SHOW SUPPORT FOR VILLAGERS

Catholic priest Fr Kim Sung Hwan on the top of cement mixer truck in Gangjeong village

• Koohan Paik from Kauai, Hawaii  just arrived in Gangjeong village and will be there for 3 1/2 weeks.  She's been heavily involved in the campaign to stop the Navy base and helped host our Global Network delegation last February when we visited Kauai.  The Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility is located on Kauai and is the key testing area where Aegis destroyers practice firing their "missile defense" systems.  It is the only range in the world where submarines, surface ships, aircraft and space vehicles can operate and be tracked simultaneously. There are over 1,100 square miles (2,800 km) of instrumented underwater range and over 42,000 square miles (109,000 km) of controlled airspace. The base itself covers roughly 2,385 acres (965 ha). These Aegis warships will be ported on Jeju Island and will play important roles in the Pentagon's first-strike attack planning against China.
•  Koohan writes: 

    I just returned from the candlelight vigil -- wow! That was the first candlelight vigil I've ever been to with karaoke. A karaoke candlelight vigil. The mayor was decked out in the traditional silk Jeju attire and shades as he rocked out at the mike, telling everyone to stand up and dance, which we all did, of course, since the mayor went to jail for five months to defend his village. Everyone here is so passionate and smart and committed. And entertaining. And human. I met the head cook, the head of "field activities," the head of the media team, the head of the kayak team, the head of the "international team," and the head of the explosives team (they block trucks; not detonate dynamite). I met a famous actor from a television series who now lives here and fights in the struggle. I met an arrogant journalist from D.C. who kept interrupting everybody and was here on a grant to study and publish about the militarization of Jeju and Okinawa, and who didn't even know about the intimate connection between Okinawa and the Guam buildup, or much of anything else about Asia-Pacific militarization. I met the famous Father Moon, known nationally here for all his antics in protest of Pyongtaek military base, but not as famous as his brother, who is in all the history books for crossing the DMZ in protest of the division and serving time for five years for doing so. Every night, about fifty people from near and far, come to sing and dance after a day of anti-base protests.

  
  

  If this was the "candlelight vigil," I have yet to discover what the catholic mass tomorrow morning will be like. Will keep you posted...

  
  
• Gangjeong villagers have learned that the Navy wants more land and will extend their "military restriction zone" farther into the village.  Protesters arrested in this expanded zone would face three years in prison rather than the one year they currently face when arrested for blocking construction vehicles.  It will be martial law.  The Navy intends to build military housing in the village for 600 families.  The base ultimately will have 7,200 military personnel stationed there.  Consider that the village only has a population of about 1,900 people so they will be engulfed by the military which means village life will be destroyed as will their farming and fishing livelihood. The village is being sacrificed on the alter of U.S. military ambitions in the region.
• We continue to encourage people to travel to Gangjeong village to show your support for the campaign to stop the Navy base.  It's a very good way that local or national peace, religious, and environmental groups can show support.