MAINER ON JEJU ISLAND

First chance at internet this afternoon....4:15 pm Sept. 12...besides that, it has been overwhelming, non-stop, and unbelievable. I'm afraid uploading video is a problem...wireless here is sooooooo slow..11 hours to upload one 3 minute video...I have two ready to do...will try to make them lowest resolution and try again.

This is a police state!!!! Today 80 police showed up...already three times to remove activist blocking the gate to prevent cement trucks from entering....the cops surround them, pull them apart and haul them off to the side. It is turning ugly....getting rough, several young girls - they are their all the time - have been injured, bruised, and broken bones.....I literally cried after watching the first two yesterday.....they are so committed to their village and not afraid. You will cry when you see their faces lying on the ground.

Good news....the IUCN conference granted the village time in one of the programs, and over 100 traveled the four miles by bus to the village from the conference center yesterday to listen to the mayor and villages tell their story. They vowed to return to the conference and force a resolution of support from the IUCN for the villagers opposing the base.

Later in the evening there was the most fantastic music and dancing outside the conference center with many conference participants from around the world dancing and singing. WOW.....

I've been only eating Korean food...quite good really and not as spicy as some would have you believe. No Pepto Bismol needed, no nothing...everything going down regularly! Also, they put me up in a priest's temporary residence! Typhoon last week knocked out hot water heater....so cold showers and cold shaves! Sure wakes you up in a hurry.

These people are beautiful....warm, friendly...I've been treated like a VIP....they all knew "someone" was coming to make a film....and the stuff I'm getting is awesome....the high definition is incredible.

I got roughed up a bit today...not hurt...the cops leave you alone even when you stick a camera in their faces...but it got rough with several girls kicking as they were being hauled away....the cops form a cordon around them so they can run back and lay down in front of the trucks....I got trapped in the cordon and they would not let me out!

So, it is non-stop....some kind of direct action going on all day long....people sit in front of the gates all day long!!!! Many priests are there every day....some come and go. Mass everyday at 11 am....Fr. Moon...long white beard, white cassock and green stole is an iconic figure. He knows me now and I will interview him one of these days. Amazing man....arrested several times. Smokes like a sailor.

Had to take time out this afternoon to email, capture hours of video, and re-charge batteries....it is going to be an amazing documentary....

Got to go, and will try to find a way to upload video so you can get an idea of what is happening here and see the commitment of these people to save their village and their island! Occupy and every other activist group could learn how to do it from the villagers....this is their final hour....and the government of the U.S. is behind it.....they hate our government, Obama, and the U.S. Military.....I have felt rage, embarrassment and shame. They believe that most people in America want peace and not war making....but they say, it is the same thing here and all over the world.....seems like everybody else knows it is the multinationals who have taken over the planet.....one can only hope we and the rest of the planet wake up and come together to push back....

More from Gangjeong Village as I can find time.....Up at 5:30....to bed around mid-night....drop dead tired and conk out.

Regis Tremblay
Woolwich, Maine