Save Jeju Now

No War Base on the Island of Peace

Tag: state violence

  • Cover Letter for the IUCN WCC Jeju 2012 Gangjeong Motion

    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)
    Dr. George Rabb, Honorary IUCN Member and former Chair of the IUCN SSC (1989-1996)
    The Honorable Kang Dong-Kyun, Mayor of Gangjeong Village
    DATE: September 9, 2012
    RE: EMERGENCY MOTION SUBMISSION: MOTION ON THE GANGJEONG VILLAGE

    In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Rules of Procedure of the World Conservation Congress, the Center for Humans and Nature as sponsor, and the 34 co-sponsors listed below, submit this emergency motion regarding the Civilian Military Complex Tour Beauty being built in and near Gangjeong Village, Seogwipo Province, Jeju Island, Republic of Korea:

    World Appeal to Protect the People, Nature, Culture and Heritage of Gangjeong Village

    As required, more than three of the following five criteria have been met and are explained as follows. Please note that what is listed is only a small part of what could be listed.

    I. Subject is new, means that the issue which is the subject of the resolution or recommendation has arisen within ninety days before the start of the session of the World Conservation Congress;

    1. Gangjeong Village, the party most directly affected by the naval construction, did not have access to information regarding the nature of IUCN or the process to bring their concerns to IUCN. They first learned about it from IUCN members responding to their July 11, 2012 Open Letter. They were never approached by the host country about membership, workshops, motions, etc., as was done with other NGOs, universities and government bodies.
    2. IUCN members outside of the country were assured by the Union that everything was appropriately being carried forward, and new information emerged over the course of the last 90 days that this was not true.
    3. The EIA was only completed after villagers filed suit, and did not involve input from the local community. It was released to the Gangjeong Villagers on July 18th, and the subsequent translations and/or disbursement to scientists and academics was around July 26th. Knowing the IUCN Congress was quickly approaching, well respected and dedicated scientists immediately flew to the country to make a proper assessment of the species at risk. The revised assessment from a team of scientists with Endangered Species International was received September 3, 2012, ENDANGERED SPECIES RELOCATION ASSESSMENT, CIVILIAN-MILITARY COMPLEX PORT DEVELOPMENT, JEJU ISLAND, SOUTH KOREA. (entire report available).
      1. Findings from the habitat and species relocation assessments show failed relocation for the endangered K. borealis where all breeding frogs were left on site and only tadpoles were removed. The released tadpoles are thought to have a low survival rate due to the presence of potential predators.
      2. The relocation of the C. denticulata keunbaei was incomplete, as a population still remained on site. Further, 5,300 shrimps were released downstream along Gangjeong Creek where a population of C. denticulata keunbaeis had already been established. This increased the risk of surpassing the carrying capacity of this area. Shrimps should have been released at other alternative suitable sites to increase the chance of their survival.
      3. Also in August, a second scientific team conducted an underwater survey of Jeju soft coral habitat and completed four dives at three locations in two days, the Coral Garden, the light house vicinity, and Seo Gun Do.  The lead scientist stated “As a specialist in Octocorallia (soft corals), it is my duty, and my honor, to help the local villagers defend their environment and their way of life, and their beautiful octocorals to which I am so devoted. I have been studying Octocorallia all around the world, in both the Atlantic (Florida, Puerto Rico, Belize, Mexico, Jamaica, Bermuda) and the Pacific (the Philippines, Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia,Thailand, Chuuk, Hawaii, Japan and Okinawa) for 42 years. I can state unequivocally, based on my personal observations and a review of pertinent scientific literature, that Jeju’s octocoral assemblages are unique, spectacular, and worthy of special protection. They form the largest and most spectacular temperate Octocoral forests known on Earth. Jeju’s soft coral habitat has not been reported outside of Korea. It’s existence is yet unknown to the international soft coral society.” (full report available)
      4. The irrevocable nature of the damage has become apparent as the caissons were built in the last 90 days and cannot be removed without explosives.
      5. The government currently gives the impression that this project has the consent of the citizens of Gangjeong. On April 26, 2007, the previous mayor held a small referendum where 87 villagers were present, and for the first time, counted a vote through clapping. However, only upon recent fact-finding was it discovered that there was a referendum on August 20, 2007: 725 villagers voted, 680 voted against, 36 voted for, and 9 votes were defective; therefore 94% of voters were in opposition of the project. This second referendum is not recognized by the government.
      6. Dr. Imok Cha, a highly respected oncologist and registered participant of IUCN, was deported on September 4th for the first time in her life. She was invited as a panelist to the official CEL workshop on ethics. She was helping the villagers to understand the EIA and the scientific gaps of the document. No reason was given for her deportation.
      7. Umisedo Yutaka and Matsushima Yusuke, members of Save the Dugong, a new IUCN member as of WCC4 Barcelona, were deported on September 6th. They are listed partners of Save Jeju Now.
      8. In the past three months, numerous requests were made to the DG, President and other IUCN Secretariat leadership to create a space for the discussion of the naval base, and all requests were denied. When members modified their own workshops to give the issue a voice, and made it known during the weeks before the WCC, they were targeted and questioned by IUCN Secretariat.
      9. The Korean Navy gave its first press conference on the naval base on September 6th, stating it as ‘eco-friendly.’ The level of green-washing taking place is something new, urgent and unforeseen. We are concerned that private and public sectors from around the world are misusing the term ‘green’, ‘green economy’, and ‘green growth’, similar to the misuse of the term ‘sustainable development’ historically (Res. 1.46 Use of the Concept of Sustainable Development, “CONCERNED THAT in practice environmental factors are not yet fully incorporated into all projects and programmes which are termed “sustainable development”).

    II. Subject is urgent, means a matter in respect of which developments are about to take place soon after the World Congress and upon which a resolution or recommendation of the World Congress may reasonably be expected to have an impact;

    1. Due to their protests, many villagers are in prison and awaiting trial.
    2. Construction and dredging is taking place, and the pace is increasing, day and night.
    3. Deportations are increasing, and includes nationals and internationals.
    4. Over the past few months, arrests and police brutality have been increasing, from four raids a day, upwards to ten. 100-300 police a day march out to push the protesters aside and make arrests. In addition to the arrests, particularly of religious leaders, and the lack of transparency and indigenous participation in decision-making, a January 2012 report was made by the Asian Human Rights Commission “Case of Gangjeong: good example of worst governance.”
    5. Unless action is taken immediately, the loss of biodiversity, the loss of this ecosystem, and the loss of this community, will be irrevocable.
    6. The caissons are being set in place, and once they are placed, there is no way they can be removed except through explosives.
    7. Water supply of this southern region of Jeju comes from an aquifer in the village that is being irrevocably destroyed.
    8. The tangerine farms in Gangjeong and the soft corals are already seeing damage due to the settling dust from the construction. Entire fields of tangerines are rotting. This is directly impacting their economy today.
    9. Registered Korean participants are being searched for Gangjeong Village materials when they enter the WCC which are then immediately taken away. In the DG’s letter, she stated that they would be able to hand materials out.
    10. Registered participants and invited speakers from the village are afraid to enter the WCC, that they will be harassed by the alarmingly high levels of police, military and security. One registered participant had her sticker ripped from her IUCN badge after entering the conference center.
    11. The construction has already fenced off coastline that is integral to the welfare and survival of the villagers: this winter, for the first time in 4,000 years, the villagers will not be able to gather the many seaweeds that grow on the Gureombi, a main source of sustenance.

    III. Subject could not have been foreseen, means a matter which, while not itself new, has been the subject of developments within ninety days before the start of the session of the World Congress which call for action by the World Congress;

    1. It would seem reasonable that IUCN would anticipate issues of this fundamental seriousness within the host country, and in such close vicinity to the Congress site, and prepare a vehicle by which it could be discussed and objectively assessed by the membership. It was unforeseen that IUCN did not inform the membership or provide a space for dialogue at the Congress.
    2. Typhoon Bolaven hit the island around August 27, 2012, damaging all seven caissons and other structures, giving evidence to the scientific geographical inappropriateness of the base. Typhoons hit Jeju many times each year and are increasing in intensity due to climate change.
    3. Samsung, the sponsor of WCC, was not promoted on the official IUCN WCC site until the WCC opened. Samsung funds the naval installation. This is the same concern for Hyundai. So, not only is IUCN not informing its participants of the issue, but they are taking financial support from one of the developers of the base. IUCN has a duty to investigate its partnerships.
    4. The formal application of a booth was denied to the villagers, due to ‘on-site partners’ (August 28, 2012 IUCN Statement Responding to the Third Open Letter) on August 22. It was completely unknown to membership that a host country or ‘on-site partners’ could have any censorship role in the policy and programme of IUCN.

    IV. arises out of deliberations of the World Congress, means a matter which has been discussed at any officially scheduled matter during the World Congress; including business and conservation sittings, technical meetings, Commission meetings, meetings of working groups or associated meetings;

    1. The need for a motion was discussed at the IUCN CEL Commission Meeting, Days 1 and 2; the Knowledge Cafe on September 7th, A Case Study in Integrating Ethics into the Management of Water Ecosystems, “The Loss of Wild Rivers and Coastal Communities in Korea: reconciling IUCN partnerships and their vision of a just world that values and conserves nature” hosted by the Ethics Specialist Group, IUCN Commission on Environmental Law; Save Jeju Now; Gangjeong Village Association; the Water-Culture Institute; the Water Ethics Network; and the Center for Humans and Nature; and is the focus of the CEL Workshop on September 10th.
    2. The Knowledge Café was the largest in the known history of any of the involved members, drawing numerous media and over 30 participants, all surrounding a single table. Our membership yearned for this information. They care about the issue and want a stop to the construction of the base, a stop to the destruction of the people and nature.

    This motion needs to be voted upon, for the future of this village, for the future of this island, for the future of the people and species that live here, and for the future of IUCN as a leader in the international environmental forum. This is an issue of democracy, transparency, conservation, science, law and ethics. This is an issue of a small village, a unique and disappearing culture, surrounded by complex and fragile biodiversity, and all immediately and irrevocably threatened.

    Thank you for your attention.

    Sponsor – Center for Humans and Nature

    Co-Sponsors

    -Chicago Zoological Society (USA)
    -International Council of Environmental Law (Germany)
    -El Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental, CEDA (Ecuador)
    -Sierra Club (USA)
    -Fundacion Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Argentina)
    -Center for Sustainable Development CENESTA (Iran)
    -Asociación Preserve Planet (Costa Rica)
    -The Christensen Fund (USA)
    -Terra Lingua (Canada)
    -Ecological Society of the Philippines (Philippines)
    -Citizen’s Institute Environmental Studies (Korea)
    -Departamento de Ambiente, Paz y Seguridad, Universidad para la Paz (Costa Rica)
    -Coastal Area Resource Development and Management Association (Bangladesh)
    -Fundação Vitória Amazônica (Brazil)
    -Fundación para el Desarrollo de Alternativas Comunitarias de Conservación del Trópico, ALTROPICO Foundation (Ecuador)
    -Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano (Ecuador)
    -EcoCiencia (Ecuador)
    -Fundación Hábitat y Desarrollo de Argentina (Argentina)
    -Instituto de Montaña (Peru)
    -Asociación Peruana para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, APECO (Peru)
    -Coordinadora de Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica, COICA (Ecuador)
    -Fundación Biodiversidad (Argentina)
    -Fundacao Vitoria Amazonica (Brazil)
    -Fundación Urundei (Brazil)
    -Dipartimento Interateneo Territorio Politecnico e Università di Torino (Italy)
    -Programa Restauración de Tortugas Marinas (Costa Rica)
    -Corporación Grupo Randi Randi (Ecuador)
    -Living Oceans Society (Canada)
    -Instituto de Derecho y Economía Ambiental (Paraguay)
    -Korean Society of Restoration Ecology (Korea)
    -Ramsar Network Japan (Japan)
    -The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (Isreal)
    -Chimbo Foundation (Netherlands)
    -Endangered Wildlife Trust (South Africa)

     

  • Gangjeong Village Story: Monthly News from the Struggle | 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

  • Park Geun-Hye, Stop absurd remark on Hawai’i : Kyle Kajihiro’s letter

    “I would invite Ms. Park to take a swim in Hawai’i’s most famous military-tourist attraction: Pearl Harbor (the true name given by Native Hawaiians is Ke Awalau o Pu’uloa). However, the water is too toxic. And before she could get very far, she would be arrested by the Navy for trespassing in military waters. There is no tourist activity within Pearl Harbor except for those museum sites controlled by the government.” (Kyle Kajihiro)

    Photo: Sisa Jeju, May 1, 2012/ Park Geun-Hye met protests in the Jeju

     

    On May 1, Labor Day, Park Geun-Hye, daughter of deceased ex-President Park Chung-Hee who ruled South Korea for decades with military dictatorship made absurd remarks that, “In case of Hawai’i, tourism income is 24% while military-related income is 20% in its whole finance,” and “If we construct the Jeju naval base as civilian-military dual use port and make it well so that 150,000 ton cruise can enter and exit, it would not likely to be less than Hawai’i” (Headline Jeju, May 1).

    On March 30, before General election on April 11, Park, supporting the candidates of the Saenuri Party (the ruling conservative Party)-though none were eventually elected in the Jeju Island whose citizens has been furious on the  naval base project, has said, “We should make Jeju like Hawai’I famous for global tourism site and naval base.” It was a happening that reminded absurd remark by Kim Tae-Yong, ex-Minister of National Defense on March 20, 2010.

    Amidst raining all day, Gangjeong villagers and activists protested against her spreading absurd remarks of so called civilian-military dual port, from morning to afternoon.

    Kyle Kajihiro has sent a below writing refuting her remarks on April 25. Kyle Kajihiro is the program director for the American Friends Service Committee in Hawaii. He works on demilitarization, environmental justice, and Kanaka Maoli human rights issues. He has been involved in immigrant worker organizing, community mural projects, antiracist/antifascist activism, the Central America Solidarity movement, Hawaiian sovereignty solidarity efforts, and community radio and television. He has visited the Jeju and has many times expressed his solidarity on Jeju. Please refer to DMZ Hawai’i / Aloha ‘Aina (http://www.dmzhawaii.org/)

    ………………………………………….

    Protest letter to Park Geun-Hye

    http://www.parkgeunhye.or.kr/english/01pgh/pgh01.asp

    http://www.parkgeunhye.or.kr/english/

    ……………………………………………

     

    The Military Impacts in Hawai’i should be a Warning to Koreans about the threat to Jeju island.

    By Kyle Kajihiro

    April 25, 2012

    Source: DMZ Hawai’i/ Militarized areas of  O’ahu, Hawai’i

     

    Ms. Park Keun-Hye is gravely mistaken to claim that military bases have been good for Hawai’i and therefore would be good for Jeju. The U.S. invaded and occupied the sovereign country of Hawai’i in order to build a military outpost. This included the taking of more than 200,000 acres of land for military bases, training and other activities. The result has been the destruction of the environment with more than 900 military contamination sites identified by the Department of Defense. The military’s toxic cocktail includes PCB, perchloroethylene, jet fuel and diesel, mercury, lead, radioactive Cobalt 60, unexploded ordance, perchlorate, and depleted uranium.

    When the U.S. took over, especially during WWII, the military seized thousands of acres of Hawaiian land. Whole communities were evicted, their homes, churches and buildings razed or bombed for target practice, their sacred sites destroyed by bombs or imprisoned behind barbed wire.

    Recently, hundreds of landless Native Hawaiian families were evicted from a secluded area of O’ahu where they had been living in cars and makeshift tents. They are the internally displaced native people, evidence of the so-called ‘benefits’ of militarization. Meanwhile the military occupies more than 13,000 acres of Hawaiian land, comprising a third of the land in that part of the island.

    The enormous military presence did not bring security. On the contrary, it made Hawai’i the prime target during WWII and the Cold War. Militarization imported the most virulent forms of racism and martial law to the islands and provided the U.S. a launching pad from which to expand its empire. The military interests of the U.S. continue to override the needs and security of local communities as it distorts our development in ways that serve empire.

    I would invite Ms. Park to take a swim in Hawai’i’s most famous military-tourist attraction: Pearl Harbor (the true name given by Native Hawaiians is Ke Awalau o Pu’uloa). However, the water is too toxic. And before she could get very far, she would be arrested by the Navy for trespassing in military waters. There is no tourist activity within Pearl Harbor except for those museum sites controlled by the government.

    Ke Awalau o Pu’uloa is a perfect example of the dangers of militarization. The U.S. invaded and occupied the Kingdom of Hawai’i in order to take Ke Awalau o Pu’uloa as a strategic port. What was once one of the most productive fisheries for Native Hawaiian people with extensive wetland agriculture and aquaculture complexes that fed many thousands on O’ahu island has become a giant toxic Superfund site. Today there are approximately 749 contaminated sites that the Navy has identified within the Pearl Harbor Naval Complex. The seafood from Ke Awalau o Pu’uloa is no longer safe to eat. The famous pearl oysters are no more.

    It is partially true that the military has become a major economic source in Hawai’i, but at a very high price. The military economy is artificial. It is largely a result of the corrupt processes of the military-industrial-political complex that injects money for pet projects in the islands like a drug. Politicians, businesses, and even unions become addicted to the quick high of these federal infusions and then become desperate to chase the next fix, even at the expense of the environment, Hawaiian rights and sovereignty and peace in the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile the real source of Hawai’i’s economy – the beauty and health of our natural environment and our cultural richness – deteriorates at an alarming rate.

    The questions that we must always ask about the alleged economic benefits of the military in Hawai’i are: “Who gets paid? Who pays the price? What are the real social, cultural and environmental costs of such a dependent economy?” The native people of the land are the ones whose lands are always stolen and destroyed by the military. They and other poor groups live in the toxic shadow of the bases. Other productive capacities wither away as Hawai’i has grown completely dependent on imports (90% of food is imported) and federal spending. Meanwhile those who benefit most from the military economy are the contractors (many who flock to Hawai’i when new military funds are approved) who feed on the destruction wrought by all this so-called ‘prosperity’.

    Jeju island is a unique cultural and natural treasure that must be protected from military expansion. The beautiful islands of the Pacific are being targeted because the governments think we are small and insignificant. But islands do not have to be isolated. As the peoples of the Pacific have known for centuries, Ka Moananuiakea (the great ocean) unites us, brings us life, culture, food and solidarity. We must join our efforts and broaden our solidarity beyond our local shores, we can weave a net that is big and strong enough to restrain those monstrous fish that threaten to devour us all.

     

    ………………………………………………………

     Reference

    http://www.headlinejeju.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=149257
    박근혜 “해군기지로 제주발전 재도약 뒷받침할 것”
    해군기지 업무보고…”70년대 감귤이면, 지금은 해군기지가 성장동력”
    제주도 “15만톤급 크루즈 안전성 꼭 필요”…박 “좋은 결론 나왔으면”
    2012.05.01 14:43:44

    http://www.sisajeju.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=146386
    [사진]짧은 거리 경호원이 우산 펴자, 박근혜 위원장 손 저으며…
    2012.05.01 13:24:46

    http://www.headlinejeju.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=149232
    박근혜 위원장, “제주해군기지 업무보고 받겠다”
    오후 1시 제주도청서 민군복합형 관광미항 업무보고 받기로
    제주항 터미널 현장투어…노인복지시설 현장 방문 후 이도
    2012.05.01 09:44:34

    http://www.pressian.com/article/article.asp?article_num=60120330170329
    박근혜 “제주, 해군기지로 ‘동양의 하와이’ 만들어야”
    “민간인 사찰, 지위고하 막론하고 철저히 수사해야”
    2012-03-30

    http://www.jejuall.co.kr/

  • March 19 Victims’ Press Conference

    March 22 confernce
    Photo by Headline Jeju, March 22, 2012/ People’s press conference on March 19 incident

    Right after the villagers’ press conference on March 22, the victims of police hammer violence on March 19 had a press conference in front of Island government hall. The victims holding the signs with the photos of injuries on them strongly demanded the punishment of police personnel in charge of the accident and claimed an introduction of Special Prosecution System on the matters of the Jeju naval base. (# The Special Prosecution system was first initiated by people’s lawyer Shin Yong-In on Feb. 27, 2012)

    Here are some excerpts from people’s statement :

    ‘The reckless police operation (of hammering down on the PVC pipes activists were putting over their arms to tie themselves one another, for the purpose of non-violently stopping the moving of the explosives to the Gureombi Rock ) was continued despite the crying of shocked women.

    Because the diameter of each PVC pipe was narrow to no gap when the two hands by two people were held together inside, the shock of hammering was directly felt to activists while the broken fragments made wounds in the hands of activists. The hammering was continued despite the cry of activists who felt direct suffering.

    During that unreasonable process, activists were injured small and big: the back of woman hand(s) was torn by broken PVC fragments with blood, being swollen while a man’s thumb was directly hit by hammer with a upper part of nail be torn and flesh peeled off.

    Especially the riot police unit NO. 1300 [of the Seogwipo Police Station] that were in charge of arrest in the incident field pushed back even the news reporters and lawyers; folded arms of a citizen who were taking record of the situation based on the rule of the police duty on protection of human rights and even attempted to throw down him by hooking his foot for prompt arrest. Further they even made an arm of a man who protested against the police attempt to arrest the citizens outside of barricade broken by pushing him-he is now waiting for operation while his swollen arms to be soothed down. We are shocked by policemen’ such wielding merciless violence to help the illegal business (* Jeju naval base project) of Samsung and Daelim.’

    Video by Dungree on new conference (Source)

     

    …………………………………………

    Reference

    Whole statement

    http://www.headlinejeju.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=145681
    “‘화약운송 저지 인간띠 ‘망치질 체포’ 책임자 엄벌하라”
    인간띠 시위 참가자 연행과정 망치질 체포 규탄
    2012.03.22 17:31:09

    http://www.jejudomin.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=29772
    “비명 지르며 울어도 망치질 계속됐다”
    ‘망치질 체포사건’ 피해자 기자회견…“경찰서장 퇴진하라”
    2012.03.22 18:09:55

    http://www.sisajeju.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=143146
    ‘망치질 체포’ 규탄 기자회견…서귀포경찰서장 퇴진 촉구
    2012.03.22 14:53:53

  • Details of Father Moon’s Tetrapod Accident on April 6, 2012

    As you all may know, today we here in Gangjeong have suffered a huge shock. Finally we see the result of the over aggressive and illegal actions of the police. Father Moon was almost murdered. It is a miracle that he is still alive.

    Today is Good Friday according to the Christian calendar. Because of this, at 11 a.m., the ocean team, the catholic fathers, other catholics, and other activists joined together to perform the “Stations of the Cross” traditional catholic ceremony. This ceremony involves 14 “stations” marking the last moments of Jesus’ life before his death. We adapted it and made 14 stations all around the edge of the destruction site. At each stop the Fathers led us in prayer and short meditations related to Jesus death and also to our struggle here. We began at the Naval Base Office gate and ended on the west pier of Gangjeong Port. It was a very beautiful and moving time.

    During the final station, #14, an activist went down the huge concrete tetrapods to the water to swim. This area is a public area and none our actions were even close to illegal. As the activist attempted to enter the water, a coast guard officer very aggressively chased him, despite both of them being on the dangerous tetrapods. This scared and angered many of the people attending the mass, and several people walked out onto the tetrapods to see, and also to ask the coast guard officer to be more careful.

    When this happened, another coast guard officer came and also began acting very aggressively, trying to illegally block our access to the public area of the tetrapods and the surrounding water. As the coast guard officer tried to block another swimmer from going down to water, Father Moon, tried to help the swimmer and block the coast guard officer. Shockingly the officer was very aggressive even though they were both dangerously at the top of the tetrapod pile (and he was a young man, while Father Moon is elderly and walks with a cane). Many people called for the officer to be reasonable and careful and that Father Moon could fall down. As they struggled, suddenly the coast guard officer accidentally caused Father Moon to lose his balance and fall.

    The next moments were a terrible shocking nightmare to all of us watching. The young coast guard officer regained his balance but Father Moon could not and fell into a huge hole between the tetrapods. As he dropped around 5 meters, his body bounced off the tetrapods below three times, before he landed at the bottom. All of us were totally shocked at this horror that had happened for absolutely no reason, and many of us thought that Father Moon was dead. Although several people went down to him, it was very deep and we were afraid to move him in case of spinal injuries.

    Finally, the 119 (Korean Emergency Rescue) came and after around 30 minutes lifted him out. He was taken to a hospital in Seogwipo for tests and treatment. He has been conscious this whole time. Very, very happily, he did not die. As has been reported, according to initial tests and scans he broke several vertebrae in his back quite seriously and will need to stay in the hospital at least 3 months. He has been moved to Jeju University Hospital in Jeju City. We are still waiting for the final report about his condition after a complete medical exam, but its seems that he didn’t hit his head. Of course he is very weak and shocked and in a lot of pain. When we met him, he asked about Brother Song and when he heard that Brother Song has developed a ringing in his ear because of police violence, he cried. We are all in a state of shock here.

    Finally to add to our shock and sadness, the coast guard has decided that our lives are not important and that they are going to lie to cover their mistake. They are claiming that Father Moon pushed the coast guard officer and then the officer didn’t touch him and he fell on his own, losing his balance because of the push. Of course, in the moments after it happened, you could see very clearly in the face of the officer that he knew he had made a huge mistake. And even if this story were true, why was he even there and why was he aggressively blocking us from a public area? But now the police are going to lie to cover it all up! Are they really human? Have they no sympathy for suffering? Do they not care about human life? Unbelievably shameful.

    Please pray for Father Moon. Please pray for all of us here. And please pray for the hearts of the coast guard, that they will not lie about what they have done.

    Update 1: April 6, 11:44 p.m. 

    We are still waiting for more details but a slight update: apparently Father Moon has broken 4 vertebrae in his back (earlier 3 were reported) and also broken one of his hands. Also he will need to stay at least 6 months in the hospital to recover (before 3 months were reported). More updates as we hear them…

    Update 2: April 19, 11:44 p.m. 

    Father Moon is out of the Hospital! 13 Days ago we watched this 71 year old man fall 5 meters to what we thought was his death. He said he thought it was his death too. He broke 4 vertebrae in his back, he broke his arm, he was bruised all over. The doctors said, that two other patients who were in their 30s and fell only 3 meters were paralyzed. The doctors said he would have to stay in the hospital for 6 months. 13 Days later, and he’s walking around, smiling! Tomorrow, he will go to his hometown to rest for around a week. Amazing and unbelievable! If you don’t believe in miracles, now’s your best chance…Hurray!!!

  • April 5 People’s news conference on police violation on human rights; History is repeated 64 years later

     

    disabled
    Source: Lee Sang-Min, Jeju Domin Ilbo, April 5, 2012/ A disabled woman holds a banner depicted of police violence on people during the April 5 press conference

     

    As daily sit-in was continued on April 5, the people in the village had a news conference in front of the naval base business committee building complex at 10:30 am, April 5, 2012. The title of the statement by the Gangjeong village was “Are the police taking the citizens as rioters even until the 64th anniversary of 4.3? The police should try to get public trust.’ Cho Hyun-Oh, the Chief of ROK Police Agency visited the Jeju, bringing clash with the Gangjeong villagers who demanded meeting with him, in front of the Seogwipo police station (# He is to meet local officers on April 6)

    In the statement, the people pointed out that:

    “Like the main land policemen 64 years ago who led the massacre of the Island people on April 3rd, the police that have been led by Lee Dong-Min who came from the main land have made a record of accidents in a month since his inauguration, which is more than the whole numbers of illegal and unjust police behavior in Gangjeong village in the past.” ( # Lee Dong-Min, the new police chief is also the one who allowed the navy to blast the Gureombi rock)

    “When the male policemen arrested women, the male policemen indiscriminatingly took away them touching their thigh, taking off their clothes. The police broke citizens’ fingers, arms and legs, wielding violence to them. Citizen’s hands were swollen by hammers, wrists were broken off, teeth were smashed, and chin was torn. Since the start of the blasting the Gureombi Rock, more than 90 people were arrested while 20 people, swooned, were carried in ambulance. We are living days like being slaughtered dogs and pigs.”

    The numbers of 90 within less than a month are compared to 164, in the whole last year. The numbers are in detail; 19(near the naval base committee building etc on March 7), 20 (in the Gureombi Rock etc. on March 9), 16( in the Gureombi Rock on March 12), 9 (in the explosive storage etc on March 31) for example. The charges have been obstruction of business, obstruction of government affairs, general obstruction of traffic, property damage etc.

    The people demanded police of open hearing regarding police mal practice of fake charges against people; halt of illegal taking camera shots of citizens that provoke citizens; and fairness.

    Full translation of 3 page statement comes later. You can see the original Korean script here.

    In the conference, a disable woman also testified on police’s metal harassment and physical injuries to her and on arrest of a man who protested against such violence on her.

    There were two banners in the news conference: one about police violence and the other, painting by Natasha Mayers

    Press conference
    Source:  Lee Sang-Min, Jeju Domin Ilbo, April 5, 2012

    You can also watch the news conference video here. Dungree, the video editor put the scenes of mentioned cases on March 29(when Mr. Lim Ho-Young was arrested) and April 1 (When Dr. Song Kang-Ho was arrested) beside the cases of March 19 (police hammer violence), March 25(police trampling down a villager’s garlic field and arrested citizens protesting to it) and March 26( When the Jeju island government officers forcefully demolished people’s tent to an injury of a woman head. (Video source)

     

     

  • Lim Ho-Young’s Account on Illegal and Violent Police Arrest of him on April 2, 2012

    Lim-Ho-Young
    Photo by Lim Ho-Young on March 29, 2012/ In the Police Station right after his arrest

    On March 29, 2012, Lim Ho-Young, media team leader of Gangjeong village was arrested under the charge of ‘obstruction on government affairs’ while he protested against police who ordered unidentified civilian-costumed men to take camera shots of people, which was illegal. During the arrest, he was kicked in the knee and hit in the face with camera, bleeding in his forehead. On April 2, Wooki Lee has visited Lim currently being held at the prison in the Jeju Dongbu Police Station. On the day the court made decision to imprison Lim and he is moved to be prison on April 6. The following is a transcript of the handwritten letter Lee received from Lim on April 2.

    *******************************************

    I’m doing all right. They’ve issued a warrant for my arrest today and for some reason, I feel all the more composed for it. Even as I was being arrested two days ago, I didn’t think anything too serious would happen. But once the police investigation began, I realized that the authorities had plenty of charges already prepared for me.

    I’m beginning to come to terms with the actions of the Navy and local police, since I must have been quite the nuisance for them all this time. The police have assessed my charges as having “deliberately caused aggression with the police by recording video footage, manipulating this footage in a malicious way, and spreading this distorted information to the public by posting it online.”

    I couldn’t help but laugh for a while on this note. Is this really how far Korea’s police intelligence has declined? I’m sorry to disappoint, but I don’t possess any video-editing skills. And I have no memory of posting any footage of conflict with the police online. Furthermore, I haven’t had the time to post any kind of footage online since late last year. All I can think of relating to footage would be the few instances in which I provided on-site footage to Dungree.

    If this is what the police have reduced me to, what more could I possibly expect from them? Even at a stretch, no more than 30% of their claims against me are true. I’m sure most of these charges will be cleared in court, but nevertheless I have been arrested and must prove myself before a judge. I’ve been placed in a dire situation in which I cannot gather enough information and evidence to prove my case. This is an unjust treatment by the face of justice itself, to say the least.

    How the Navy has handled the matter is even more appalling. On March 8th, a scuffle broke out with Navy soldiers by the main gate of the naval base. Captain Tae-yang Lee of the Korean Navy has falsely testified that I assaulted him during this incident, hitting him with my fist once on the face, and twice with my camera. That bastard! Tae-yang Lee is the one who assaulted Dr. Kang-ho Song on June 20th last year, kicking him over ten times when he climbed up a barge. And on March 8th, he just started to attack me the moment he saw me, hitting me on the face with his fist despite the fact that I had glasses on. He eventually broke my glasses and the lens fell out. I was indeed furious at his irrational behavior, which led me to thump him a few times on the head with my right hand, the hand that had been holding my camera. I did not hit him with much force, let alone downright assail him as he had done to me and Dr. Song. Why is it that every single time, the Navy refuses to acknowledge their own mistakes and claims that they were the ones getting assaulted?

    Captain Lee also testified that I damaged federal property by tearing off a large part of the fence surrounding the naval base. It’s a steel-plated fence that sits two meters high, which they claim originally cost about \500,000 ($500). This may seem an absurd price for a flimsy fence, but keeping in mind that this is the same Navy that managed to pay a whopping \1,000,000 ($1000) for a lousy USB drive, I guess such things might not be so absurd after all.

    Truth of the matter is, I didn’t tear down that fence on purpose and with my two hands. I was clutching onto the fence when Navy soldiers on the other side of it kicked me repeatedly, causing part of the fence to tear in the process. This can be clearly seen in the video footage the police have recorded as evidence of the scene. This ridiculous pincer operation between the police and the Navy has led to my official arrest today.

    I fear that I will have to remain like this for at least another two months. I believe they’re trying to stop us and weigh us down by imprisoning our bodies and ultimately abusing governmental authority. If we were to let such things strike us with fear and break our spirits, then we’d be doing nothing more than falling in according to their calculations. It will prove a struggle, no doubt, but we need to stand strong against their unwarranted actions. Authority and arrest is not what we should fear.

    Writing this letter has helped me come to terms with my frustrations. I’m sorry for not being able to stand among you all, and the townspeople of Gangjung, but I have hope and I believe there will be something I can achieve in my place here. What pains me the most is that I won’t be able to keep the promise I made to my son, to go and see him when he enters sixth grade next week. I find comfort in knowing that my son is a strong, good-hearted child who will understand the situation his father is in. Still, it would have been nice to have been able to congratulate him in person for becoming vice president of the student council…

    I’m planning to spend my time on reading books now. It was something I had always wanted to do during my time in Gangjung. I’ll reflect upon all the moments I had in Gangjung, and every single person I met there. I’m grateful for having had the opportunity to be with you all. The past eleven months I spent in Gangjung have truly been the most meaningful moments of my life, and I know all of you feel the same way. I know it’s a tough struggle, but let’s not lose hope and keep going strong. It may not be the time right now, but in the end, there will come a time when we can all smile together.

    Sincerely,

    Ho-young Lim

    March 31st, 2012

    (Translated by Stefanie Hong)
    (Thanks to Jungmin Choi to arrange translation request)

    *******************************************
    It was known to be later that the violence by the Gwangju riot police was one of the worst that has occurred in the struggle against naval base. On the day, the police broke off fingers, arms of a man and threw down him who protested against violent arrest of Mr. Lim. The police also ignoring women’s human rights, brutally carried away women as part of attempt to scatter people, touching their bodies. The police also took away a woman’s mobile phone and hit her back head when she protested it. The police also used slanders to protesters and scolded a villager whose garlic field was trampled down by them, saying, “Why are you agitated for such minor thing?”

    Dungree video on the day, including the scene of arrest of Mr. Lim Ho-Young

    The activists’ account can be seen here and here.

    Mr. Lim Ho-Young’s handwriting received on April 2, 2012. He was injured in his forehead when he was arrested on March 29, 2012.

  • Dr. Song Kang Ho’s Handwritten Statement Regarding his Violent Arrest on April 1st, 2012

    (Translated from Korean; Click here for original Korean version)

    On April 1st, at around 2 p.m., I was on Gureombi to protest against the heavy construction equipment that is destroying Gureombi. From outside the razor-wire fence on the western side of Gureombi, I was shouting, “Don’t Destroy Gureombi!” and “Stop Construction!” and “Stop!”

    In that place, I was not alone but together with Priest Moon Jung Hyeon, Priest Kim Sung Hwan, and [former Jeju Assembly woman] Hyun Ae Ja, venting our pent up anger. Despite our protests, about 10 meters inside the fence, two huge hydraulic excavators were break rocks and loading the broken rocks into a dump truck. I felt deep despair because even though we yelled and shouted, the construction workers didn’t listen. Because of my despair, without knowing what I was doing, I found myself grabbing the fence, pulling it down to the ground, and stepping across it, wanting to shout at them near the excavators. In front of me, around 30 riot police blocked the way with their shields and their captain sneered mockingly. As soon as I crossed the fence, I was surrounded and isolated. When I tried to resist, the police beat me, pushed me to the ground and held me down with their feet. They twisted my left hand and pinned it behind my back. One police officer painfully jabbed his finger into my ear. The ground was covered with sharp, broken rocks but their feet pushed my feet forcefully downward. While they carried me, my head hit the rocks on the ground two or three times.

    Around 2:30, I was delivered to a naval jeep and transferred to the Naval base office gate. There, a police car was standing by. Around 100 police officers made a big wall and blocked the villagers and activists who came to protest, making a space for the police to move me into the police car. I thought that my arrest was unjust, so I resisted being put in the car. During that time, the police tried to force me into the car. While doing so, my body was turned upside down at the open car door and my upper body fell to the ground and under the car. Because of this, I tried to hold anything that I could grab causing my upper body to be pulled underneath the car. Several police officers pulled my legs but my head became stuck between the car and the asphalt ground. I yelled that my head was stuck, but the police officers were not concerned, and pulled my legs more strongly. From the left side of my chin to the middle of my chin my neck was stuck on some metal structure underneath the car.

    My lower body continued being pulled by several people and because of the pressure on my neck, I couldn’t speak anymore, only groan furiously. As the police pulled my body more strongly, the edge of my teeth began to crack. I could feel and chew tiny sand-like grains of tooth inside my mouth. I heard the bones in my neck popping and became afraid that my head was separating from my body. To protect myself from dying or at least protect my head from separating from my neck bones, I frantically tried to escape to my left. During this whole time, the police just continuously pulled my legs and several times some of the police officers even pulled my genitals. I couldn’t see their faces but I could hear their mocking laughter. Behind me, I heard Priest Kim Sung Hwan protesting their cruel treatment towards me. After 5-10 minutes of fear and pain, I pulled myself towards the left with all of my strength, to release my chin from the metal structure where it was stuck. I could barely release my neck and then police pulled me out.

    After the police put me into the police car, I spit out my broken teeth, which the police complained about. Behind the driver’s seat, one police officer with the last name of “Goh”, punched me with his fist. I felt pain from his fist on the left side of my stomach.

    After that, in the Seogwipo Police Station, I appealed about the pain in my chin, neck, right shoulder, and back. I was lying down at that time and asked them to borrow a cell phone to make a phone call. However, they derided me saying that since I was lying down, I must just be sleepy, so I should just sleep. After giving this answer they disappeared. I had requested that they call 119 [Korean emergency medical number] but they didn’t call for 30 minutes.

    I am filing a lawsuit with the Korean National Human Rights Commission against the police officers who arrested me. I request legal punishment and penalties for the police officers who treated me in an unreasonable way, so that the police will no longer trample on people’s human rights, threaten people’s lives, and disrespect people’s bodies.

    April 2, 2012,
    Song Kang Ho

  • Jeju Council members and Jeju-based National Assembly men oppose the blast plan

    Re-blogged from the Organizing Notes, March 4, 2012, ‘From This to This’


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    jejufrom

     

    Which view do you like? Which vision of the future do you support?

    Below Sung-Hee Choi brings us the latest twists from Jeju Island. Things are moving swiftly. You see the internal debate raging in South Korea. Please know that what we each do in our own community to support the villagers on Jeju Island will have some impact.

    Sung-Hee Choi writes:

    On the matter on the blast of the Gureombi, the Island provincial council would have an emergency general informal gathering at 11am on March 5. Three National Assembly men based on Jeju Island warned the Lee government. The Jeju regional branch of the Democratic Unity Party warned the possibility of the 2nd Yongsan tragedy, as well.

    Upon the navy’s plan on the enforcement on the blast of the Gureombi, the Island council members and Jeju-based National Assembly men are all together denouncing the central government.

     

    1. Oh Choong-Jin, chairman of the Jeju Island Council said in his interview with the Headline Jeju that “In the government measure this time, the opinion of the Jeju was harshly cut. The central government declaration on the enforcement of construction (destruction) is very disdaining of the Island people. In our meeting, we would seek for our own measures and would strongly urge the government to stop construction as the Island governor has rights to stop it.”

    If the members of Saenuri Party (Former Grand National Party, the ruling party) are passive or express their opposition on such move, confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties are expected. Currently in the Jeju Island Council, the numbers of the ruling party members are smaller.)

     

    2. Kang Chang-Il, Kim Woo-Nam, and Kim Jae-Yoon, three members of the Jeju-based National Assembly (All are members of the Democratic Unity Party) warned the central government in their joint statement, saying that, “If the Gureombi Rock is blasted , bigger disaster will come. The Seogwipo Police Station should not approve the navy’s blast on the Gureombi Rock.”

    “The navy has re-applied for the blast of the Gureombi Rock to the Seogwipo Police Station, riding on the Lee government’s drastic measure. It is told that the matter has already been decided in the ‘secret meeting’ by the related offices of the Prime Minister Office, excluded of the Jeju Island. The Lee Myung-Bak government is showing an attitude of through ignorance on communication, full of arrogance and self-righteousness in its drive for the Jeju naval base.’

    “How much more pain the Lee government is to inscribe into the Island people, by its enforcing of the construction masking the naval base as a ‘civilian-military combined port of call,’ ignoring the opinion of the National Assembly and villagers? How many people in the Gangjeong village should be arrested, taken away and imprisoned under the charge of obstruction of business for the government to pay attention to the voice of the Island people?”

    “The Jeju Island and all the Island people have constantly demanded the central government to stop the enforcement on the naval base project and to form the objective and neutral verification committee on the layout. The police should never approve the navy’s blast of the Gureombi Rock.”

     

    3. The Jeju branch of the Democratic Unity Party demanded the navy and its contracted companies to immediately stop their attempt to blast the Gureombi in their emergent statement on March 3.

    The Democratic Unity party members said,

    “In case of the blast on the Gureombi rock, the Gangjeong matter could bring an unexpected results and further concern on the possibility of the 2nd Yongsan tragedy has been raised. (The Samsung and Daelim companies who are leading the base construction, both were involved in the 2nd Yongsan tragedy in January, 2009. At the time five men resisting against forceful eviction were killed by the SWAT teams. These corporations were bulldozing entire neighbhorhoods and building high rise building that they would control.)

    “The fact that the National Assembly has cut most of this year’s [base construction] budget with the agreement by the ruling and opposition parties is because the National Assembly has publicly acknowledged the problems of the currently driven Jeju naval base business. If the Lee Myung-Bak government is to drive the business despite that, it is a behavior thoroughly ignoring the National Assembly, the representative institute of the People.”

    “In the condition when the ‘continuous business,’ is not guaranteed even though the construction including the blast of the Gureombi is enforced, it may remain disgrace of the totally unreliable national business that remains only a serious wound.”

    “ The Jeju Island having publicly announced that the justification on the business has been in fact damaged though it is a national policy, has to make all the efforts to stop the blast of the Gureombi as a manager on the public water and its adjacent surface.”

  • Rebecca Johnson’s appeal letter to the court on behalf of the three arrested (Dec. 13, 2011)

    aop
    See Organizing Notes,  Nov. 8, 2011

     

    Re-post from here

     

    Appeal Letter of Dr. Rebecca Johnson to Judges regarding judicial charges against Kang Young-sil, Choi Sung-hee and Dr. Song Kang-ho

    To whom it may concern:
    December 13, 2011

    Regarding judicial charges against Ms Kang Young-sil, Ms Choi Sung-Hee and Dr Song Kang-ho

    Dear Judges, Lawyers and Colleagues,

    I am unable to be here in person but request that this letter be submitted as evidence in the judicial proceedings regarding nonviolent demonstrations by Ms Kang Young-sil, Ms Choi Sung-Hee and Dr Song Kang-ho at the Hotel Shilla, November 7-8, 2011.

    I, Dr Rebecca Johnson of the above address in London UK, was an invited participant at the 10th ROK-UN Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Issues: The Past and Future of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, which was held at the Shilla Hotel, Jeju, November 7-8, 2011.

    I flew from London for this Conference, and was asked to serve both as an expert presenter and a rapporteur for one of the sessions. As a panel speaker, I was on the Conference platform when a young woman quietly and peacefully entered the room and held up a yellow banner with the message “No Naval Base”. Indeed, the speaker who was presenting at the time, Professor Han Yong-sup, drew attention to this protest, which was part of a larger but equally nonviolent demonstration at the entrance of the Conference. Like others in the Conference, I was interested to learn more about the concerns that the protesters were raising, and asked questions about this in conversations with several of the participants from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic service, many of whom are my long-standing friends from many years of collaborative work on security, non-proliferation and disarmament issues. The protest sparked some interesting and informative discussions, but at no time did I or anyone else in the Conference feel worried, alarmed or threatened by the protesters, who behaved completely nonviolent throughout.

    I was therefore shocked to be told after the Conference concluded that three of the protesters had been arrested, taken into custody and held overnight. I was even more dismayed when I heard that these two women and religious brother had been hurt and injured by police or hotel staff in the course of that unnecessary arrest. The Conference was on issues of security, disarmament and non-proliferation, and I think it was completely relevant and legitimate for nonviolent demonstrators to try to participate and inform us about a local issue – happening so close to the hotel we were meeting in. Freedom of protest and freedom of speech are important characteristics and rights in democracies, and it should have been important to guarantee these rights and enable citizens such as the Gangjeong protesters to exercise these rights without being hurt or arrested.

    From what I saw and heard, the protesters behaved respectfully towards both the international and South Korean participants in the Conference. It is true that they were not formally invited to the Conference, but they did bring us important information. As I wrote in my rapporteur’s report for the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (ODA), their protest “brought home a personal dimension of the relationship between military policies and conventional weapons deployments, missile defences, nuclear weapons and dangers, regional insecurity and potential long term threats to the environment, including space, as well as raising challenging questions about the UN’s role and responsibilities and the links between human rights, environmental protection and disarmament and human security. In effect, this broader context formed the backdrop to Session I’s discussions about whether the achievement of disarmament, nonproliferation and freedom from nuclear insecurity will require a paradigm shift from the framework and assumptions of cold war arms control towards humanitarian-based disarmament, and if so, where such an approach might arise and what it might entail.”

    The protesters invited the Conference participants to visit Gangjeong and see for ourselves the environmental and humanitarian desecration being caused by the construction of the unnecessary naval base. As I had time the next day, I visited Gangjeong and spoke with many of the villagers and concerned South Korean citizens. I was deeply concerned at the environmental destruction and that explosives were being laid in preparation for blowing apart the Gureombi. Over dinner on Monday evening (November7), our host, the Governor of Jeju, the Honourable Mr Woo Keun-Min, called Jeju an “Island of World Peace” and expressed his hope that Jeju would be designated one of the new Seven Wonders of Nature. His hopes seem to be completely contradicted by what I saw being done to Gangjeong as part of the construction of the naval base for Aegis destroyers (associated with the launch of armed missiles as part of a ‘missile defence’ force).

    I was not distressed by Ms Kang Young-sil, Ms Choi Sung-Hee, Dr Song Kang-ho or any other of the nonviolent protesters who came to talk to us about the naval base. On the contrary, they gave me information that I consider important and relevant to my reasons for being at the UN-ROK Conference. I was, however, very distressed that they were arrested and have been charged for this, as if they had done something wrong or criminal.

    I am unable to travel back to Jeju to act as a witness in trial proceedings on this matter, but I respectfully request that this letter be used in evidence on behalf of Ms Kang Young-sil, Ms Choi Sung-Hee and Dr Song Kang-ho, confirm‍ing that their exercise of freedom of speech and demonstration during the UN-ROK Conference November 7-8 2011 should not constitute any kind of offence in a democracy such as the Republic of Korea.

    Yours faithfully,

    Dr Rebecca E. Johnson
    Executive Director
    Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
    To whom it may concern:
    December 13, 2011

     

    apples
    See Organizing Notes, March 8, 2011

     

    Dungree video

    Nov. 8 to 9, 2011

     

    Nov. 7, 2011