The Gangjeong villagers on Jeju Island, South Korea had a very short Christmas break from their important fight to halt the Navy base construction.On December 26 (Korean time) 29 villagers and supporters were arrested for sitting in the road and blocking construction vehicles. They were taken to jail. (The number grew from 15 to 29 after a number of Catholic priests sat in front of the gate as well and were also arrested.) Those still in jail have begun a hunger strike.
Please remember that a boycott of Samsung products has begun. Samsung is the lead construction contractor for the Navy base project. Please be sure to avoid Samsung products and tell others about this boycott.
The Navy base will be a key port for U.S. Aegis destroyers, outfitted with so-called missile defense systems, and will be used to help surround China. The U.S. is now in the process of dramatically increasing its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
These Aegis destroyers are built at Bath Iron Works here in Maine.
The Gangjeong village is a 400 year old farming and fishing community. Just off the coast are soft-coral reefs that will be destroyed by dredging to make it possible to bring the huge warships into the port. Already villagers have found that the contamination of the air from blasting and heavy construction equipment has negatively impacted their popular tangerine products - the fruit has been dropping from the trees with a never before seen growth on them.
You can daily follow the Gangjeong villagers struggle on Facebook at this link
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