[HCCN] FW: Day One in Gangjeong Village

[Judith Robbins]

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From: Global Network <globalnet at mindspring.com>
Reply-To: Global Network <globalnet at mindspring.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:37:19 -0500
To: GN List Serve <globenet at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Day One in Gangjeong Village

Day One in Gangjeong Village <http://space4peace.blogspot.com/>
 
There is so much to write about and so little time. Yesterday we began our
time here on Jeju Island (South Korea) with a conference at the museum where
the story of the April 3, 1948 massacre of tens of thousands of Jeju
residents is told. Following the end of WW II the U.S. took control of Korea
and put the former Koreans who collaborated with fascist Japan in charge of
the country. The U.S. began the process of dividing Korea and the people of
Jeju were accused of being communists because they were independent minded
and did not want to follow the corrupt leaders appointed by the U.S.
military.

The people rebelled and the U.S. military directed the new Korean government
to aggressively put down the rebellion. The museum does a fine, and heart
breaking job, of telling this sad but virtually unknown story.

The people of Gangjeong village feel that the April 3 tragedy is being
played out again by the construction of the Navy base in their village.
About 150 gathered in the museum auditorium for speeches yesterday by South
Korean and international activists. Folks have come here from at least a
dozen countries to show their support for the struggling villagers. Many
Catholic priests and nuns were in the audience to hear their Bishop welcome
us. A delegation of Buddhist monks held a news conference to announce their
support for the struggle.

I am told that the conference yesterday drew more media coverage than people
had seen in a long time which makes everyone here very pleased. Today we
spend our time meeting with villagers to talk and share food.

As we arrived in South Korea we were greeted by headlines in the newspapers
about right-wing President Lee having just held a news conference to
announce that he intends to speed up the Navy base construction project and
push through the controversial Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. Many feel
that his days are numbered as the coming spring election will bring an end
to his mean-spirited and divisive reign of power. But for the people in
Gangjeong village there is little relief as they daily see the Samsung
Corporation (lead base contractor) make further moves toward the blasting of
their sacred rocky coast.

The approximately 30 international activists are all mindful that our time
here is short. We had a meeting late last evening to discuss ways our
energies could be best put to use. We will have a formal strategy meeting
with village leaders tomorrow but for the moment we must continue to appeal
to the hearts of our friends around the world to keep Gangjeong in your
prayers and hope that you will take steps to rally people where you live to
devise ways to show public support for the noble people here who clearly
understand that this Navy base will be a trigger for a wider arms race in
the region that will over time hurt all of us, no matter where we live.
 
Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet at mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org <http://www.space4peace.org>
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/  (blog)


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