VILLAGERS BLOCK HEARING ON JEJU

Sung-Hee Choi reports on Gangjeong villagers blocking a Navy "public hearing" about building housing for military personnel on June 15:

In an absolute opposition to the Navy’s military housing project, the villagers occupied the Navy’s hearing for the 2nd time. The Navy could NEVER process the hearing. Still the Navy attempted to enforce hearing with a sudden RAID of ‘RECORDED VOICE,’ which was absolutely and fiercely protested by the villagers. The Jeju media reporters say that the hearing was ‘crept.’

The Jeju Sori even used the phrase such as, ‘approaching the climax’ in its article title to describe Navy’s such incredibly naked fraud behavior that has been in fact nothing new since they sneaked like thieves into the Gangjeong village in 2007 and bribed a few villagers and made a false propaganda through TV broadcasting that the villagers were in favor of naval base. [In a secret election villagers voted 94% to oppose the Navy base several years ago.] The use of ‘recorder’ for 20 minutes in the small locked studio room in the back side of hearing stage was a way for the Navy to evade furious people’s protest and to fake the fact as if the hearing was done on June 15 will remain one of the most scandalous and shameful traces throughout the South Korean military history.

The villagers having succeeded to completely dissipate the Navy’s hearing on May 29, gathered in more numbers this time when the Navy attempted the 2nd hearing in the same place of the Kim Jung Cultural Hall which is about 10 minute car distance from the village. The hearing was specifically focused on the draft on the prior environmental review for the military housing project.

About 200 villagers and peace activists gathered even before the start of hearing at 5:00 pm, in resolute spirit to end Navy’s such bald-faced behavior to forcefully drive the project.

As soon as people saw the Naval base project committee personnel and workers of their contacted companies, they were in great fury. Civilian-costumed policemen and a few villagers who are in favor of Naval base also were shown.

Navy’s holding a hearing in the place that is not in the village was already infuriating thing. If they are honesty and dignified, why they cannot hold a hearing in the village? 

The Navy had even a banner that read, “Who would be responsible for a village elementary school being disappeared when students are 80 among 1,900 Gangjeong villagers?” It was to threaten the villagers, meaning that the villagers can only sustain their home town by accepting more populations of at least 616 households of military family members.

Does the navy conspire to make the small village with the military-friendly electorates? The banner was soon taken down by the furious villagers.

Mass protest began when the contracted companies’ workers began to attempt to distribute propaganda materials. Villagers furiously tore glossed papers of them full of sumptuous colors and false rhetoric; and threw down them on the floor in front of the two Navy officers who don’t seem to recognize their wrongdoings of stealing villagers’ hometown. One of two was a lieutenant commander Jung who had been detected to secretly hang a banner in the village last year, which was to falsely impute the protesters as pro-north leftist.

It even appeared that the Navy side (policemen?) stealthily took photos of the protesting people from the locked studio, which provoked villagers. Mayor Kang and villagers demanded a police intelligence officer to identify the men inside but the police officer rejected it. People blocked the window of the studio with banners. 

Further preposterous thing happened around 5:10 pm. People were shocked by the sudden recorded voice heard in the hall, that the hearing started. Of course, people protested demanding to stop it.

Infuriated Mayor Kang heightened his voice, “This is the Navy’s another fraud. What on earth hearing being done by recorded broadcasting! The men inside the close studio should show up themselves!”

The recorded voice (talking on the purpose and content of hearing) went on for about 20 minutes and the Navy officers withdrew from the hearing hall around 5:30 pm as people’s protest became stronger. People were more infuriated by their attitudes to attempt to evade the site without proper explanation on recorded voice. People surrounded them and fierily protested to them: “It is totally betraying of villagers!”

The Navy left out the hall around 5:45pm. People followed them to their car and continuously protested them.

Mayor Kang said, “We the villagers have made an agreement that we absolutely oppose the military residence in our village. We will never allow it!”

It is expected that the Navy would still enforce the project as it asserts that the hearing ‘has been done.’ Can you believe? It plans to finish the housing project by 2015 when the base is planned to be complete. In more detail, after today, it plans to work on the document on prior environment review, to complete the work-ordering on it in August through consultation with the Ministry of Environment next month and to start on environment impact assessment on the other hand. If the Ministry of National Defense approves the project in October, it will begin to purchase lands from November.

However, if it enforces the project, big controversy on scandalous procedure matter will surely arise. The Navy should remember that there were about 200 witnesses of people today, who clearly remember ‘recorded fraud,’ OPERATED by the Navy.