちは、沖縄で、頑張ります。
平和な日々を取り戻すまで、共にあることを願っています。

岡本由希子okamoto yukiko
（沖縄平和市民連絡会）

Judy Robbins, Peninsula Peace & Justice of Blue Hill, Maine, USA

To the people of Gangjeong Village and Jeju, Island of Peace.
The Peninsula Peace & Justice Committee of Blue Hill, Maine, USA, sends greetings and solidarity for your struggle for justice and peace. The courage and love of Mr. Yang inspires the world to be strong and to sustain. We light a candle for you in the 15th day of your fast. Thank you.

Peter Simpson

My name is Peter Simpson, and I am an associate professor at Okinawa International University. As a teacher, and a responsible human being, I feel it is my duty to raise awareness of the environmental crisis facing our planet, and to make sure that we leave a legacy of peace, equal rights and environmental justice. For this reason I support Professor Yang Yoon-Mo’s responsible action in trying to prevent the destruction of Gureombi and support the campaign for his immediate release from jail.

Yuzi Tanaka

私は昨年、済州島に訪れました。
そこで米軍基地問題に向き合う済州の皆さんを知りました。
東アジアを緊張させる米軍基地も必要無いし、
済州の自然を大切にして欲しい。

そしてYang Yoon-Moさんを解放してください。

Last year, I visited the island of Jeju.
I know all of you facing the problem Jeju U.S. military base there.
You also do not need to strain the U.S. military base in East Asia, I want to cherish the nature of Jeju.

Please free up and Mr. Yang Yoon-Mo.

田中　雄二
Yuzi Tanaka

Regis Tremblay

‘Dear Professor Yang;

You have my great admiration for your principled stand against the construction of this base in Gangjeong Village.

I met you while I was in Gangjeong during September of last year. I was there to film a documentary about Jeju and have many images and video clips of you. At the present, I am in post-production of my film and hoping to receive funding from the Sundance Film Fund.

It was only at the end of my stay that I was able to visit the April 3rd Peace Museum. Our mutual friend, Gilchun Koh accompanied me. Until then, I could not understand why everyone, including Bishop Peter Kang were telling me I had to visit the museum in order to understand the protest. Gilchun’s exhibit overwhelmed me with sadness and grief.

I was angry, ashamed, and tearful at what I learned and came home determined to tell the whole story of the American complicity in Jeju and Korea since 1945. The film places the protests against the base in the broader context of the American military expansion in its attempt to encircle China and dominate and control the Pacific Ocean. The protest in Gangjeong represents the modern-day struggle of people around the world against militarism, violence, and the destruction of the environment, no to mention the total disregard for self-determination, human rights, and social justice.

The curator of the museum, with Gilchun’s help, provided me with 8 DVDs packed with archival film, photos, and documents that I will use in my film, including interviews with some of the survivors. I am also using film and photos from the U.S. National Archives and from the Associated Press.

I have already filmed interviews with Bruce Cumings, and Charles Hanley who wrote the book, The Bridge at No Gun Ri. These are very powerful and will add a great deal of credibility to the film. Also, Bruce Gagnon was interviewed about America’s real plans for world domination. It is an expose of the supposed Pax Americana.

I have created a 38 minute rough-cut of the film to apply for a grant from the Sundance Film Fund and to raise money by showing it to small Peace & Justice groups. The reaction is always the same. Some people cry, some express disbelief that their government could be guilty of these crimes, most are angry to learn, and nearly all ask what can they do. That is my hope for the film, that it will motivate people to take action.

Finally, I believe you have become a powerful symbol of the protest through your imprisonments and fasts and I thank you for the example you have set for the entire world.

Hardly a day goes by when I don’t think about you and the people of Gangjeong Village.

Peace to you, Professor Yang and thank you for your witness to peace and justice in the world,

Regis Tremblay
Maine, United States‘

Ana Traynin

‘Dear Prof. Yang,

I was so privileged to join a tour of Gangjeong village with you,
just a few days before they took you away.

Your peaceful yet strong and resilient character, recognition of real
beauty, love of nature and unbending struggle to save both will stay with me forever.

As Utah Phillips said “the degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free.”

Prof. Yang, your courageous and self-transcending actions in the name of peace, even as the state steals your physical freedom, show the freedom you hold inside. You are a visionary and inspiration to us all.

I send you light and endless positive energy from this crazy world.

In solidarity,

Ana Traynin’

Hideki Yoshikawa

Solidarity Message to Prof. Yang Yoo-Mo from Okinawa:

Outraged by the repeated imprisonment of Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo,
Dismayed by the Korean government’s disregard for human rights and environmental justice,
Still encouraged by Prof. Yang Yoo-Mo’s determination to fight to keep Jeju Island as “the Island of Peace,”
I am sending my solidarity message to Prof. Yang Yoo-Mo and my friends in Jeju.

Hideki Yoshikawa
Citizens’ Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa
Save the Dugong Campaign Center

February 15, 2013
ROK Government Deceptive Simulation Hides Base Design Full of Flaws

Conclusion in advance: What the simulation T/F team proved out on Jan. 31 is the ‘Civilian-Military Complex Port,’ is IMPOSSIBLE. Still They are deceiving themselves, not to mention people by saying, “NO PROBLEM.’

Source: On Jan. 31, when the villagers ran to the Island government hall, to inquire the governor on the problems of simulation report and protest on the whole lies, Island officers, mobilizing civilian-costumed policemen, blocked the villagers and activists. The Island officers have not even preserved the base layout map and did not know what the ‘jetty dock (that will be mentioned in the below) was. In a word, the Island government had no preparation for its own position but to just submit to the central conservative government and Samsung. The figure in the left side is Mr. Go Gwon-Il, chairman of the Villagers’ Committee to Stop the Naval Base.

On Jan. 31, the Office of the Prime Minister and Jeju Island government stated that there is ‘no problem’ in the matter of 150,000 ton cruise port-entry & exit as a result of the simulation ‘show’ (not verification) carried out in rough-and-ready method in two days of Jan. 17 and 18, despite the FULL OF FLAWS in the layout that became more obvious even by their official report (You can download it, in the middle of the site here, though Korean).

The purpose of the simulation jointly carried out by the central and Island governments was to prove out that the port-entry and exit of 150,000 ton cruise is possible, HELPED by two tug boats (3,500 Hp each). To say concretely, the simulation was to test the possibility of another 2nd cruise into the west breakwater when the 1st cruise is already mooring in the south breakwater. The wind speed variable was set up at 27 knot. The simulation was supposed of day and night conditions. and wind directions were set up at northeast and southwest. The numbers of pilots were 4. Total simulation numbers were 16. The two-day rough-and-ready simulation was criticized for its opaqueness to the public. Even the members of the T/F team had to leave out their phones before entering the simulation room. The simulation was done in thorough security. Reporters were not allowed to enter. Still the government manipulating the media after the test, intentionally leaked the media in advance before the planned date of report on the result, saying that it has succeeded in the simulation, probably for the purpose to block any criticism on the test later.

On Feb. 4, the Island governor, Woo Keun Min made public at 2 pm that he would drive for the civilian-military complex port. His sugar-coating words deceiving the Island people again was that he would promise the local development, supported by the central government, console the Gangjeong villagers (no villagers opposing the base project will be consoled but infuriated against him) and that he would ASK the central government pardon for the people who have gotten the legal disposal for the struggle against the base project. It is in fact, his submission to the central gov, as the leader of the Island. (See the Korean article here)

The navy has been of course manipulating public opinion abusing such government lies. all those government and military’s false and deceiving play has been what people could somehow expect.

It is a great deception and betrayal again for the central and Island governments to lie to the people in the domestic and world to state as such. It has become very clear that the Jeju naval base project which has been violently and illegally enforced in the name of so called civilian-military complex port for tour beauty, despite the opposition of majority villagers who just want to save their hometown as it is, can properly function neither as a civilian nor a military port. It is because the navy, government, corporations like Samsung have been enforcing the project consistently with rough-and-ready methods, which contradicts from their own claim of so called a ‘national security policy.’

Most media seldom reports on such BIG DECEPTION that is why it is important to share the below, which is people’s own statement regarding the full of flaws in the base layout, revealed in the government report itself.

Source/ Photo by Kim Seung-Joo/ On Jan. 31, mayor Kang Dong-Kyun and Island activist Hong Ki-Ryong were ready to stay all night in front of the Island hall building, in protest of the Island and central governments’ lies again. The figure in the right side is a civilian-costumed policeman who enjoys to spy people all the time.

Yang Yoon-Mo, a movie critic, who was arrested and jailed directly from the court due to his opposition on the base project has started prison fast from the evening of Feb. 1, the day of his imprisonment which is the 4^th time in his life . He demands two by his prison fast: 1. Nullification of the government simulation report on Jan. 31, 2. Revocation of the Jeju naval base project.

We hope that the below provides the reader some tips for the recognition of how the base project-including the base layout- has been totally falsehood from the beginning. Why these wrongdoings are seldom mentioned in the media? Does it surprise you to hear that the Korean mainstream media has been controlled by the big corporations like Samsung, one of the main contractors of the base project?

Does it surprise you to hear that the Island government said that it has not even preserved the base layout map, which made the villager mayor, Kang Dong-Kyun and others so infuriated? Does it surprise you to hear that they could not even say a sensible word to the strong criticism by the village representatives who have had to investigate the flaws of layout themselves without sleep for long days? (See the Korean article, here) Does it surprise you to hear that the current Island government is willing to accord with the coming government of Park Geun-Hye on whom the controversy on election fraud has been constantly raised?(See the Korean article, on Feb. 4, here)

Lee Dong-Seob, chief of the Task Force team of the Simulation team, as well as the President of the Korean Navigation and Port Research. He is a former navy and captain. He stated in the press conference on Jan. 31 that the team concluded that the safe port-entry and exit of two giant size cruises in the day and night is possible under the current port design of the base project. (See the Korean article, here)

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People’s statement on Feb. 1 (Click here for the original source)

Title: “The simulation that made confirmation again on the flaws in the base design should be annulled from the origin!”

: “Immediately stop the naval base construction (destruction) and re-examine the project!”

The government stated on Jan. 31, 2013, that it would drive for the naval base construction without setback, saying that ‘it confirmed the safety matter,’ as a result of the simulation show (* not ‘verification’) on the control of 150,000 ton cruise ships in the so called Jeju civilian-military complex port for tour beauty project.

However, the report on the result of the show by the Task Force team on the simulation on the control of cruise ships only confirms again that the matter on the flaws in the design on turning basin and sea route, which was raised in the 1^st and 2^nd simulation verification, as well, is a fact, therefore there are serious problems in the safety matter of harbor and bay.

Firstly, the simulation show this time was carried out in the condition of no jetty in the west side-different from the [navy] plan on changeable jetties [in the east and west part of the port] . According to the item 1 of the synthetic opinion by the researchers in the simulation report (Page 17, the Report on the Simulation Show on the Control of Cruise Ships in the [ Project] of the Civilian-Military Complex Port for Tour Beauty), the researchers demand a conducted layout change by which the jetty in the west part would be completely removed.

Translation:

1. Since the simulation show this time was carried out, supposedly the situation without “a jetty” [in the west part] under the worst external force condition, the condition is that there is not a jetty [in the west part] under the worst external force condition in case a large size cruise enters the port in the future.

2. Since the entry speed in the mouth part of the harbor and bay is high and there are cases that the distance between breakwater and ship is short, the crews who enter and exit the port in the worst external force condition should be careful of pressuring currents.

3. The sea route environment and sea route mark same with the simulation condition are needed

( Page 17, the Report on the Simulation Show on the Control of Cruise Ships in the [ Project] of the Civilian-Military Complex Port for Tour Beauty)

Related to it, Lee Dong-Seob, chief of the T/F team states that, “it is difficult to answer (on the safety of harbor and bay) in the condition of the jetty in the west side. It is a conclusion that there should be no jetty in the worst condition.”

That means it was a merely a patch measure for the navy to avoid controversy on the safety matter to have changed the sea route [from 77° to 30°] and introduced changeable jetty at the time of the 2^nd simulation that it unilaterally carried out in Feb. 2012. Therefore it proves the justice of a claim that change of base design and construction stop is inevitable to guarantee the safety of 150.000 ton cruise to enter & exit of port and to come & exit alongside the pier.

Source: Please compare two maps. In the navy map that the villagers brought to the Island government hall to protest against the government lies on Jan. 31, you can see two small jetty in the west and east parts of the port. But in the picture of the report, you see only one jetty in the east part. It is a report on the Simulation Show on the Control of Cruise Ship(s) in the [ Project] of the Civilian-Military Complex Port for Tour Beauty, published by the Task Force team of the show, jointly supervised under the central and Island governments.

Otherwise, the matter of removal on the jetty in the west part means that there is a serious problem in the project of so called Jeju civilian-military complex port for tour beauty: It cannot properly function as a military port, not to mention properly function as a civilian port.

It is because the accommodation ability of the Jeju naval base that should accommodate a task fleet is drastically being reduced. According to the original design (Image No. 4.4.5, page 129, book No. 1 of the report on investigation and test), the base design has been done for a base where total 24 ships can simultaneously come alongside the pier.

As the project was changed to a so called civilian-military complex port [in 2007], the south and west breakwaters were designated as a trade port as a facility for cruise to come alongside the pier. If the entry and exit of more than 2,000 ton cruise is permitted as the Jeju Island demands to the military, ( * It is a condition that the Island governor demands to the military to conclude a joint use protocol on the port) the south and west breakwaters cannot but be used only as (dis)embarkation for materials and human beings so the function as a military port disappears. It means five among 24 ships cannot be accommodated.

If a jetty dock in the west part is removed in such condition, additional 4 ships cannot be accommodated. Even with a ship that might take place on the site of the removed jetty, three ships cannot be accommodated. As a result, total 8 military ships among 24 ships cannot be accommodated.

Source: Kim Min-Soo, reporter of the Jeju Internet news writes in his Feb. 1 article titled: ‘What the simulation T/F team proved out is the ‘Civilian-Military Complex Port,’ is Impossible: The Jeju Naval Base Cannot Accommodate Both of the 7th Navy Task Fleet Force and Two Giant Cruse.’
‘A task force is usually composed of 10 naval vessels: 8 large size naval vessels such as 2 Aegis Destroyers, 6 destroyers and affiliated vessels. The ROK navy says it can heighten its ability for ocean operation, only if large size conveyance vessel (14,500 ton class, currently the ROK retains one vessel of such class, the Dokdo). [..]
‘Even though the government made a conclusion on Jan. 31 that giant cruise can safely enter and exit the port as a result of simulation, the problem is that, for that purpose, the Jeju naval base can accommodate only five giant naval vessels at maximum, [as the simulation report itself, CLEARLY stipulates.]
In other words, the purpose of the Jeju naval base that the navy asserts that it is for the accommodation of the 7th task fleet force cannot be achieved in the project. It means the navy can NEVER solve the issue of effective operation on the 7th task fleet force with the [currently enforced] Jeju naval base project, contrary from the navy assertion that it needs the Jeju base because its task fleet forces are being scattered in Jinhae and Busan [* which are located in the east southern part of the main land].

That brings a result that the navy and Minister of National Defense give up the purpose of the Jeju naval base, in other words, the role of it as a deployment base where 20 large size naval vessels can simultaneously moor.

The Office of Prime Minister, navy, and Ministry of National Defense are irresponsible even by their own logic to say that they would enforce construction stating that “there is no problem in safety matter,” without an explanation whether the navy would be willing for such serious change of the base design or not.

To look at, to ask why the change of the base design is inevitable, one can recognize that the core of the matter lies in the issue of the turning radius.

The turning basin for the 150,000 ton cruise should be of D 690 m, which is 2L of the object ship, following the ‘Standard of the Layout in the Harbor & Bay and Fishing Port. While the turning basin of the Jeju naval base was designed as D 520 m, in violation of such legal standard, the matter is that the inner sea area of the projected Jeju naval base is too small to accommodate even D 520 m.

The size of the turning basin on the navy’s plane map on the basic plan

In the plane plan of the navy’s report on the basic plan, the D 520 m turning base is drawn rather spared. However, it can be recognized that the turning basin is interluding major sites of placed ships as in the below picture, when a correct 3 D modeling was established for the simulation show this time.

It can be confirmed that cruise ship is overlapped in the turning basin in the south breakwater and even destroyers (KDX-II) that come alongside the dock – exclusive only for the large size ships- have no turning water area and spare.

The size of the turning basin in the 3rd simulation report

In case that a large size aircraft carrier in the south breakwater or a naval vessel higher than KDX-III level comes alongside the pier- exclusive only for the large size ships-, the radius of the turning basin is more being intruded therefore the safety of the cruise entry & exit of port and coming & leaving alongside the pier becomes more difficult.

Given that, the navy, Ministry of National Defense, and the Office of prime Minister cannot avoid people’s suspicion that they have intentionally hidden the problems of the flaws on the design on the turning basin by now.

Secondly, the item 2 of the synthetic opinion by the researchers of the simulation show point out that “ Due to high entry speed in the gate part in harbor and bay.. it is necessary to pay attention to pressuring currents.” The pilots who joined the simulation show are also stating that they ask attention on the pressuring currents in the harbor gate.” It means the ships in simulation had to navigate with high speed to the degree of concern, without decreasing speed to maximum following the shipbuilding program at the time of entering and exiting out of port. In other words, the ships in simulation had to increase their propulsive force so that ships are not being pushed by the crosswind of 27 knot.

What they point out is that there is a concern that the ships may be clashed to breakwaters: In case of the Jeju naval base project, the width of the sea route is only 250 meter. Therefore the navigator on the ship bridge in 150,000 ton cruise cannot observe the end tip of the breakwater in the mouth part of the port so that he can rely only on guess or GPS. If wind suddenly stops or more severely blows, the ship may clash with breakwaters.

In other words, they were expressing their concern: If the ship entering the port without reduction of speed clashes with breakwater, such incident cannot but be extended as a giant incident in the worst case. It is because wind blows irregularly in real situation different from the simulation when wind blows homogenously. If then, the suspicion whether the 150,000 ton cruise can safely enter and exit the port is still unresolved task.

Thirdly, looking at the 3^rd items of the synthetic opinion of the researchers in the simulation show, the matters that we have pointed out many times are written as they are. We have consistently pointed out that, while the 2^nd and 3^rd simulations are based on 30° sea route, actual area-detailed data around the 30° sea route have not been input.

The words that ‘sea route environment and sea route signs same with the simulation condition are needed,’ means that the maritime environment such as the water depth of the sea route and current should be fit into the environment applied in simulation. In other words, it can be interpreted that the natural environment should be changed into same with the simulation environment since the simulation was done without actual area-detailed data.

It means, to make a sea route that crosses low water depth area, there should be inevitably an underwater construction such as rock excavation and dredging. It is a result that reveals more of the rough-and-ready of the 3^rd simulation done even neither with an environmental impact assessment nor procedure on the status change on the cultural treasure.

Even though water depth is supposed that it can be artificially controlled, the inner currents that occur by the gap between ebb and tide cannot be controlled by human beings. We have pointed out many times that the inner currents of the water area near the train rock are very high before this 3^rd simulation.

As a result, we conclude that even the researchers themselves who carried out the 3^rd simulation acknowledged the serious problems in the layout of turning basin and sea route. The 3^rd simulation that was carried out even with neither synthetic plan and measures on the layout change and scientific investigation on the environment near the 30 ° sea route is merely a test completely ignored of the preceding conditions and nullification from the origin. It is because the result is also a lie, in the science formed based on lie.

Therefore the government should immediately stop construction (destruction) acknowledging the flaws in layout, not enforce construction (destruction) repeatedly saying “there is no problem in the matter of safety.” .

We aslo strongly demand the Island governor to make all the efforts for prompt construction stop and whole re-examination with the decision responsible for the history of Jeju, on behalf of the Island people, not blindly following the Government.

Feb. 1, 2013

The Gangjeong Village Association

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

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

Source: The 150,000 ton cruise sea route crosses the three overlapped preservation zones.

UNESCO Biosphere Reserves Core Zone

Seogwipo Municipal Marine Park

Ecological Landscape Preservation Area

February 5, 2013
Free Yang Yoon-Mo!: Jailed Movie Critic, Yang Yoon-Mo, Starts Hunger Strike
Update (March 24) Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo’s oral statement ending 52 days’ prison fast

Update (Feb. 11): Yang Yoon-Mo will hit 15th day prison fast on Feb. 15: More on Yang Yoon-Mo

Source: Paco Booyah
1. Yang Yoon-Mo, a movie critic, was arrested directly from the court
Yang Yoon-Mo, a movie critic and one of the prominent opponents against the Jeju naval base project was directly arrested and jailed from the court on Feb. 1, 2013 . It is his 4^th time imprisonment. He is the one who has been jailed the most numerous times during the struggle against the base project by now. (see the below for the details) He was also one of the subjects of the individual complaints to the UN Human Rights Council in 2012.

He is currently in prison and you may write encouraging and supporting letters to him:

Yang Yoon-Mo(No. 301)

Jeju Prison, 161 Ora-2dong, Jeju City, Jeju, the Peace Island, Korea

(Another prisoner, Park Seung-Ho (No. 290) hit 142nd day in prison as of Feb. 3, 2013. Update: Park Seung-Ho was released on Feb. 5, after 144 days’ imprisonment. )

The criminal department No. 4 of the higher court in Jeju (Judge: Oh Hyun-Kyu), annulling the 1^st court decisions of probation etc. on him, sentenced 1 year and six months imprisonment against him who has been charged of obstruction of business etc (Refer to the Korean articles). Such court arrest has not occurred before his case in the struggle to stop the base project. He also became the first opponent against the base project who got an actual prison sentence. See also here.

The cases of the 1^st trials have been annexed in the trial sentence of appeal on Feb. 1. Those are the cases of the 1^st court decisions on June 1, 2011 (After the arrest on April 16, 2011, charged of obstruction of business, violation on the punishment on the violence Act etc. The court decision on him was 1 year and six months imprisonment with two year suspension), on March 20, 2012 (After the arrest on Jan. 30, 2012, charged of obstruction of business etc. The court decision on him was 10 months imprisonment with two year suspension), and on the charge of violation on the Public Water Act ( That was for a sit-in tent in the Gureombi Rock. He was sentenced ‘no guilty,’ in this case)

Given that it was a decision on his appeal aginst the 1^st court decision, such an unusual and harsh sentence made people confirm that it was a political retaliation not only against him whose health is already weak for the protest fasts twice in 2011 (more than 74 days) and 41 days (2012) but also the whole opposition movement people against the Jeju naval base project, especially after the government manipulated its political ground to push the base project with a false report on the government-supervised simulation ‘show’ on Jan. 31. It is also a violence that preludes merciless oppression on human rights and environmental destruction.

Source: Paco Booyah

Accidentally Feb. 1 was his birthday and all of his friends and colleagues were shocked, sad, and infuriated. Dr. Song Kang-Ho has been also arrested on his birthday on April 1, 2012 and got the court decision of imprisonment on the anniversary of 4.3, same year.

Amazingly the notification letter by the Jeju district court on Feb. 1, 2013 is written for the reason of imprisoning him only in one line that reads that ‘the accused has a reason to run away.’ It is a serious debasement on a man who has put his fate on the Gurembi Rock and a film critic who was acknowledged with a ‘special art award’ from the Jeju People’s Artist Federation on Dec. 28, 2012, for his actual participation in history in person (Korean article). It is also immoral and unjust attitude for the South Korean oligarchies including the court to patch up their baseless accusation on him with a line.

Photo by Cho Sung-Bong (Source)

Rev. Jeong Yeon-Gil who was released on Dec. 12 after 98 days’ imprisonment criticized the court decision against Yang on Feb. 1, by citing the below, which shows the contrast between it and Constitution.

Oh Hyun-Kyu, the judge who sentenced Yang and imprisoned him from the court reads: “The accused has made a setback in the national policy project by his activity such as obstruction of construction etc from his own judgement that the naval base construction is a violation of law. Even though it is not a crime to take an individual interest, [the court] cannot find his will of self-examination even during the repeated process of arrests, imprisonments, and release son him. Therefore, a prison sentence is inevitable.”

However, the article 19 of the Constitution reads: “All the citizens have the freedom of consciousness.”

Also, the ruling by the Constitutional Court of Korea on April 25, 2002 reads:

“The consciousness that the Constitution intends to protect means an urgent and concrete consciousness as a strong and sincere call from the heart that the value of one’s own personal existence will be destroyed if not acting as such, in judging the right and wrong on a task. Even though [a court] can legally punish an “action,” it should not force in any case to change one’s faith with the mobilization of direct or indirect forceful methods. It should not enforce one the idea on the observation of Republic of Korea law or confession on it against one’s own faith, either.”

2. Yang Yoon-Mo started a hunger strike again.

Photo collection by Park Suk-Jin/ “ I hear the scream of the Gureombi Rock, sitting beside the main gate of the construction gate.. I can’t stand myself even though that is what I can do…” Prof. Yang has sat in front of the construction gates many times after his release in 2012. He has always felt the Gureombi Rock like his own body. For more collection of his photos, see here.

More sad news on his decision on prison hunger strike was delivered by a peace activist, Kim Young-Jae on Feb. 2, the next day:

“We just came out from the Jeju Prison where we made a visit to Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo.

Prof. Yang said he would enter fast soon to claim the nullification on the government report on the result of simulation (* Jan. 31) and to revoke the Jeju naval base project. Even though Fr. Mun Jeong-Hyeon and chairman Go Gwon-Il made every sort to stop him, he was so resolute to say he would continue fast (* He made a fast in the evening of the day of his arrest, Feb. 1). He says that he will not go out prison unless he dies.

He says he is no guilty and he cannot acknowledge his imprisonment because it is a compromise.

He and all of us were wet in the edges of the eyelids. He also said he was so sorry to all of us to make us concern about him. We so concern about his health.”

(Kim Young-Jae, Feb. 2 around noon)

Prof. Yang Yoon-No on his 29th fast day in jail on May 4, 2011 when he held more than 74 days’ hunger strike.

3. We are all Yang Yoon-Mo!

Source: Park Yongsung/There will be a press conference on the court decision against him on Feb. 4 and a candle vigil in front of the City hall, Jeju City, at 7 pm on Feb. 5.

By imprisoning him who is like a symbol of the Gureombi Rock and who has brought the fire of the struggle throughout the nation and world, the oligarchies intend to oppress the opposition struggle against the naval base project. They also want to block the Jeju from being the Demilitarized Peace Island but to put it under the corporation monopoly capital like Samsung and military.

If Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo is the Gureombi Rock, we are all Yang Yoon-Mo. The oligarchies lost. We believe in that the fire of the struggle against the naval base project will grow nationwide and globally.

Lindis Percy, a co-representative of the CAAB, UK says:

‘What an inspirational and courageous man – we will light a candle when we gather each Tuesday (now for 13 years) outside the main gates of …NSA Menwith Hill – here in the North of England – we are thinking of him and hold hands in solidarity with him.…’

Photo by Navi/ Yang Yoon-Mo with a vest written of ‘no naval base,’ in the nationwide-traveling candle light vigil in Haenam, Jeolla province, in July, 2012.

In the last part of Dungree’s video, ‘Why Yang Yoon-Mo went to the Prison,’ prof. Yang says on the Gureombi Rock (translated). The video starts with the subtitle that reads, “Yang Yoon-Mo is the Gureombi Rock, Gangjeong.” The title of the background song is ‘a beautiful man.’

“If we can enter the Gureombi Rock again, we can pick and eat mulberry leaves and garlic. If we eat Bangpungcho (a kind of herb) and mugwort there in the new spring, our bodies become strong. Those made me strong. I can do even 100 days’ fast, beyond 70 days’ fast last year. The source of such energy is nothing but the Gureombi. But if the Gureombi is destroyed, I think my summon as a movie critic also ends. The truth is that we should stop the naval base so that the Gureombi becomes a spiritual place for the world. Please give us a chance that the Gureombi can be reevaluated as a cultural treasure. The naval base construction entering into the Island is an illegal construction destroying the spirit of Constitution and legalism.”

Prof. Yang Yoon Mo has not responded five police calls before his imprisonment. He seems to have decided prison life again.

His words on the Gureombi Rock in 2011 can be heard here.

Regis Tremblay who is making a film on the Jeju made a film on Yang as soon as he heard the news on Yang’s arrest on Feb. 1, 2013. You can see it here.

Here is another video by Kim Minsou, a young activist and artist who made the video upon Yang’s arrest on April 6, 2011. Kim met Prof. Yang for the first time in 2009 when Yang was living in the tent of the Gureombi Rock where he was friendly with the villagers, especially with uncle, Kim Jong-Hwan who was also imprisoned for more than three months in 2011. Yang is very gentle and child-like but he is also very resolute in the struggles.

You can see some beauty of the Gureombi Rock and Yang’s life there in the video.
For Kim, Yang is like a teacher and father.

(Post information by Kim Bok-Chul who was released on Jan. 3, 2013 after 206 days in prison)

Below is a copy of a poem that has been put in Yang’s vigil tent in the Joongduk coast, Gangjeong village. The title is “Sisterhood.” It is a poem of love between the Joongduk Sea, the land-filled-planned naval base area, and a man who wants to save the Sea. The writer is a woman who calls the man as her brother-in-law and the sea, as her sister.

Sisterhood

She cries whenever it is a deep night. The Joongduk Sea.

Laying down Gangjeong in her belly who has been scratched and wounded

The Joongduk sea cries lulling and calming down it

Have you ever heard her crying sound

My sister, Joongduk Sea

With tears let inside her

Uh-Ho-Ii Oh-Ho-Ii

A man who has been captured by that tears

Has successfully recognized her being in a serious illness

Crouching his body in a small common bed

Being happy since he is with her

Hei Hei, my innocent brother-in-law

I

Offering a bowl of warm rice to them

Wanted to honor their love

After his arrest on April 6, 2011, the poem was handwritten in a big paper and put on the way of the Gureombi Rock. so that the tourists and even the construction workers could read the poem.

………………………………………………………….

The summary of his imprisonments

Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo, born in Jeju, 1956, a former President of the Korean Association of Film Critics.

2008: Started to live in Gangjeong village after the participation in the Gangjeong villagers’ Island pilgrim for seven nights and eight days.

2009: Started to live in the tent that would be nicknamed as the ‘Joongdeoksa(Jeongdeok temple) on the Gureombi Rock. He stays there until his arrest in 2011.

2010: Imprisonment by the arrest of Dec. 27, 2010 and release of Jan. 9, 2011.

On Dec. 27, 2010, there was a large size bringing-in of materials for the building of residential houses inside the naval base project building complex, which could be said to be the start of the construction in earnest. All the participants who joined the press conference denouncing it were arrested. All were released on the night, except for Yang Yoon-Mo. He had been charged of obstruction of business for the reason to stop the car of the ex-Minister of National Defense, Kim Tae-Young, on March 20, 2010 and damage on navy public information board. The court decision against him, regarding those incidents, had been 1,900,000 won fine but he did not pay. Upon his arrest on Dec. 27, he was imprisoned due to unpaid fines. Even though Yang expressed his will to compensate the fines by prison labor, villagers and some people gathering money for him, made him released on Jan. 9, 2011.

2011: Violently arrested for the reason that he entered under the construction car, with the charge of obstruction of business. Annexed with other charges such as violence in the other incidents, he was imprisoned for 59 days’ until he was released by the court decision of one year six months imprisonment and two year suspension on June 1. At the time, he made more than 74 days’ hunger strike.

2012: Arrested on Jan. 30. Seeing that the police getting order from the construction company thugs, allowed the construction trucks’ entry at the risk of young female activists’ lives, he was infuriated. At the time, he was very weak in health but entered under a construction truck that was illegally making turn at the corner of a bridge, for the expression of protest against illegal construction. He was arrested under the charge of obstruction of business. He made more than 40 days’ hunger strike until his release on March 20 when he got the court decision of 10 months’ imprisonment and two year suspension.

2013: Arrested and jailed directly from the court on the trial of appeal on Feb. 1, as mentioned above. Since the evening of the day, he began hungers strike in protest of the government’s false report on the result of simulation ‘show,’ on Jan. 31 and for the revocation of the Jeju naval base project. He is called as the Gangjeong, Gureombi itself.

Photo and caption by Choi Hye-Young/ On Dec. 27, 2012, with Dr. Song Kang-Ho and young activist, Kim Min-Sou with guitar. Yang’s dream is to build a ‘ farming film school,’ in the Jeju. He was so moved by the movie, ‘Les Miserable,’ and has been reading the book fully translated. He also said he wants to write a critic not with words but with his life for the remaining of his life.
February 3, 2013
Another Fraud: Only 2 out of 70 Days Given are Used for Flawed Simulation

In light snow and cold wind a press conference in front of the construction gate. Today ( Jan. 17) and tomorrow (Jan. 18) in Daejeon. they are running another base layout simulation in a hurried and likely fake manner. This press conference is calling out against the continual lies and tricks of the navy and construction companies.

Daejeon press conference on Jan. 17, 2013 | Image: Media Jeju

On the morning of January 17, 2013, two press conferences were held at similar times in front of the Korea Institute of Oceanic Science and Technology in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon and at the naval base project office gate in Gangjeong Village, Jeju. They were held to denounce the Korean government and navy’s hasty 3rd simulation that will be held for only two days on January 17 and 18 in Daejeon. The government and navy plan to make a report on the simulation results at the Jeju Island government hall on January 31.

On January 14, it was reported that Woo Keun-Min, the Island governor, stated in his New Year talk with the press that he would persuade the villagers in person if two conditions are met: First, if it is concluded that there is no problem with the ability of 150,000 ton cruise ships to safely enter and exit the port, and second, If the ROK government states that it will support the Island with a 1 trillion won development plan. However, these conditions are quite suspicious and the villagers have consistently demanded that what they want is not economic profit but justice. Below is a translation of the people’s statement on January 17. Click here for the original Korean statement or watch the Korean video here.

It is useful to remember Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun’s lawsuit against the Prime Minister regarding the Prime Minister’s office’s lies and manipulations of the simulations in the past. This lawsuit is spreading nationwide including Seoul and Busan. On January 15, Law Prof. Shin Yong-In and others held a press conference in front of the Jeju District Court about the lawsuit. On that day, more than 300 names were added to the lawsuit in addition to Mayor Kang. around 74 people from Jeju and around 100 from the Jeolla province and Gwangju.

Press Conference Statement:

Stop the Hasty Jeju Naval Base Simulation Which is Only a Formality in Order to Justify an Unreliable National Policy Project

Starting today, January 17, Daedok Research Institute is running a 2-day simulation on the ships’ port-entry and exit. This extremely short simulation, being processed by Prof. Lee Yoon-Seok of Korea Maritime University, cannot possibly be a fair simulation to thoroughly analyze the construction of the proposed sea port in Gangjeong, Jeju which is being justified as both a civilian cruise liner harbor and a naval battleship destroyer port. Although this is the 3rd ship simulation of the port, it is still merely a formality to appease the National Assembly’s orders and is full of lies and distortions.

The first problem is who is running these simulations. The Office of the Prime Minister, who unjustly influenced the 2nd simulation processed by the technical verification committee last year, is now officially in charge of the 3rd simulation this year. Prof. Lee Yoon-Seok grossly underestimated the possible negative circumstances during the 2nd simulation, such as current speed, wind speed, sea wave heights, and excessive ship speeds during port-exit and entry. The Office in charge of this 3rd simulation has already proven they have a history of providing unreliable and incorrect data.

Secondly, the conditions of the verification are too limited. The 3 demands by the Jeju Island government on this third simulation have been cut to two and it will be run accepting the results of the flawed previous simulation that relied on intentionally distorted data. Therefore it cannot be considered an objective or fair simulation. Particularly, this new simulation does not take into account the changed sea route turning angle, from 77° to 30°. Instead it is being tested with the old model used during the previous simulation, and does not take into account this new areas water depth or inner currents. This 3^rd simulation is an unreliable and hasty simulation which does not satisfy anyone’s idea of a “thorough verification.”

Thirdly, there is a problem about the simulation time span. As we have mentioned many times in the past, it takes at least six months to carry out a proper simulation for a project of this magnitude and because they changed the sea navigation route. It is hard to understand why the government and navy rush this simulation report and use unreliable data when the National Assembly provided 70 days started on January 1, 2013. Simply halt the construction to allow a thorough verification to be done.

If the government and the navy are performing this extremely short simulation to simply justify the continued construction of the naval base, this simulation must be stopped immediately and then performed by an independent 3rd party contractor without a conflict of interest. Then a proper objective and scientific simulation could be provided, taking the appropriate amount of time to compensate for the distorted data provided by the Office of the Prime Minister and the recent change of the sea navigation route.

Finally, the simulation report doesn’t take into account how the new sea route will affect the natural environment around the Gureombi rock area. Besides the environmental impact of such an enormous project, failure to consider these conditions is simply dangerous for the safe entry and exit of the naval ships themselves, which is just a sign of how negligent these analyses have been. Currently the naval base in the Gangjeong village is being built within the area of the national memorial number 442, designated by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, where there is the largest supply of temperate soft coral habitats in the world. With the new sea route, ships will pass through natural memorial number 421, the natural protection area of the Moon and Beom Islands, designated as an environmental protection areas and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. While the navy got permission from the Korean government to change the route, they did not seek approval from the Cultural Heritage Association for the memorial sites. A new simulation must be done for both the natural environment, and the safety of the ships’ entry and exit.

If the Government enforces the simulation this time and takes it as the basis for the enforcement of construction despite the many limitations and problems mentioned above, it will simply increase the suspicions and controversies surrounding the naval base construction in the Gangjeong village and as a result, only deepen the conflict. If the Government wants to solve their problems and end the controversies, it should stop this hasty and unreliable simulation being processed today, by itself, and should consign it to a 3^rd party institute and take enough time.

January 17, 2013
Gangjeong Village Association
The Jeju Pan-Island Committee for the Stop of Military Base and for the Realization of Peace Island
National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing to the Naval Base in Jeju Island

#1: Natural Monument No. 421 (Moon and Beom Island Natural Protection Area), #2: Natural Monument No. 442 (Jeju soft coral habitats), #3: Biosphere Reserve, #4: Encroachment on Seogwipo Municipal Maritime Park | Image: PSPD | See also: Oh My News, Jan. 17, 2013.

“Terrible construction (destruction) is going on even in front of Tiger Island [Beom Seom], the Natural Monument [also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve]…Without the silt protectors, despite the 70-day stop to construction agreed upon by the ruling and opposition parties, they just continue to enforce and push…The Korean Government and Jeju Island Government say they will do the verification of safe entry and departure of 150,000 ton cruise ships on January 17 and 18 and the results will be announced on January 31…I wonder.. .what kind of lies they will use to cheat the people…However, Stop the Construction for Now, Anyhow!” Facebook post by Regina Pyon on Jan. 16. | Image: Cho Sung-Bong

The 5th day of 1000 bows for the Peace…Gangjeong villagers are joining when they have time, even during their busy tangerine harvest season. Jeju civil society is also in solidarity with this prayer for the peace of Gangjeong…The Police don’t come this week because of their promotion exams…so peaceful for the villagers and activists to fully concentrate on the prayer of peace. Without the police, its difficult for the construction vehicles to come and go…National business that even a single vehicle cannot pass without police? | Images & Words by Han Kyoung-A

January 18, 2013
People’s appeal to the President-elect

Photo by News1, Jeju Domin Ilbo/ The banner reads, ‘The Jeju naval base construction without carrying out of the National Assembly recommendation is illegal, Immediately stop construction and carry out thorough verification!’ In front of the Presidential transition committee building, Seoul, Jan. 13

Photo by Lee Jung-Ah, Hankyoreh, Jan. 13, 2013/ Press conference in the morning

1. The Ministry of Nation Defense reported its will to continue construction

It was Jan. 11 that the Ministry of National Defense was told to have reported to the Presidential transition committee that the ministry would continue the Jeju naval base construction without stop. The Jeju Domin Ilbo, Jan. 12, 2013 reads:

The Chosun Ilbo reported through its Jan. 12 article that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has declared its policy of enforcement on the Jeju naval base project, through its Jan. 11 job report to the Presidential transition committee.

The Chosun Ilbo, citing the words by the core personnel of the committee, reported that ‘the Ministry of National Defense has stated its position that it should continue the Jeju naval base construction even with inputting the remaining budgets from the last year.’

The personnel said that the ministry took three reasons for continuing construction: 1. It would take a tremendous period to recruit again workers in case of construction resumption 2. It would take damage compensation for construction stop. 3. The opposition groups’ repulsions will be intensified in case of construction resumption.

In other words, the ministry meant that, while there are currently about 230 domestic and foreign workers in the Jeju naval base project, it would take five months to recruit workers again after construction stop and it would have to pay about 6.5 billion won of damage compensation cost for construction stop to the construction companies that are working employing various heavy equipments.

It is known that the MND also emphasized that the construction period would be extended without defined due because of expected more intensification of the repulsions by opposing groups in case the Jeju naval base construction is resumed after its stop.

2. People’s request to meet the chairman of the Presidential transition committee was denied.

It was Jan. 13, Sunday, that the representatives of the villagers left the village in the early dawn to join the press conference in Seoul, with the representatives of the National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing to the Naval Base in Jeju Island and Jeju Pan-Island Committee for the Stop of Military Base and for Realization of Peace Island. It was a day when the Defense Acquisition Program Administration(DAPA) also delivered its job report to the Presidential transition committee. The Press conference for thorough verification and construction stop was held in front of the building of the Presidential transition committee, Samchungdong, Seoul. After the conference, Kang Dong-Kyun, mayor of the village, Mr. Go Gwon-Il, chairman of the Villagers’ Committee to Stop the Naval Base and Mr. Bae Gi-Chul, co-representative of the Pan-Island Committee delivered their opinion statement and a letter by Mr. Yoon Sang-Hyo, a village elder and member of the advisory board of the village. See the letter at the bottom.

Photo by Andy Dukjin Kim/ Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun deliver people’s letters and opinion statement to a person of the Presidential transition committee, in the morning of Jan. 13.

The representatives also requested to meet the Chairman of the Presidential transition committee, demanding the construction stop, but it was finally rejected to the fury and remorse of the people. There was a press conference denouncing the committee’s rejection at 4pm. Mayor Kang expressed his strong sorriness saying that “How will the new government communicate with the people if it shows its non-communicative attitude from the time of transition?” See the Korean article, here.

Photo by Andy Dukjin Kim/ People denounce that the Presidential transition committee rejected their request to meet the committee’s chairman. Jan. 13, around 4pm.

3. People’s letters for the demand of construction stop to Park Geun-Hye

The below is the expert translations from the letters to Park Geun-Hye, the so called the President-elect regarding whom the controversy on unfair election is still going on, by the opposing groups and Mr. Yoon Sang-Hyo, a village elder. You can see the original Korean language letters, here.

Excerpt from the letter by the opposing groups

According to some press report, it is told that the Ministry of National defense has reported to the Presidential transition committee on Jan. 11 that it would continue the Jeju naval base construction without stop. Its main logic is that if construction is stopped, it would take much time to recruit the domestic and foreign workers again and billions won of damage compensation costs following construction stop is expected again. It is a poor logic to be used for the government and navy not to carry the pledge by the members of ruling and opposition parities of the National Assembly to the citizens and villagers. Are the National Assembly’s Constitutional rights to legislation and budget & balance cheaper than billions won? Further isn’t it that the government who has promised a thorough verification disclosing itself its intention for no thorough verification to the world, to enforce construction as if verification has been all done? It means that the government and navy are to push an unreliable state policy project without villagers’ agreement disregarding matters. The behavior itself is the derision and provocation of the villagers and Island people. We ask whether it is a way that Park Geun-Hye, the [so-called]President-elect who has emphasized on trust, agrees with. We demand: The government and navy should immediately stop construction.

President-elect, Park Geun-Hye, the National Assembly has demanded again of 70 days’ thorough verification at the end of 2012 since the verification on the flawed base layout that the ruling and opposition parties had promised to the Jeju island people at the end of 2011 had not been thoroughly done. For the 70 days’ verification to help to settle all the controversies and conflicts in relation to the naval base construction in the Gangjeong village, it has to be a thorough verification truly to the name. The government and Jeju Island should present a proper & independent verification methods and period so that ‘a though verification work,’ could be entirely accomplished. However, the navy is saying that it would finish a verification in 10 days, starting around Jan. 20. On the contrary, the position of experts is that it should take at least six months for a proper verification to be established. The hasty schedule to finish verification on Jan. 30 should be totally re-examined. The verification institute should be re-examined, too. For a thorough verification, the 3rd institute should be newly designated and carry it, following the subsidiary conditions by the sub-investigation committee on the Jeju naval base project of the Budget and Balance Committee of the National Assembly [in 2011], for the conflicts not to be more intensified.

The verification work should be a process in which common-sensible and reasonable evaluation and verification on the below matters should be established.

-The matter of the proper and reasonable of the location selection to build a giant port in Gangjeong, a projected area at the southern tip of the Jeju Island, exposed with the strongest wind and sea waves, currents and typhoons in the Jeju Island

-An objective and scientific examination on the influence to the area of the natural memorial No. 421 and 422 ecology system protection area, and the UNESCO biosphere reserve, which are located in the port and entry-exit navigation routes,

– Matter of the precedent cases of ports that carry the functions of the civilian and military at the same time, its smooth operation possibility, validity and reasonability

-And the matter of the residents’ agreement on the execution process of the construction, as well as of the mental, physical violence and conflict-fostering behaviors by the state power and civilian companies that employ thugs

Excerpt from the letter by Mr. Yoon Sang-Hyo

I am a country old man. I was born in the Gangjeong village and have never left my hometown. I am 77 years old.

The Gangjeong village established about 450 years ago has been called as the Il-Gangjeong (一江汀), meaning the best village because of its beautiful nature and rich farm lands. Further it was designated as the ecology-excellent village by the Ministry of Environment in 2005. And I was excited with the will to more preserve and keep water and ecology, the big pride of Gangjeong.

However, the issue that had been driven with various kinds of underground promotions, appeasements, operations, became to appear on the surface on April 26, 2007, like the lightening in the clear sky. And only after that, I and majority of villagers became to know the fact.

Especially it was a time that ex-Ministry of National Defense, Kim Jang-Sou visited the Island on April 13, 2007, when the location of the naval base construction had been decided in Weemee, Namwon-eup, therefore, the Weemee villagers’ protest in front of the Island government hall, opposing the plan of the installation naval base in their village reached its highest. In other words, the decision to install the naval base in Gangjeong was decided only in 13 days.

Also, the Gureombi Rock is like a bosom of our mother. It has been more than two years that I could not sleep in the nights hearing the moaning of the Gureombi day and night, which is like mother’s breast but being torn to pieces by the noise of explosives and excavators.

The state power that has to protect the property and life of the citizens has arrested more than 690 villagers and peace keepers, imprisoned 22 people and made indiscriminate legal disposal on more than 480 people. A village that has lived peacefully for hundreds years is being terribly destroyed and the peace keepers who are with us are crying shedding bloody tears.

[..]

The Gangjeong villagers are not opposing against security and ideology but opposing against the naval base project, to save the site and community that has been succeeded from our ancestors to generations and to live happily with our neighbors. I will tell you why I and the Gangjeong villagers oppose the naval base construction.

Firstly, it is because of the procedural flaws.

Not to mention the villagers’ agreement, there was no presentation meeting [to get villagers’ agreement]. From the procedure for agreement to that of expropriation, it is an undemocratic and immoral project. It was such a preposterous incident in which even the villagers’ rights to participation and private property protected by the Constitution have been violated. We, the villagers, suffer for unfairness because our village is where the Constitution was trampled down by the State power. Such flawed administration has to be nullified.

Secondly, it is a matter of location selection.

Despite the fact that it is an important national policy by which the fate of a nation depends on, the target area of the project was decided only in 13 days without prior investigation on the location reasonability. The governing management capacity will be continuously suspected and be the target of criticism. Therefore the project should be re-examined without fail after investigation and examination.

Thirdly, it is a matter of the reason of the cancellation of absolute preservation area.

The Gureombi Rock, the target area of the naval base is a site that has been designated as the absolute preservation area by the Special law of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Island. Because of the weak power of the Island, the power and big capital can destroy the nature environment of the Island in the name of ‘development,’ any time. The preservation system was set up to stop horrible destruction by them and is divided by three stages of absolute preservation zones, relative preservation zones and preservation zones. Among them, absolute preservation zones are the sites defined as the sites where cancellation is impossible at any case. Still it was cancelled in the illegally snatched way. In other words, a preposterous thing happened, in which a legislated system to block the things such as the naval base in Gangjeong was illegally cancelled so that the beautiful nature environment of the Jeju Island could not be kept in the future .

Fourthly, the so called civilian-military complex port for tour beauty is absolutely impossible.

It is not only because there is no such port in the world but it is impossible that the civilian and military use a port together. It is like that oil and water cannot be mixed together.

Fifthly, the Jeju has already two cruise ports in the Jeju City and Hwasoon so there is no problem with the invitation of cruise tourists.

Last year, a 140,000 ton cruise has already entered the Jeju port for tour. And cruise tour is carried on, used of dinghies in the Hwasoon port that is a natural port. Our country doesn’t have much money. It should be necessarily examined and analyzed why the government plans to make one more cruise port in this small Island.

Sixthly, we can never acknowledge a naval base built with frauds.

At the time of 2007 after the village was selected as a location, real admiral Kim Sung-Chan, the chief of naval strategic planning then declared that there would not be land expropriation at any case, in the site where 400 villagers gathered hearing that there was a presentation explanation.

He said that he did not have the slightest plan for expropriation even though he would build the base by landfill of the the sea if consulted negotiation on land purchase is not accomplished. However as soon as he became the Chief of General staff, he expropriated lands. My heart is broken by the reality of our country where a general becomes promoted and rises to a high position as a National Assembly member despite his lies and frauds.

(* Note: Kim Sung Chan is now a member of the Defense Committee of the National Assembly)

Mentioned as above, I will not oppose the naval base in Gangjeong if there were any thing that was justly driven.

Currently, the Gangjeong villagers became antagonized, hating and not trusting one another, not to mention not being able to trust any administration or military due to their lies and estrangement behaviors onto the villagers. Moreover, affection between parents and children was collapsed therefore we are in the middle of suffering and pain [because of the naval base issue that has brought in con-and pro conflicts to the villagers][..]

You, the President-elect, has promised the great unity of citizens and stated that you would respect the National Assembly for co-existence. However, it was never precedent that the National Assembly passed the budget bill passing the due of the year, with its subsidiary conditions attached to the budget bill on the naval base at 6am of Jan. 1, 2013. The National Assembly had not kept the items agreed by the ruling and opposition parties in the budget and balance committee of the National Assembly in 2011.

As the navy pushing the project interpreting the meaning of the National subsidiary conditions-budget execution after verification- as the construction first then budget execution, construction companies are violently enforcing the project with the police at the head in the village from the dawn of everyday.

You, the President-elect, has stated that it is right that the Jeju naval base should be driven after the agreement by the Island people is established.

For us, last six years were like a war daily. Please save the Gangjeong villagers of the kindhearted and good. Please help this old country man to see our Gangjeong village to recover its original beautiful and peaceful appearance in my life time. Please help to make our country where the people are the true masters.
[..]

January 2013

Yoon Sang-Hyo, Gangjeong villager

Photo by News 1/ Jeju Domin Ilbo. Jeong Young-Hee, chairwoman of the Village Women’s Committee to Stop the Naval Base is holding a sign that reads, “Promptly stop the construction of the naval base [..]” Jan. 13

January 14, 2013
Navy Ignores National Assembly Conditions for 70 days Construction Stop

See the Gangjeong villagers’ statement on budget on Jan. 2 and related National Assembly subsidiary conditions under the below photos.

Photo by Cho Sung-Bong/ The sirens rang about three times even before 7 am on Jan. 2, 2013. The siren rang around 9 am again. The daily war of Gangjeong started again. Despite the National Assembly stipulation on 70 days, the navy enforced construction even on the New Year holiday.

Photo by Cho Sung-Bong/ Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun protested to the police for their permission on the entry of construction trucks, showing them the National Assembly condition. For the National Assembly conditions, see the below.

Photo by Kang U-Jin/ Around 4 pm. Jan. 2/ Some people including Prof. Shin Yong-In staged a civil disobedience movement, demanding the navy’s observance on the National Assembly conditions.

Photo by Paco Booyah/ 5 p.m. Jan. 3. 100 bows in front of the destruction site. The sign reads, “Stop the illegal construction without a through verification on simulation.’

‎[Around 9pm, Jan. 3]/ A cold night. A young man in his 30s stops a construction truck alone. The police threaten him that they would arrest him under the charge of ‘obstruction on business.’ The young man protests in state asking why the police ignore 70 days’ verification and construction stop period, while the police siding with the navy that enforces construction, despite the National Assembly subsidiary opinion. The young man had to fight himself enduring a cold night alone in front of the gate. Behind a sheet of paper by the National assembly, Gangjeong is bleeding again…
The sign reads, ‘Construction stop for 70 days! Carry the [National Assembly] agreement by the ruling and opposition parties!’

Photo by Cho Sung-Bong/ The Pan-Island committee press conference on Jan. 3/ The banner reads ‘The enforcement of construction is illegal. The government and navy should immediately stop illegal construction!’ For more photos, see here

Caisson built by Daelim Co. is being put into Gangjeong sea in the morning of January 4. . . More photos by Hallabong, click here. (Post by Regina Pyon)

The Gangjeong village statement on Jan. 2, 2013

Position of the Gangjeong villagers on the subsidiary conditions on the 2013 Jeju naval base budget

(You can see the original Korean statement, here)

In the examination on the 2013 budget on the Jeju naval base project, the National Assembly passed the budget with the subsidiary condition (* See the bottom). The Gangjeong Village Association cannot but ask whether the National Assembly neglected its role as the monitoring institute on the government by itself to pass the whole budget(* 200 billion won) proposed by the Ministry of National Defense despite the fact that it is the project of which a thorough verification, the subsidiary condition agreed by the Budget and Balance committee of the National Assembly in 2011 has not been carried on.

However, we judge that the subsidiary conditions of 2013 budget is in fact a declaration on construction stop. We should consider the contents that [the Government] should not carry on the execution of budget until it satisfies the three conditions as the [demand] to the navy to stop the expense plan on the naval base budget first. However, the navy, enforcing 24 hour construction from the beginning of the Jan. 1, New Year, is staging conflicts with villagers and peace keepers. Even the Ministry of National Defense espoused a thorough performance on the subsidiary conditions through its press release. Therefore the navy’s obstinate enforcement of construction is an arrogation and insubordination.

The reasons that we should consider the subsidiary conditions as the construction stop in fact are as the below.

Firstly, it is because of the very first item of [the conditions] that reads that [the Government] should wipe out concerns that the base would be operated mainly for the military port.

According to the enforcement of decree on Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act revised in 2012, all the area of the Jeju naval base project is designated as the military protection (restriction) zone and the port-entry/ exit of the cruise ships should be permitted from the Unit commander.

Not only that, according to the decree revised, the whole crews and passengers are defined as the subjects to be controlled. How can there be a guarantee that the port will not be operated mainly for a military port when the law is defined as such?

To wipe out the concerns that the port would be mainly for a military port, at least the zone designated as a trade port should be excluded from the Military protection area.

The [next] government of Park Geun-Hye [whose being fairly elected is matter of suspicions] should examine the issue in a forward-looking manner and should revise again the revised enforcement of decree on Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act.

Secondly, it is for the [second] item that demands a through verification on the possibility of entry/exit of 150,000 ton cruise. To be sorry, the item is not stipulated with the phrase of ‘possibility on the 150,000 ton cruises’ smooth entry and exit of port.’ While ‘smooth entry and exit of port’ can mean that it is possible for the cruise to enter and exit the port by its own exertion, the definition of simply ‘a possibility of entry and exit of port’ brings about a serious matter. The cruse can enter the port with the support by more than 4 tug boats that would be mobilized, unless there is a warning on the high wind and sea wave.

However, it takes tremendous costs to manage a port that operates four tug boats of each is more than 3,000 HP. It is told that more than 150,000,000 won is needed only for an yearly wage for a captain of a tug boat. It is expected to take 4~5 billion won to operate a pilot for the arrangement of four tug boats.

If we are realistic to expect entries of 150,000 ton level cruise twice a year and the economic income would be about 0.6 billion won for one-time entry, it means the [Island Government] should operate a pilot with 4~5 billion won only for 1.2 billion economic income that would come from the entries of cruises twice a year. Further the costs of operation on waiting room for cruse and maintenance/ repair of harbor and bay will be additionally burdened. Moreover, the loss amount cannot but be more increased since the sources of direct earnings for the Jeju Island government will be merely of the ship cost for coming alongside the pier and entry ticket for the watching facility of the public institutes.

Even though we suppose smooth entry & exit of port by cruise (which means the possibility for the cruise to enter and exit by its own exertion), it is tremendous costs for the waiting room and harbor & bay-maintenance/repair that would be expended only for the 150,000 ton level cruise coming no more than twice a year. Plus with the expectation on the restoration costs following the damages by typhoons, the effect on the chronically deficient Jeju economy cannot but be aggravated far from positive effects on it. The Jeju naval base being constructed under the excuse of invitation of 150,000 ton cruises that are only 4~5 throughout the world will bring about the result that would push the economy of the Jeju more falling into its bottomless pit.

Even if we might suppose that the 2^nd item of the subsidiary conditions of the National Assembly means the verification on the smooth entry/ exit of port for 150,000 ton cruises, the time-limited condition of 70 days makes no sense for a thorough verification.

It is because it is a simulation that should be processed premised on the altered 30° navigation route, which passes through the vicinity of the Beom Seom (Tiger Island) [the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve]. If then there should be a three-dimensional modeling on harbor and bay, backed by observation on area-detailed water depth and analysis on the current, regarding the water area near the 30° altered navigation route. According to experts, it is a work of which the process only takes three months at minimum to six months at maximum.

We have warned many times that the 30° navigation route and vicinity water area themselves would be the obstacles on the port-entry for 150,000 ton cruise since those places are of many reefs with low water depth. Moreover, the water area of train rock water area is a zone of tremendously strong current. Will there be anybody who can trust the verification if the verification on the opening of a navigation route in such area of natural environment is processed without basic investigation process and three dimensional modeling due to time limitation of 70 days?

Thirdly, it is on the matter on the conclusion on the protocol on the joint use on the rights to official regulations on the harbor and bay and on the costs for maintenance and repair on the harbor and bay facility.

Above all, it is illogical to say so and so on the rights to official regulations when the military legally holds the control rights on the port-entry and exit.

Regrading the costs on the maintenance and repair on the harbor and bay facility, it is also prospected that even the operation cost on the cruise waiting room could be hard to be met given the realistic numbers of the entry by 150,000 ton cruises even though cruse makes entry and exit by its own exertion. Plus with the costs on the maintenance and repair on the harbor and bay facility, the Jeju Island cannot but have the blame shifted to itself. The Jeju naval base built under the show of so called civilian-military complex port for tour beauty will be only a worry that destroys the economy of the Jeju, far from making the Jeju as the 2^nd Hawai’i or the tourism herb of the Northeast Asia.

Even with the use of tug boats, the governor cannot but risk loss. If the governor still passes such project that deceives the Jeju Island people saying so and so on joint allotments, without an objective, scientific and thorough verification, he would pose himself as destroying the Jeju economy and threatening the people’s lives. He should keep in mind that he would be the public enemy for the Jeju Island people, then.

Park Geun-Hye, the President-elect, claiming the great unity of people, made a pledge that she would drive for the project to be a civilian-military complex port for tour beauty, following the will of the Island people. She also emphasized that she is a politician being responsible for her words. Then she should stop the construction on the Jeju naval base and carry on thorough verification and investigation on truth, following the subsidiary conditions that the Saenuri Party (* the ruling conservative party) agreed with. She should revoke the base construction project itself if it turns out that the Jeju naval base does not fit to the South Korea’s international relationship or to the position of the Jeju Island; and if it becomes clear that it is against the will of the Island people or harms the Jeju economy.

Therefore the Gangjeong Village Association demands as the below.

1, The National Assembly should switch over itself from the subjects of solution from the subjects of resolution. As the ruling and opposition parties made an agreement on the subsidiary conditions, they should take responsibility for management and supervision on the performance on the subsidiary conditions by forming a special committee. Park Geun-Hye, President-elect and the Saenuri Party should take an active cooperation with them as they made an agreement to the subsidiary conditions also.

2. As the Ministry of National Defense declared on the thorough performance on the subsidiary conditions of the National Assembly, the navy should immediately stop the construction and should enter for a thorough verification on scientific and reasonable verification with transparent and objective measures.

3. Woo Keun-Min, the Jeju Island governor should not compromise on the Jeju naval base issue which is the biggest matter and core of conflict in the Jeju Island. He should fulfill a thorough verification to the end.

Finally, greeting the beginning of 2013, the Gangjeong village Association, the representative institute of the Gangjeong village, states again that it will firmly maintain its position to revoke the naval base project, that has experienced conflicts for the Jeju naval base issue for six years; and will make all the efforts for construction stop and re-examination of the project, while fulfilling its role as the subject of dissolution on conflict and restoration on community.

Jan. 2, 2013

The Gangjeong Village Association

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Post by Fox David

Image source: Jeju Sori, Jan. 1, 2013

[Final Updates] Republic of Korea’s national assembly passed the bugdet bill for 2013 fiscal year and confirmed the naval base constuction budget scale and it’s collateral conditions.

A meeting was achieved between the leaders of both parties just before a general session of national assembly and made final agreement between the leadership of both party. They made an agreement and concluded they attached some collateral conditions to the 2013 naval base construction budget bill. The collateral conditions are shown on this photo. This is an agreement between the leadership of the rulling party and the opposite party and signed by the representatives from both parties.

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Jeju Naval Base(Jeju Civilian-Military Complex Port for Tour Beauty) Additional Agreements

1. The Ministry of National Defense should try dispel worries about the controversies this Jeju Civilian-Military Complex Port might be used as 100% military installation.

2. The Ministry of National Defense, The National Assembly, The Central Government and Jeju Special Self-governing Province Authority should take a deep verification and an investigation process about the capacity of Jeju Civilian-Military Complex Port for the entry and departure procedures of 150 thousand tons Cruise Ship.

3. The Ministry of National Defense should make an written agreement about the control of Jeju Civilian-Military Complex Port, the responsibilities of maintenance with the Jeju Special Self-governing Province Authority.

The above three collateral conditions should be satisfied and executed within 70 days [from the date of signing] and should be reported to the National Assembly within 70 days. If the agreement of the hearing schedule from the National Assembly weren’t made, a written report can be submitted to the National Assembly.

Additionally, the National Assembly can have an authority to split the naval base construction budget into two part, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s Budget and the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs’ one so there can be better collaborations and cooperation for the full functionality and capacity as a Civilian-Military Complex Port.

The floor leader of the ruling SAENURY Party
LEE, HAN GOO

The floor leader of the opposition DUP(Democratic United Party)
PARK, KI CHUN

January 4, 2013
History

an introduction to jeju

One Island Village’s Struggle for Land, Life and Peace

By Anders Riel Müller* | April 19, 2011

In early April I had the chance to visit one of the most beautiful areas in South Korea. Gangjeong Village on the island of Jeju is a small farming and fishing community on the island’s southern coast. Entering the village you see citrus groves and greenhouses on all sides. On the main street, women were sitting on the sidewalk cleaning fish and selling them to the locals. The cherry trees lining the main street were just beginning to bloom. It was a welcome break from congested and crowded Seoul where I live. In many ways it reminds me of the island in Denmark where I grew up. Nothing special seems to be going on, and that’s the beauty of it. But this community of approximately 1,500 farmers and fishermen is in the midst of a struggle against the South Korean government’s attempt to build a major naval base right in the middle of their village. The Navy and the Korean government claim that the base will have minimum impact on the environment and that it will create jobs and attract new tourists to the area. The villagers will have none of it. They see that the base will destroy their way of life, their village and the peace that Jeju islanders strive for. But the navy continues to raze farms and fishing grounds despite their protests.

Jeju’s Geo-strategic Curse

The island of Jeju is as far away from Seoul as you can get geographically and mentally. This autonomous island province, located south/southwest of the Korean peninsula is in many ways distinct from mainland Korea. It’s relative geographic isolation, volcanic geological history, and warmer climate has formed a people whose traditions, food, and culture is as distinct as the islands natural features. Because of this, Jeju is also the biggest single tourist destination in Korea often named “Honeymoon Island” as it is a favored destination for newlywed Korean couples. The island economy is also distinct. Agriculture, tourism, and fishing are the three main economic sectors, helping the island preserve its natural beauty and traditional way of life. Development in Jeju can be said to have followed a pace in which it was possible to modernize without having to completely compromise the island’s environment, traditions and culture. This is not to say that Jeju is an untouched island paradise. Luxury tourist resorts, golf courses, and tacky tourist attractions can be found in many places, but once you venture a bit off the beaten path you will find the Jeju that makes it a special place.

Nevertheless, Jeju’s curse is its strategic location between South Korea and Japan, and its close proximity to China. It is only 300 miles from the Chinese mainland and Shanghai. For centuries, Jeju has been the battleground for conflicts that had little to do with the islanders themselves. In modern times, Jeju was annexed along with the rest of the Korean Empire by Japan in 1910. Thousands of island men were sent to work in mines and factories in Japan and Manchuria, while women were forced into prostitution to service the Japanese Imperial Army. Towards the end of World War II, the Japanese heavily fortified the island, deployed 70,000 soldiers, and forced the islanders to construct coastal defenses in anticipation of a U.S. invasion. When Japan surrendered in 1945, Jeju joined the rest of Korea to celebrate the end of decades of colonial rule and exploitation. But for the people of Jeju, the horrors experienced under Japanese rule were nothing compared to what was to come.

The Jeju Massacres

The division of the Korean Peninsula by the United States and the Soviet Union turned Jeju into a battlefield for subsequent cold war conflicts on the peninsula. In 1948, with U.S. and U.N. support, South Korea held elections that established a separate state in the south, thus solidifying Korea’s division. In response, 30,000 islanders in Jeju went out to protest the elections, which was abruptly ended when police opened fire and killed eight protesters. This prompted riots throughout the island and the boycott of the South Korean elections by Jeju islanders. Unfortunately, the United States overseers annulled the Jeju election results due to their lack of participation, and Syngman Rhee was elected without the votes from Jeju counted. But that wasn’t all. Korean right wing nationalists labeled the entire island as Communists sympathizers. When U.S. backed leader Syngman Rhee took power following the elections, he initiated a massive “Red” cleansing campaign targeted the Jeju general population. Using the South Korean military and ultra rightist paramilitary groups from the Northwest Korean Youth Association, the Rhee government employed a scorched earth strategy of repression resulting in the indiscriminate raping of women and burning of villages. Thousands of people were killed. It is estimated that 70 percent of entire villages were razed to the ground and 30,000 people—ten percent of the island’s population—were murdered. It was a brutal precursor to what the mainland would experience during the Korean War.

At the newly constructed Peace Park Museum and Memorial for the massacre, one can take a few moments to reflect on Jeju’s fate as a battleground for imperial and ideological conflicts and the meaningless loss of lives that people here have suffered. I went there on April 4th for the commemoration of “Sasam” as the massacre is called locally. From the thousands of people who were gathered for the memorial ceremony, it is clear that the massacre has left deep scars in Jeju society. For years, any mention of the massacre could lead to imprisonment and torture. Relatives of those who had been labeled as Communists were prevented from taking public service positions or jobs in many companies. Many are still afraid to talk about what happened.

It was not until 2006 that the late President Roh Moo-Hyun officially apologized for the massacre and designated Jeju “Island of World Peace”. For 50 years, successive governments in Seoul silenced the Korean people’s memories of systematic murder, rape and torture. As one exits the museum, a sign reads: “Jeju April 3rd Incident will be remembered as a symbol of the preciousness of peace, unity and human rights.” But the government’s memory is short. Plans for a major naval base on Jeju had been in the works since 2002 at different locations, but opposition from local residents halted construction several times.

The Plight of Gangjeong Village

In Gangjeong however, the navy and the South Korean government seem determined to construct the base by any means necessary. I met an artist and activist Sung-Hee Choi is living in Gangjeong to support the struggle of the villagers. Gangjeong means the “Village of Water,” she says, referring to the abundance of surface fresh water in the area, a rarity on this island of porous volcanic rock. The clean water from the Gangjeong stream is what makes the farmland some of the most fertile on the island. Greenhouse after greenhouse and miles of citrus orchards confirm that farming here is a good way of life for the residents. Much of this will soon be paved over if the Navy and central government get their way. As we walk down to the beach, we pass bulldozed fields with chopped down wilted citrus trees and collapsed green houses. The Navy contractors from Samsung and Daerim are not wasting any time. It is quite obvious that such physical destruction is part of the Navy’s strategy to silence resistance in the village. Some residents have already given up the fight and sold their land fearing that they will be fined if they did not sell. The government alleges that the construction is legal, that the residents have been offered fair compensation, but many locals feel pressured and cajoled into selling their land.

Down at the beach one quickly recognizes that this is a uniquely beautiful coastal stretch. The volcanic rocks, many coves and unique fresh water tidal pools provide habitats for a wealth of animal and plant life. Underneath the water, endangered soft corals provide habitat for an abundance of sea life. The importance of these ecosystems have been officially recognized by UNESCO as part of its designation of the Jeju biosphere reserve and the provincial government is currently seeking nomination as one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. But again the government seems to care little about these designations. Construction companies have already destroyed large areas of volcanic rock formations with their bulldozers and trucks.

As we walk along the cliffs and lava rock formations, we have a moment to stop at a few of the fresh water tide pools filled with marine life. “I never noticed these pools before,” Sunghee says. “I have been too busy watching the navy watching us.” She points to the navy headquarters a few hundred yards away from where they track and monitor all movement on the coast. Except for a few women gathering shellfish, we are alone. Sunghee tells me that usually spies working for Samsung or the Navy disguised as sport fishers watch them. I can see that the constant monitoring is taking its toll on both activists and villagers. Each time I saw Sunghee over the few days, she always looked exhausted. From the perspective of villagers and activists, the navy is playing a game of psychological warfare with those who oppose base construction. We walk back to where we entered the beach. Artworks, posters and boards tell visitors about the unique ecosystems of this coastal stretch and how all of it will be destroyed by the base construction.

On the rocks we meet well-known movie critic Professor Yang Yoon-Mo. A Jeju native, Mr. Yang has lived in a tent on the rocks for four years to protest the base construction. I ask for a brief interview but Mr. Yang declines. “There is no more to be said or explained,” says Yang. “Now I just want to enjoy the beauty of this place.” It is a beautiful and quiet spring day and the coast is almost deserted besides a few tourists. The peace is disturbed only when two minivans come down to the beach. Sunghee’s and Mr. Yang’s faces light up. The minivans have transported solidarity delegations from Okinawa and Gwangju to Gangjeong to support the villagers. Both delegations have experienced the consequences of being victims of larger geopolitical and ideological conflicts. Okinawans have protested U.S. military presence for decades and Gwangju delegates are relatives of the victims of the brutal Gwangju massacre in 1980.

Sunghee explains that construction machines are usually there, but that they were probably withdrawn for fear of conflict with protestors during the weekend of the Sasam commemoration and the solidarity demonstration announced by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). Several villagers, including the mayor, have been injured and arrested from skirmishes with the police. It seems that this day the Navy and construction companies have decided it is wisest to withdraw given all the media attention during Sasam.

Why the Naval Base on Jeju

The Korean Navy claims that the new “eco-friendly” naval base will create jobs and increased security for the island. But it is difficult to imagine an eco-friendly 50-hectare naval base that will house 8,000 marines, up to 20 destroyers, several submarines and two 150,000-ton luxury cruise liners. Considering that each destroyer has up to a 100,000 horsepower engine it is difficult to see how the base can be considered safe for an ecologically sensitive environment, not to mention that most of the volcanic rock formation will be paved over with cement and concrete. The second argument is that the new base will provide an economic boost for the island. But what kind of jobs will be created? People in Gangjeong are farmers and fishers living off the wealth of land and sea. The jobs that usually accompany military bases are more likely to be in service industries such as bars, brothels and souvenir shops. The sheer size of the naval base will inevitably lead to the complete erasure of this community, and the villagers know it.

The final argument for the base is that it will provide vital security for the island. But history shows otherwise. Any time a major military force has been present on the island it has led to death, displacement, and destruction of the local population. Jeju islanders experienced atrocities from the Japanese during the occupation and later by their own countrymen during the Jeju massacre. The real issue here is not about the security of Jeju, but rather the strategic placement of a new naval base tasked with securing shipping lanes which are the lifeline of South Korea’s resource intensive corporations. This new strategically located fleet will also take on an increasingly offensive role in the East China and South China Sea.

In a recent article Christine Ahn and Sukjong Hong reveal how the base will play a strategic role in efforts by the U.S.-South Korea-Japan alliance to reign in Chinese naval expansion. While South Korea claims that the base is not intended for use by the United States, the likelihood that the U.S. Navy would utilize the base in any military conflict in the region is obvious given U.S. operational control over Korea’s military. The base is also viewed by some in the military establishment as symbolic of South Korea’s emergence as a world power in which the navy will play a central role. In an interview with the conservative paper JoongAng Daily Admiral Jung Ok-keun of the ROK Navy said, “The establishment of the flotilla is a sign that we are becoming one of the powerful navies in the world, the goal we have been dreamed of.” There can hardly be any doubt that this new 953 billion Won naval base will serve as a strategic offensive outpost for South Korea and its allies. In this context it is difficult to understand how a base in Gangjeong will increase security for Jeju residents. In a potential military conflict with China, Gangjeong will be an important strategic target, just as Pearl Harbor was for the Japanese in WWII.

Still Hope

Sunghee and I walk back to the village. She is clearly encouraged by the arrival of the Gwangju and Okinawa delegations, and re-energized by the peaceful and beautiful coastline. After teaching an English class to some local students, we walk over to one of the local restaurants for dinner before joining a solidarity demonstration organized by KCTU later that evening. We have to give up finding food in the center of the village because most of the restaurant owners have left for the demonstration. Sunghee tells me that the village has been torn apart by the struggle – neighbor against neighbor, and relatives and against relatives. Many have given up, exhausted and fearful of the Navy. Not all, however, have thrown in the towel.

We arrive at the community soccer field situated right across the road from the main gate to the Navy headquarters. We greet the dog that activists, in a gesture of humor, have placed to watch the Navy headquarters, and join the 1,300 protesters who have come from all over Korea to support the villagers. It is already dark when we arrive, but the hundreds of candles held by the protesters provide a comforting atmosphere. Protesters are of all ages and walks of life: families with children, villagers, workers and activists. Watching the crowd sing songs for peace and reunification, it is hard to believe the government’s claim that the protest is the work of a handful of extreme activists.

Sitting in the bus on the way back to my hotel, I reflect on the last few days in Jeju and how if this naval base is not stopped, the Gangjeong villagers’ livelihoods, histories and traditions may soon be erased from memory, all because of strategic geo-political ambitions that have nothing to do with them or their way of life. On April 6th, two days after my visit to Gangjeong, the navy began construction again. Sunghee Choi and Yoon-mo Yang were arrested and detained by the police. Sunghee was released the following day, but Mr. Yang was not released until April 8th. Meanwhile the villagers continue to block the construction of the base. To stay updated, follow Sunghee Choi’s blog.

This UNESCO World Heritage designated island stands to lose much of what makes it part of our world heritage. The transformation of Jeju into a military base also shows that much has yet to change in South Korea before a true democracy is established. The strategies of subtle coercion and lack of transparency by both the Navy and the South Korean government against its own people are discouraging to any person concerned about democracy and the rights of people. The struggle of Gangjeong villagers for land, life, and peace should concern us all.

*Anders Riel Müller is a fellow with the Korea Policy Institute who is living in South Korea.

January 3, 2013

Cut the 2013 Jeju Naval Base Budget

Update: See the Dec. 29 statement to Cut the budget at the end of this (Dec. 31).

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Fwd from Save Jeju Now

Today, you may help us by sending this to the members of the Budget and Balance Committee of the National Assembly.

The villagers and people have been doing peace bows despite cold weather in front of the National Assembly, Seoul, since Dec. 24. Today, Dec. 29 is the final day on the talk on the 2013 Jeju naval base budget. See the below for contact email address

PHOTOS OF

A KOREAN ENVIRONMENTAL HOLOCAUST, DECEMBER 29, 2012

Snapshot #1: The south Jeju Sea, which contains one of the world’s largest and most spectacular soft-coral forests as well as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, has been infiltrated by 13 coral-dredging barges. The barges are working around the clock to crush and destroy the precious and amazing coral habitats. The idea is to build a state-of-the-art military navy base that will accommodate sonar-emitting nuclear submarines, Aegis-missile technology destroyers, the largest U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier, and other warships.

Snapshot #2: Villagers from Gangjeong perform thousands of full bows in the snow from morning to night in front of the Seoul Assembly. They have been here since before Christmas to protest the construction of the base. Construction of the base will destroy everything they value dearly: their food source, their culture, their history, their future. The Korean government tells them the base is needed for national security. But the villagers do not believe turning their island into a military target will make them more secure. Security for the chaebol minority is death to Korea’s working class people and nature.

Gangjeong villagers protest base construction on Christmas Eve.

Snapshot #3: Far to the south, on Jeju Island, Gangjeong villagers hold a continual protest vigil at the construction gate, around the clock, through snow and hail. They block the continual parade of construction trucks entering the base-construction zone, in an effort to delay the project as much as possible.

Snapshot #4: A worker on one of the dredging barges has collected a few of the many beautiful, once-living shell creatures he dredged up in the course of a day’s work. The marine life here is some of the most diverse and abundant in the world. If the base is not stopped, all life here will be dead, from the siltation, release of heavy metals and other toxins, and sonar. Korea’s last pod of dolphins will perish, since they are not long-distance swimmers and there is no temperate refuge in proximity of the destruction. The Gangjeong villagers are crying, “They are killing all the creatures in our sea!”

* * * * * *

If the Jeju base is built, nothing could be more dangerous to the future security of Korea (or more profitable to the chaebol). It would be a message, loud and clear, to China and North Korea that the Republic of Korea staunchly supports the U.S. military agenda.

We must emphasize DIPLOMACY, NOT BASE-BUILDING.

CUT THE 2013 BUDGET FOR THE JEJU NAVY BASE CONSTRUCTION!

1009 General Kennedy Ave. #2 | San Francisco, CA 94129 US

Members of the Budget and Balance committee, Democratic United Party (21)and United Progressive Party(2)

ggh000@naver.com, kdc2000@na.go.kr,
kimcj@assembly.go.kr, ktn21@assembly.go.kr,
wraenoh@hanmail.net, bdmin1958@assembly.go.kr,
parknamchun@naver.com, jhok100@hanmail.net,
intoan429@hanmail.net, ams@osan21.or.kr,
YSJ@assembly.go.kr, lmk2014@na.go.kr,
smlee@assembly.go.kr, lys6062@assembly.go.kr,
lys6062@assembly.go.kr, ssaribi317@hanmail.net,
choiminhee51@gmail.com, js21@assembly.go.kr,
youngvote@hanmail.net, ksd519@gmail.com,
jinbosk@gmail.com, moonriver@gmail.com

Members of the Budget and Balance committee, ruling Saenuri Party(27)

ggotop@assembly.go.kr, ksdd22@naver.com,
ldek3525@naver.com, my733@hanmail.net,
kst0331@assembly.go.kr, kjg7942@jinjucity.com,
taewon@ktw.or.kr, ansung@assembly.go.kr,
sungkull@na.go.kr, 2020shp@na.go.kr,
yg4namgu@naver.com, ljy2111@assembly.go.kr,
yschang49@assembly.go.kr, bgchoung@assembly.go.kr,
jhs01000@hanmail.net, johj98@assembly.go.kr,
ijysoon@naver.com, mphonglove@hanmail.net,
hip@assembly.go.kr, jiman0530@naver.com,
khp316@na.go.kr

(For the details of 50 members in the Budget and Balance committee in Korean, see here. The address above are collection of the available)

………………………………………….

The below is a translation of the Dec. 29 statement by the Civic Peace Forum, Civic Society Organizations’ Solidarity Meeting. You can see the original Korean statement, here.

Statement

The 2013 Jeju naval base budget should be totally cut

Park Geun-Hye, President-Elect and ruling and opposition party members should keep promise with the Jeju Island people.

1. The National Assembly discussion on the 2013 budget is approaching to its very end. The ruling and opposition party members and National Assembly members should cut all 2013 Jeju naval base budget. The reasons that the whole cut of naval base budget is inevitable are in the below.

2. Firstly, ‘objective verification on base layout,’ that has been the promised with the Island people, agreed by the ruling and opposition party members in Dec. 2011 was not properly carried on. The purpose that the Budget and Balance committee of the National Assembly in 2011 cut most part of 2012 naval base budget was to straighten out the layout flaws of the so called ‘civilian-military complex port for tour beauty’ that the government and navy have made a pledge. When the National Assembly cut the budget in 2011, it demanded the Government and navy to ‘objectively verify on the matter of the cruise ships, regarding their entry/exit of port and coming/leaving alongside the pier. Since then, the technical verification committee composed under the supervision of the Office of Prime Minister acknowledged on ‘flaws on the base design.’ However, in the field, construction has been enforced without fundamental change on layout that would not settle the cause of problems. Even though the navy made some makeshift remedy proposals such as rearrangement of the structures in harbor & bay, change in navigation route, super tug boats that are to partly change the layout without construction stop and fundamental re-layout, the matters on the cruise entry/exit of port, cruise coming/leaving alongside the pier have never been proved. Any simulation that would verify an independent and objective simulation has not been carried out by now yet. Therefore the navy and government have no basis to demand necessary budget to enforce construction as the agreement by the ruling and opposition parties have not been made in 2011.

3. Secondly, the problems of the layout that were partly changed after the technical verification committee acknowledged the layout flaws are being disclosed one after another. The representing case is that the altered cruise navigation route (30° angle navigation route) for the reason of safety matter goes through the natural protection zone of the Tiger Island (natural memorial No. 421) and UESCO Biosphere Reserve (Buffer zone) therefore serious environmental destruction is expected. Also despite the navy’s change of base design in parts, it was disclosed that the space for the 150,000 ton cruises to turn is still lack and it is even far from the standard brought up by the Ministry of Land, Transportation, and Maritime Affairs. The verification on those new points in disputes have not been established at all, either.

4. Thirdly, caissons that are the core facilities of the harbor and bay construction have been largely destroyed due to the typhoons of this summer. Further, suspicions on unreliable construction have been raised through ‘inside’ reports (emphasis by me). It is not only unreasonable to continue cassion installation construction without proper investigation and measures but could bring a tremendous budget waste.

5. Those basis consistently show that the base currently being built in the Gangjeong village is not the civilian-military complex port for tour beauty that the Jeju Island people have promised to the Government and navy but it has a serious defect in technical and environmental way. It is not reasonable to compile the budget of more than 200 billion won budget to enforce the naval base construction that the villagers strongly oppose without the fundamental measure or objective verification that the Jeju Island people can trust. Park Geun-Hye, President-elect (*Suspicions on unfair vote and ballot-counting process have been continuously raised) has stated that she would drive for the construction of civilian-military complex port for tour beauty when she visited the Jeju during the {Presidential election. It is not to be responsible and to follow the will of the Island people to push a military base with technical and environmental defects in the name of the Civilian-Military Complex Port for Tour Beauty.

6.As the ruling and opposition parties have set up the standard of ‘no verification, no budget,’ by the ruling and opposition party agreement in 2011, it is reasonable that the National Assembly cut the whole Jeju naval base project budget proposed in the situation when the verification that the National Assembly has not been properly established. If the political field enforces the naval base construction without keeping promise to its own principle and Island people, the Jeju island will be wrapped up by more serious conflicts. We demand the wise choice by the ruling and opposition parties again.

Dec. 29

Civic Peace Forum, Civic Society Organizations’ Solidarity Meeting.

(Fwd by Kim Hee-Soon, PSPD. National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing to the Naval Base in Jeju Island)

December 29, 2012

Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly News from the Struggle

Every month the Gangjeong International Team produces a monthly newsletter called, “Gangjeong Village Story”. It is available in printable digital form (PDF). Below you will find the archived links to all the past newsletters available for download. If you would like to subscribe to receive our newsletter by email, please contact gjengnews@gmail.com

January 2013 Issue

In this month’s issue:
Struggle outlook after the presidential election and in the new year, a new support group forms, similarities of Gaza and Gangjeong, more prisoner releases, Buddhist unity ceremony, voting problems for villagers and more!

Download PDF

December 2012 Issue

In this month’s issue:
A message from Chomsky to Gangjeong, a new civil disobedience movement, prison letters, prisoner releases, construction accidents, art activism and more!

Download PDF

November Issue

In this month’s issue:
National Grand March for Life and Peace Comes to a close, outrageous findings in National Assembly inspections, Jesuit priest imprisoned, illegal security company hired to guard the construction site, 24-Hour construction begins and much more!

Download PDF

October Issue

In this month’s issue:

Gangjeong and the Naval Base Issue stir up the IUCN’s WCC 2012, New U.S. Links to the Naval Base found, ROK Government ignores the UN on Gangjeong, Interviews with Prisoner Kim Bok-Chul and a WCC participant, Articles from several Veterans for Peace visitors to Gangjeong, and more!

Download PDF

September Issue

In this month’s issue:

Thousands join Grand Peace March and Peace Concert, IUCN Rejects Gangjeong Booth, Typhoon Bolaven Damages the Construction Site, Interviews with Mayor Kang & Women’s Committee Chair Jeong, Articles from Prison by Dr. Song and Kim Dong-Won, and more!

Download PDF

WCC Special Edition Issue

Specially published for those attending the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress 2012, held on Jeju from September 6-15 or for those visiting Gangjeong during that time. Contents Include:

Summary of the struggle against environmental destruction and human rights violations in Gangjeong, Jeju, schedule of Gangjeong related events during the WCC 2012, information on visiting Gangjeong, information about historical relics discovered inside the naval base construction site, fact vs. hype refutation of ROK government myths, and more!

Download PDF

August Issue

In this month’s issue:

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

Download PDF

July Issue

In this month’s issue:

The navy pushes to steal more land, water issues, London Samsung Boycott, Construction Mocks Environmental Standards, Prison Letter from Dr. Song Kang-Ho and more!

Download PDF

June Issue

In this month’s issue:

6000 bows for peace in front of the Governor’s building, special international solidarity feature, harassement of village elderly, Father Mun wins the 5.18 Human Rights Prize, a letter from Guam and more!

Download PDF

More Back Issues Coming Soon!

December 19, 2012
‘The Nation’ article on the Struggle against the Jeju Naval Base Project

The Nation, one of the biggest progressive media in the United States recently published a story on the struggle against the Jeju naval base in its internet. Its magazine version will come in January. Please spread widely!

Website snap photo by Paco Booyah

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http://www.thenation.com/article/171767/front-lines-new-pacific-war

On the Front Lines of a New Pacific War

Koohan Paik and Jerry Mander | December 14, 2012

In Seoul, 5,000 anti-base protestors joined Gangjeong villagers who had marched, over a four-week period, up the length of the nation to the capitol. Credit: Fielding Hong

On the small, spectacular island of Jeju, off the southern tip of Korea, indigenous villagers have been putting their bodies in the way of construction of a joint South Korean-US naval base that would be an environmental, cultural and political disaster. If completed, the base would hold more than 7,000 navy personnel, plus twenty warships including US aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and destroyers carrying the latest Aegis missiles–all aimed at China, only 300 miles away.

Since 2007, when the $970 million project was first announced, the outraged Tamna people of Gangjeong village have exhausted every legal and peaceful means to stop it. They filed lawsuits. They held a referendum in which 94 percent of the electorate voted against construction–a vote the central government ignored. They chained themselves for months to a shipping container parked on the main access road, built blockades of boulders at the construction gate and occupied coral-reef dredging cranes. They have been arrested by the hundreds. Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun, who was jailed for three months, said, “If the villagers have committed any crime, it is the crime of aspiring to pass their beautiful village to their descendants.”

Jeju is just one island in a growing constellation of geostrategic points that are being militarized as part of President Obama’s “Pacific Pivot,” a major initiative announced late in 2011 to counter a rising China. According to separate statements by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, 60 percent of US military resources are swiftly shifting from Europe and the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region. (The United States already has 219 bases on foreign soil in the Asia-Pacific; by comparison, China has none.) The Jeju base would augment the Aegis-equipped systems in South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and the US colony of Guam. The Pentagon has also positioned Patriot PAC-3 missile defense systems in Taiwan, Japan (where the United States has some ninety installations, plus about 47,000 troops on Okinawa) and in South Korea (which hosts more than 100 US facilities).

Police arrest Jesuit priests protesting military-base construction. Credit: Jung Da-Woo-Ri

The United States has also begun rotating troops to Australia and has announced plans to build a drone base on Australia’s remote Cocos Islands. (Also targeted is the gorgeous Palawan Island in the Philippines and the resource-rich Northern Mariana Islands, to name only a few on a long list.) In a whistle-stop tour of the region intended to shore up more allies last September, Panetta said the United States hopes to station troops in New Zealand as well, though approval for that has not been granted. Obama made his own tour just after re-election, courting Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand as potential trade partners and military allies in the encirclement of China. The United States has even reopened discussions with the brutal Indonesian military–collaboration had been suspended for several years because of human rights issues–in an attempt to influence this key trading partner with China.

Adm. Robert Willard, head of the US Pacific Command (PACOM), gave context to these maneuverings in September 2011. In a speech at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco, he labeled the entire Asia-Pacific region–which contains 52 percent of the earth and two-thirds of the human population–as a “commons” to be “protected” by the United States. Normally, the word “commons” refers to resources commonly shared and controlled by contiguous parties. But Willard seemed to have in mind a massive “US commons” that extends nearly 8,000 miles from the Indian Ocean to the west coast of North America.

Willard’s imperial rhetoric recently became concrete when PACOM reacted to disputes between Japan and China over islands in the geostrategically vital East China Sea. From its Pearl Harbor headquarters in Hawaii, Willard initiated joint military exercises involving 37,000 Japanese and 10,000 American troops. And last October, PACOM sent a Navy aircraft carrier strike group to Manila to show force in the Philippines’ dispute with China over the Spratly Islands.

Members of Gangjeong’s “Save Our Seas” direct-action kayak team check for environmental violations committed at the base construction site, despite the recently instituted fine of $10,000 for “recreational boating.”

Less well known is that PACOM activity includes overseeing the South Korean military. This condition dates back to the signing of the 1953 ROK-US Mutual Defense Treaty, which is still in effect. In fact, US hegemony over the entire region has remained unchanged for more than half a century, locked into an anachronistic cold-war landscape marked by similar bilateral agreements with Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and a wide scattering of island nations. The rationale behind this “empire of bases” was once “containment” of communism. Obama’s Pacific Pivot is a turbo-charged update, not to contain communism but to contain China–economically, politically, militarily. China has responded by accelerating production of armaments, including a new aircraft carrier, while courting its own regional allies–especially among ASEAN countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, and others including Russia–in addition to reasserting control of shipping lanes in the South China Sea. As these two global behemoths shape a new geostrategic rivalry and arms race, tensions are dangerously escalating, and smaller nations and peoples are pressured to choose sides. As one activist said, “When the elephants battle, the ants get crushed.”

Local Impacts

On the island of Jeju, the consequences of the Pacific Pivot are cataclysmic. The UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, adjacent to the proposed military port, would be traversed by aircraft carriers and contaminated by other military ships. Base activity would wipe out one of the most spectacular remaining soft-coral forests in the world. It would kill Korea’s last pod of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins and contaminate some of the purest, most abundant spring water on the planet. It would also destroy the habitats of thousands of species of plants and animals–many of which, such as the narrow-mouthed frog and the red-footed crab, are gravely endangered already. Indigenous, sustainable livelihoods–including oyster diving and local farming methods that have thrived for thousands of years–would cease to exist, and many fear that traditional village life would be sacrificed to bars, restaurants and brothels for military personnel.

Gangjeong villagers also worry that twentieth-century history will repeat itself, turning their small village into a first-strike military target, as had happened there during World War II and the Korean War. The base protesters want never again to get caught in the cross-fire of global powers.

The villagers’ struggle has been difficult. Dissidents in South Korea are quickly labeled “pro–North Korean,” blacklisted and often imprisoned. In Gangjeong, they’ve faced continual police violence but have continued to battle daily for five years. They do this despite the fact that most of their efforts have gone unreported by the highly controlled Korean press and an oblivious US media–at least, until this past September.

A miraculous break presented itself when the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)–the world’s largest mainstream environmental group, which claims dedication to “a just world that values and conserves nature”–announced it would hold its quadrennial World Conservation Congress for 8,000 participants on Jeju September 6–15, only four miles up the road from the destruction and increasingly bloody confrontations.

Some of the remaining endangered soft corals threatened by military-base development off the Gangjeong coast, Jeju Island, Korea.

The villagers rejoiced at the prospect of reporting their story to this gathering of world environmental leaders. However, they were soon shocked to find out that IUCN leaders planned to ignore the nearby catastrophe. What happened? It turned out that a horrendous deal had been struck, unbeknownst to NGO-member organizations, between IUCN’s top leaders and the South Korean government. The government had budgeted $21 million to support the convention. In return, the IUCN had agreed it would not allow discussion of the naval base during the convention without government approval, nor would it permit any of the villagers to participate in, or even get near, the proceedings. Additional financial support came from several giant corporations, including Samsung, the lead contractor in the base construction. It was only when an internal revolt erupted from within IUCN’s membership that the dubious deal was challenged and the struggle against the military base catapulted onto the international stage.

Apparently, greenwashing the navy base was not the only reason the Korean government had paid so dearly to host the 2012 Congress in Jeju. It also wanted to promote a long list of what it calls “Green Growth” projects to a skeptical Korean public. The term is a grievous misnomer. These hugely profitable, environmentally devastating initiatives are driven by Korea’s chaebol–family-run monopolies such as Samsung, Hyundai and LG, which have interests in construction, defense and electronics, among other things. Recent Green Growth projects have included the manufacture, promotion and export of “clean nuclear energy.” The most notorious of the Green Growth boondoggles was the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, which was not a restoration project at all. It involved the construction of concrete channels to straighten Korea’s beloved winding rivers for commercial shipping. The project displaced farmers, caused floods, contaminated drinking water and slashed populations of migratory birds, and it continues to wreak havoc on the collective psyche of people in the area. At the 2012 Ramsar Convention, the World Wetlands Network named it one of the five worst wetlands projects in the world.

After this debacle and in the face of the growing navy-base controversy, the Korean power elite needed the 2012 IUCN Congress in Jeju as a PR boost to appease heartsick citizens. It didn’t work out that way.

IUCN Revolt

Once they figured out what was going on, IUCN’s members were appalled. They were astonished that the Secretariat had so drastically compromised its values by partnering with the Republic of Korea. They should not have been surprised, though. Four years earlier, in Barcelona, IUCN members had decried a partnership between IUCN leadership and Shell Oil. And this year’s plenary panels were equally revealing: although the Gangjeong villagers were refused entry, Shell president Marvin Odum was invited to speak as an authority on climate change. On another panel, the CEO of GMO-breeder Syngenta, spoke on sustainable agriculture.

Many disgusted IUCN members quickly joined in solidarity with the Jeju Emergency Action Committee, a group of anti-base/pro-Gangjeong activists that featured supporters like Vandana Shiva, Robert Redford, Gloria Steinem, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Noam Chomsky, Joseph Gerson, Christine Ahn and dozens of prominent scientists and environmentalists. During the convention, the committee sent a series of fiery protest emails to the membership, while promoting meetings and interaction with the villagers.

Meanwhile, conference participants were getting a great lesson in Korean Civics 101: SWAT teams were roving the building, Koreans were racially profiled and searched at the door for anti-base literature, and four young women were ejected from the premises for wearing yellow anti-base T-shirts. When Gangjeong activist Sung-Hee Choi was spotted entering the convention center, she was rushed by twenty policewomen who denied her entry and snatched away her admission badge, for which she had paid $600. One IUCN member said, “I’ve never been to a Congress like this, where the state Ministry of Defense is at every meeting, putting on the pressure.”

The turning point came when People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a Seoul-based NGO, disseminated a just-acquired report from the Ministry of Defense that had been submitted to the National Assembly. The report indicated that ships would regularly pass through the core of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, dooming all life in that area. Capt. Yoon Seok-Han, chief of base construction, promised during a press conference that no ships would travel through the core except in the case of bad weather (which is common in that area).

IUCN members began to loudly denounce the Secretariat’s “deal with the devil.” The Secretariat backpedaled furiously to mitigate the rift that was rapidly materializing within its ranks. Suddenly, the organization encouraged anti-base presentations and allowed pamphleteering inside the convention center. The Gangjeong villagers found themselves the star attraction of the conference. They seized the moment and sold yellow T-shirts, and even held a concert that drew hundreds of spectators. Young villagers dressed as endangered species sprawled on the floor in tortured positions and held signs that said, “Please let me live!” The Korean sponsors were horrified.

By Day Five of the conference, government officials were watching their exorbitant PR investment blow up in their faces. A Chicago-based NGO, the Center for Humans and Nature, introduced a surprise emergency motion to halt the navy-base construction. Within forty-eight hours, a record thirty-four other NGOs had signed on as co-sponsors.

In the end, the motion won a huge majority of all votes cast by IUCN member organizations, though it didn’t pass because of a peculiar bias in how the IUCN tallies votes–nation-state-member votes weigh far more heavily than NGO-member votes. The Korean media dutifully reported that the “eco-friendly navy base” and “green growth” had prevailed. But for the Gangjeong villagers, the vote didn’t matter much. In their struggle for recognition, the 2012 IUCN “Battle of Jeju” counted as a tremendous victory. New light was shed on the dire consequences of the Pacific Pivot. As one villager said on the last day of the convention, “We are not lonely anymore.”

Immediately following the convention, hundreds of villagers, joined by Buddhist and Christian leaders, led a one-month march to Seoul, picking up local supporters en route. When they arrived at the capital for a giant rally (which went unreported by the Korean media), the protesters were 5,000 strong. But back home on Jeju, the government had ramped up base construction to go 24/7, forcing villagers to extend their protest vigil at the construction gate around the clock, through cold, rainy nights and continual police attacks. Thus, the Gangjeong villagers’ life-or-death battle continues. One key upcoming date is the Korean presidential election. Activists hope that if center-left candidate Moon Jae-in is elected over right-winger Park Geun-hye on December 19, the base situation will be reassessed.

New Resistance: Moana Nui

As the Pacific Pivot advances across the region, local resistance movements like Jeju’s are also rapidly growing. Communities are increasingly refusing to be sacrificed by their governments as tribute to a superpower benefactor. For example, in Okinawa, 100,000 protesters have repeatedly taken to the streets, fed up after decades of “bearing Japan’s burden” of the US military presence, including rapes and violence on local citizens. Now, the people are protesting deployment of loud and menacing Osprey hybrid aircraft, which fly low over neighborhoods and are famous for crashing. In the Philippines, protests are building against the increasing US military presence, particularly over toxic dumping. Similar resistance is developing among smaller Pacific island nations–especially from indigenous populations in Melanesia, and in the Marshall Islands, where US missile tests are proceeding. (Marshall Islanders feel that the US nuclear bombing of Bikini and other atolls in the 1940s and ’50s sacrificed enough.) The latest blowback comes from the far-southerly, pastoral Japanese island of Yonaguni, only sixty-nine miles from Taiwan. The United States is pressuring Japan to build a China-threatening base there, but local resistance is mounting.

Anti-base protest by Gangjeong women farmers.

Now something really new has developed: the heretofore disparate peoples of the Asia-Pacific are unifying into larger coalitions for mutual aid and action. Fourteen months ago, when nineteen heads of state (including Obama) gathered in Honolulu for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations, an unprecedented parallel event was also under way across town at the University of Hawaii. Some 300 anti-militarism, anti-globalization, and environmental and indigenous-rights activists from across the region met for the first Moana Nui (Polynesian for “Big Ocean”) gathering. They collaborated for three days of private planning, coalition building and public meetings, concluding with a spirited march through Waikiki, and a large protest demonstration outside the TPP negotiations. It was widely reported in the Pacific, but not on the US mainland. The second Moana Nui is being organized for San Francisco next spring. Its first goal will be to awaken mainland Americans to all that’s at stake in the Pacific.

The question, finally, is this: at a time of economic and ecological crisis, do Americans really want to ramp up costly and dangerous cold-war programs in hundreds of places, thousands of miles away, nearly always against the popular will of those who live there and with awful environmental effects? If not, then now’s the time for wide debate on the Pacific Pivot and all its ramifications.

(Fwd by Bruce Gagnon and Kyle Kajihiro)

December 19, 2012