Tag: simulation

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
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
Evidence Shows Government Ordered Data Doctored on Jeju Naval Base

Image: Hankyoreh

Base opponents now have concrete and irrefutable evidence to back up what they have suspected and declared for a long time. Assembly Woman Chang Ha-na has found and disclosed the full record of the meetings between the Prime Minister’s office and the Technical Committee, revealing publicly the complete lie of the so-called “civilian military dual use port”, as well as the general deception, and poor and hurried planning behind the Jeju Naval Base Project.

The following article appeared on the Hankyoreh website on Oct. 10 and was the headline article on the front page of the Korean print edition on Oct. 11. Click to see original article.

Evidence Shows Government Ordered Data Doctored on Jeju Naval Base; Committee recommended simulation tests, but construction was rushed ahead

By Heo Ho-joon, Hankyoreh Jeju correspondent

Evidence suggests that the government ordered data to be doctored to allow for the construction of a controversial naval base on Jeju Island without conducting simulation safety tests for cruise ships entering and exiting the base.

Accounts from members of the technical committee examining the base, ostensibly a joint civilian-military “tourism harbor,” suggest it was designed as a military port, with the simulations planned only to give the appearance that it would also be accessible to 150,000-ton cruise ships.

Democratic United Party Rep. Chang Ha-na, who sits on the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee, disclosed full records on Oct. 10 from four meetings of a technical committee under the Office of the Prime Minister that convened in January and February to examine the port’s suitability cruise ship entry and departure. The six-member committee had six members recommended by the ruling New Frontier Party, the opposition, the administration, and the province of Jeju.

At the fourth meeting on Feb. 14, one committee member hinted at government doctoring of the data for a simulation on the port’s safety for 150,000-ton cruise ships.

“The government’s telling us to come up with data that would allow construction to begin right away without a simulation,” read the records of the technical committee’s meetings.

Also, at the first meeting on Jan. 26, members of the committee made statements to suggest that the port was originally designed as a naval base, with no design changes to make it suitable for use as a civilian harbor.

Statements made at the second meeting on Jan. 30 indicate that the design changes in question were not made, showing the government’s pledge to have been false.

One committee member said, “I have no idea why [President Lee Myung-bak] gave that wild figure of 150,000 tons.”

“You would need to make the boats smaller,” a second responded. “It doesn’t work for that region. The problem is that they had to go claim it could accommodate two 150,000-ton boats and design it around that.”

A third said, “So the government was building a naval base and it went ahead and made the pledge [for a civil-military harbor capable of accommodating two 150,000-ton cruise ships] without examining the design at all. If they’d looked closely enough, then maybe this 150,000-ton stuff would never have been said.”

A fourth said, “If you’re building a cruise dock, the first thing you need is harbor facilities. . . . They’ve got boats that size [150,000 tons] coming in here, and nothing’s changed with the surface. . . . And the reason is there’s an underlying assumption nothing’s going to be changed.”
The committee was chaired by Sogang University professor Jeon Joon-soo and included Korea Maritime University professors Park Jin-soo, Kim Se-won, and Kim Gil-soo, Cheju (Jeju) National University professor Lee Byung-gul, and DY Engineering executive director Yu Byeong-hwa. The secretary was Im Seok-gyu, Jeju policy officer for the Office of the Prime Minister.

After four meetings, the committee concluded with the recommendation that a vessel simulation was needed to take into account the repositioning of harbor structures and placement of tugboats without major changes to the existing harbor design, and was then disbanded.

Since the committee’s fruitless discussions and non-binding conclusion, the government and Navy have pushed ahead with the construction, conducting no simulations and making no design changes to date. The project is currently 22% complete, according to the Navy.

Other evidence surfaced to suggest the committee members were told that the construction would continue and there would be no design changes.
One member said, “Ever since they set this [committee up], there has been the assumption that the construction would be going ahead all the while. They’re asking us to find some kind of technical alternative that wouldn’t require any design change.”

Another member responded, “Right now, the government’s worried that the construction is going to be delayed” by a simulation.

The same member said, “We advised [the Office of the Prime Minister] that a simulation was needed, and they said, ‘Can’t you just put a little phrase in there or something without messing up the construction timetable?’”

Chang declared that the meeting records bore out suspicions that the government and military planned the harbor as a military port and looked for a way around the 150,000-ton cruise ship issue after the President made his remarks.

“They need to halt the naval base construction and reexamine [the port] from square one,” she added.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

Front Page of the Korean Print Edition of Hankyoreh.

October 12, 2012