The following statement is the 4th open letter mailed to the leadership and/or members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It was originally posted here. TO:   IUCN Leadership, All Participants, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 2012 World Conservation Congress, Jeju Island FROM: Jeju Emergency Action Committee ********* UPDATE:   INDEPENDENT SCIENTISTS FIND MAJOR FLAWS AND OMISSIONS IN KOREA GOVERNMENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) […]

Motion on Gangjeong Village

Motion 181: Protection of the People, Nature, Culture and Heritage of Gangjeong Village World Appeal to Protect the People, Nature, Culture and Heritage of Gangjeong Village UNDERSTANDING that Gangjeong Village, also known as the Village of Water, on the island of Jeju, also known as Peace Island, is a coastal area home to thousands of species of plants and animals, […]

The following motion was submitted to the IUCN WCC Jeju 2012 Motions Committee. It has 34 co-sponsors, reportedly the most in WCC history. TO: Motions Committee FROM: Kathryn Kintzele, Esq. Director, Global Programs, Center for Humans and Nature Deputy Chair, Ethics Specialist Group, IUCN Commission on Environmental Law with Dr. J. Ronald Engel, founder of the IUCN Ethics Working Group (1984) […]

Environmental Assessment recently released by Simon Ellis, Dr. Katherine Muzik, Imok Cha, Sanghoon Yun, Boram Bae and Jinsoo Kim, regarding the destructive impact the Jeju Naval Base will have on the soft coral communities of in and around Gangjeong. From the Report: 1.0 Executive Summary The purpose of this EIA was to independently assess the health and threats to the unique […]

We must defend the sacred and spectacularly beautiful Soft Corals of Gangjeong! My unbearably sad experiences witnessing coral reef devastation around the world, and especially the irreversible destruction of the Okinawan reefs which I studied for over three decades, motivates me to rise in defense of these beautiful Jeju corals.  We must defend them.  They are spectacularly beautiful, and alive! […]

Updated Below! As South Korean state oppression increases in light of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) 2012 WCC (World Conservation Congress), with three Okinawans, one Japanese, denied entry on September 5th, and the entry denial of Imok Cha on September 3rd, Gangjeong villagers and activists are not giving into fear of unjust government attacks, something they have dealt […]

Below is the translation of the Gangjeong Village Association’s statement on May 22, 2012. (Sorry for any mistakes for hurried translation in advance). You can see the original Korean script here. ………………………………………………….. Title: The Jeju Island government should take stern legal action on illegal and unreliable construction (destruction) of the Jeju naval base project! The caissons that would be thrown […]