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Last Wednesday(3.07) Kim Ji-yun, a young female representative candidate for the Unified Progressive Party, posted on Twitter her statement “Let’s oppose the Jeju pirate base to protect Gangjeong” the village on Jeju Island where the naval base is being built...

 And only two days later the S. Korean Navy filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office against Kim Ji-yun under the name of Adm. Choi Yun-hee, the Navy’s chief of staff. Separately, 'independent' lawmaker Kang Yong-seok filed another one with the prosecution against Kim for the same reason as Choi.

Additionally Kim Sung-chan, former chief of naval operations, and some other Navy veterans 'visited' the headquarters of the Unified Progressive Party(*) on Friday and Saturday to 'protest'...

 
And today, as a countermeasure, the following "Urgent Appeal to defend Kim Ji-yun and Gangjeong" was issued (via 'No Naval Base on Jeju!'/facebook):
 

Dear friends and comrades,

We're calling for urgent actions in defense of and in solidarity with Kim Ji-yun, a member of the new Unified Progressive Party (formerly Democratic Labor Party) against the witch-hunt carried out by the Navy and the right wing conservatives in South Korea.

Currently, Kim Ji-yun (age 27, female) who is running for the candidacy of party-list national assembly seat for youth in the Unified Progressive Party is a target of a fierce witch-hunt. The South Korean Navy and right wing conservatives are attacking her with slanderous remarks and legal steps after she participated in a protest against the construction of a naval base on Jeju Island and said "No to an 'haejeok' (pirate) base." Haejeok is a play on word 'haegun' which means navy in Korean.

The islanders and peace activists who have organized the anti-naval base demonstrations referred the planned naval base as a pirate base because the Navy has evicted Gangjeong villagers by force and is destroying the pristine volcanic island comprised of three UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites through military development. And most of all, the construction of a naval base which will be used by the US is a grave threat to peace and stability in Northeast Asia since it will no doubt raise military tension between the US and China. Kim Ji-yun stood in solidarity with Jeju islanders and peace activists by saying "No to an haejeok base!"

But the right wing conservatives have jumped to start a witch-hunt and made Kim Ji-yun a Korean Joan of Arc. Having fought against the victimization by her own university, Korea University, and won a few years ago and became a symbol of youth resistance when she went head to head with the prime minister in the national TV debate on free trade agreement, she had been a target of attacks by the right wing media in South Korea. The Navy and conservative politicians have filed lawsuits for libel.

Clearly, it is a vicious attack not only against Kim Ji-yun but also the left and progressive forces in South Korea who are fighting against the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement and the rich 1% and for the 99% and peace. The intention of the right wing conservatives is to crush the symbol of resistance in an aim to discourage and divide the peace and progressive movement.

The plan to construct a naval base on Jeju Island has met with international protests with well-known figures like Gloria Steinem and Noam Chomsky voicing out their oppositions.

Now we are appealing the international peace activists, left, progressives and friends again for urgent action in defense of and solidarity with Kim Ji-yun and the anti-naval base movement in Jeju Island, South Korea.

Please send a letter of protest strongly condemning the witch-hunt against Kim Ji-yun and solidarity message to <contactcjpark@yahoo.com>. The timing is of essence since the right wing conservatives are moving quickly to gain the upper hand before the general election coming up in April. Please send your statements and letters immediately.

Or you could send me a short message saying you would like to sign the statement below. Thank you very much in advance for your solidarity.

******

Protest Statement:

We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the witch-hunt against Kim Ji-yun who said "No to an haejeok (pirate) base" in opposition to the construction of a naval base on Jeju Island, the most idyllic place on the planet. It is clearly a piracy to evict the Gangjeong villagers by force and bring the threat of warships on an "Island of World Peace" by building a naval base.
We demand that any charge and/or lawsuit against Kim Ji-yun be dismissed and the Navy of the Republic of Korea to immediately stop the blasting and construction of the naval base. We intend to publicize this outrage to the working people in the world to build up a chorus of voices demanding it comes to an end.

Name
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* Meanwhile, last Friday(3.09), the Unified 'Progressive' Party distanced itself from Kim Ji-yun by issuing a statement saying Kim’s remark did not reflect the party’s stance...