BRIEFING ON
THE JEJU NAVAL BASE
Gangjeong Village Logo
1. Year 2002 :
Hwasun and Wimi villages were
proposed for potential naval base
sites , but the proposal was
withdrawn due to the opposition
of the villagers.
2. April, 2007:
A proposal to construct the naval
base at Gangjeong was approved
by the village general meeting in
which only 87 village members,
“out of 1,050 voting members”,
participated.
3. August 2007:
The village general meeting was
called again and this time 725
members participated. The
proposal was rejected by a secret
ballot in which 94% of the voters
rejected the proposal.
4. February 2010:
The ground breaking for
construction took place. Since
the heavy machineries moved
into the area, the villagers
nonviolently hampered the
progress of work but got
arrested by the police for
obstruction of the initial
construction
.
5. March 2011:
The government tried to resume
the construction work.
Construction of perimeter fence
was installed and any access to
the construction by the public
was prohibited.
6. July, 2011:
112 leaders and representatives
from civil, religious and NGOs
formed a nation-wide coalition to
resist the construction of a naval
base in the village.
7. December 30, 2011:
National Assembly cut 96% of
the 2012 budget for the naval
base construction.
8. February 16, 2012: President Lee
Myung-Bak declared that “he will never
give up the construction” of the naval
base in Gangjeong Village.
9. March 7, 2012 :
Despite of the Jeju provincial
government’s order to stop construction,
blasting of Gureombi Rocks began
10. March 9, 2012 :
Rev. Lee and Fr. Kim were
arrested and imprisoned
The Underlying Reasons for Forcible
Naval Base Construction at Gangjeong
1.The US consolidation of all efforts
to maintain hegemony in AsiaPacific through strengthening of
economic and military ties with the
countries in the region as China is
rapidly extending its economic and
military power in the region.
2. The US has been consolidating
all its efforts to strengthen military
ties with its allies in the
Northeast Asia :
1) Attempt to revise the Article-9 of
the Japanese Peace Constitution;
Expanding US Air force in
Okinawa
2) Jeju Naval Base Construction
3) Visiting Forces Agreement
(VFA) with the Philippines
4) The US has been
considering Darwin,
Australia for
permanent military
basing for US easy
access to the South
China Sea, a vital
commercial route
and incidentally,
beyond the range of
Chinese missiles.
Scope of US military hegemony in
Asia-Pacific region
3. The strong drive of the
US to form the TransPacific Partnership (TPP)
with allied countries
such as Japan, Taiwan,
Korea, Philippines, and
others, to reverse the
diminishing economic
hegemony in the region,
curbing the Chinese
economic expansion in
the region.
Briefing on the Activities of the
Korean Christians
NCCK Solidarity Visit – May 2011
NCCK Justice/Peace Committee Prayer
Gathering (Seoul) – June 2011
The EMS Delegation Visit – July 2011
The CCA Delegation Visit – August 2011
Inter-Religious Delegation of the A9
Conference – December 2011
Press Conference by the Inter-Religious
Delegation of the A9 Conference –
December 2011
COMMON LETTER FROM
INTERFAITH SOLIDARITY GROUP
To President Lee Myung Bak calling on his
government: to immediately stop
construction of Gangjeong Naval Base;
to stop arresting peaceful protestors;
to revoke fines and penalties against
villagers; to recognize Gangjeong Village’s
democratic process; to preserve Gangjeong
Village shoreline ecosystem and designate
it as a Peace Park.
Ten (10) International Activists
were arrested – Feb. 2012
March 9, 2012
- Rev. JH Lee and Fr. JW Kim
were arrested and imprisoned
PROK Prayer Gathering
March 12, 2012
Emergency Prayer meeting
March 2012
The Present Situation
Imprisoned Rev. Lee Jeong-Hun
Imprisoned Fr. Kim Jeong-Uk
Imprisoned Mr. Yang
Present Situation Offenders
 So far, about 200 villagers
have become offenders for
‘ obstruction of execution
of duty ’.
Present Situation - Penalties
300,000 $ has been
charged for the offences
of all the protesters
Present Situation–
Resistance to Blasting
Violence
Arrest
Penalty
Imprisonment
The Problem 1 :
Undemocratic Decision-making process
Ignoring the absolute objection of
the villagers,
the government manipulated the
public opinion, insisting the
decision had been taken in a
legitimate way
The problem 2 :
Contradictory to ‘Island of Peace’
The Korean government
designated the Jeju island as
an ‘Island of Peace’ but to
build a massive naval base is a
contradictory action to the
concept of the Island of Peace.
The problem 3 :
Destruction of life and natural heritage
 The Jeju Island was designated as a
natural ecology protection area by
the Korean government and declared
a natural heritage site by UNESCO,
but the government allows the
destruction of the pristine and
ecologically balanced environment
through the naval base construction.
 Gureombi rock was formed as a
result of a volcanic eruption and
is comprised of single rock bed
that stretches to 1.2 km. This
rock is a kind of rock wetland in
which there are numerous spring
of water and a habitat of many
kinds of rare marine life.
Request for Solidarity
1. Expressing concern
and prayers of support
2. Information Sharing
3. Sending emails of protest to
President Lee Myung Bak
webmaster@president.go.kr
4. Donations
PEACE PRAYER
 (World Prayer for Peace from WCC,
1983)
 For the victims of violence
everywhere
 For those struggle for peace and
justice
 For churches in conflict situation
 For a world without war and violence
PEACE PRAYER
 Lead us from death to life, from false
to truth
 Lead us from despair to hope, from
fear to trust
 Lead us from hate to love, from war
to peace
 Let peace fill our beings, our world
and our universe. Amen