CINA

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To cut a long story short today was not a successful day for us, not really!

Like last Thursday a crane truck, in order of Daewoo Construction (Mafia) tried to enter the Myeong-dong "redevelopment" area to continue the demolition of buildings close to our struggle center ('Cafe Mari').

Well, for the first two hours - from 06:00am(KST) until 08:00am - we were able to block the shit. At 08:00 the truck left the site and we - very happy to sleep few hours more - went back to our struggle center('Cafe Mari').

But only three hours later we'd to learn that ultimatey the truck entered its destination and was already prepared to start the demolition process. At around noon two of our comrades, backed by about 40 activists/supporters just occupied the crane. But of course only a short while later the riot cops(at least 120) moved in and punctually(^^) to supper time(06:00pm KST) they finished our "performance"(i.e. protest).

The final result: Five(*) of our comrades, incl. four MDLF activists were arrested(they're are still in custody) and at least one person was taken by the ambulance to a hospital. Here some impressions(chronologically arranged) from today's "events" in Myeong-dong:

* According to Yonhap: Seven actvists were arrested, incl. two supporting organized street vendors.

 

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Impressions from today's activities(flea market, opening of the photo exhibition "48 Hours") outside and inside 'Cafe Mari" in Myeong-dong's 'redevelopment' zone:
 

PS: Today we'd visitors from Japan, the U.S. and Germany!!

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Yesterday(9.01), at 05:00(KST) - just two hours before we hit the sack - a crane truck, in order of Daewoo Construction (Mafia) tried to enter the Myeong-dong "redevelopment" area to continue the demolition of buildings close to our struggle center ('Cafe Mari'). But we - a small group of activists and some tenants of the area - were able to block the truck:
 

 Cameraman, documenting the entire stupid stuff for Daewoo Construction (Mafia)

Only two hours later - a part of our group started their propapaganda tour around the block - we suffered a next surprise. A small bunch of elderly and disabled people started to play up, by blocking our propaganda mobile. Of course we were really surprised, but we'd to learn that they acted not on their own behalf, instead they were hired and paid by Daewoo Construction (Mafia) just to annoy us:

Finally exactly at noon, 'only' 7 hours after the beginning of the trouble, the truck and the bugging dudes(unfortunately, during their silly 'performance', three of our comrades were slightly injured) disappeared and we were able to enjoy the rest of this f*cking hot day...

 9.04(Sun.), 05:00pm: Opening of the photo exhibition "48 Hours" in Myeong-dong, 'Cafe Mari':
 

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SAVE JEJU ISLAND! NO NAVAL BASE!

1. Yesterday's Korea Times wrote that "Crackdown imminent at naval site"!

2. Today, at 02:28pm (KST) Save Jeju Island (Facebook) published the following report/appeal: "Arrests are taking place in Gangjeong village at this moment. The leader of the peace movement and two other leading activists have been arrested in just the past few minutes. Perhaps more soon. This is an affront to democracy in South Korea! We are now more dependent on the international community. This is a rallying call. We must all rise up in defense!!!"

3. Today's conservative/reactionary daily newspaper JoongAng Ilbo wrote this piece:

Police see Jeju ‘festival’ as ruse

Police are preparing to use force to control growing opposition to a naval base being built on Jeju as a watered-down rally is expected to go ahead on Saturday despite a court injunction against it.

Some 449 riot police were dispatched from the mainland yesterday to the tense coastal village of Gangjeong in Seogwipo, the island’s second-biggest city, to join the 157 riot police previously sent there from Gyeonggi.

Construction of the 530,000- square-meter (131-acre) base, which is about 30 percent complete, has ground to a halt as protestors from the island and mainland have physically blocked workers from entering the site.

Opposition to the base has been mounting since the central government announced the plan in 2007, and construction has been stalled for several months.

The protestors, who see the base as a threat to peace on the island, are expecting to see their numbers swell in the coming days as supporters from other parts of the country fly in to join a festival on Saturday that could turn into an illegal rally.

Organizers of the so-called “Plane for Peace” rally have agreed to cancel the demonstration and hold a festival instead after the Jeju District Court granted an injunction on Tuesday forbidding any interference with the base construction.

But authorities suspect the parade is a ruse to keep the rally alive as it includes a parade along a section of the Jeju Olle Trails that passes by the base site on the way to Seogwipo’s Gureombi Beach.

“Although they said they would hold a peaceful festival, they had better refrain from entering the construction site as this would be illegal,” said Yun Jong-gi, the police officer in charge of crowd control at the festival.

“We are sending a large force out to deal with any possible contingencies.”

Some 2,000 people are expected to attend, including 170 people aboard a T’way Air flight from Gimpo Airport - the source of the canceled rally’s name.

The Catholic Human Rights Committee purchased their tickets to fortify numbers at the event, which has since been renamed the “Let’s play, play, play with Gangjeong” festival.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency sent six mobile squads, including two teams of female police to deal with children and elderly people, to the island yesterday evening.

The new arrivals will conduct riot-control maneuvers in Seogwipo City before and during the festival, which will also feature a music concert, police said.

Their presence has further inflamed local residents. A group of 40 people set up tents to prevent police officers from entering the construction site yesterday, barring them from putting up notices bearing the court’s ruling. In the end, the protestors partially relented and allowed one to enter.

The Ministry of National Defense issued a statement yesterday demanding an end to the “outsider-led demonstrations.”

“We stress once again that this military-commercial joint venture is an important project not only for the national interest, but also to defend transport routes in the South Sea and for the development of Gangjeong Village [by boosting tourism there],” it read.

“The government urges these groups [from outside Jeju] to suspend their protests against the base as it is only deepening the rift between local residents [who are already torn over the issue].”

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2940990

4. Related articles:
☞ Clash brewing at Gangjeong village (Korea Times, 8.30)

☞ Standoff escalates over Jeju naval base (K. Herald, 8.31)

 

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MYEONG-DONG ('CAFE MARI') DIARY (#1)

Just in pictures and (mainly) without comments!

Mon., 8.29, 04:00 am:
 

Wed., 8.31, 03:15 am:

Wed., 8.31, 01:15 pm:

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SAVE JEJU ISLAND! NO NAVAL BASE!

Why should you care?

The South Korean Government is constructing a naval base on Jeju Island. Officially named an “Island of Peace” by the late President Roh Moo

Hyun, Jeju was the site of a 1948 massacre in which more than 30,000 civilians were estimated to have been slaughtered during a democratic

uprising.

Located strategically in the Korea Strait, the island’s potential to become a military target in the event of an armed conflict in this tense

region would increase exponentially with the addition of a naval base. The threat this poses to the men, women and children of Jeju Island is

unconscionable, and it can be avoided through halting the base construction.

Since plans for the naval base were announced five years ago, 95% of Jeju residents have voted against the base and used every possible

democratic means to block its construction. Yet their protests have fallen on mostly deaf ears.

Jeju Island is situated in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and covers a lava plateau with a shield volcano at an elevation of 1,950

meters above sea level. The high biological diversity, unique volcanic topography and the culture of Jeju Island attract many tourists.

The home for this proposed military facility is the pristine fishing village of Gangjeong, which is surrounded by three UNESCO sites.

Construction is in the early stages but accelerating daily with the dredging of the island’s seabed and its coral communities currently underway.

Many observers of the region believe that the Jeju Island naval base will serve as a port of call for the U.S. military’s sea-based component of

its ballistic missile defense system. This same technology is also a proven anti-satellite weapon.

This is not only an issue of protecting the environment or preventing military expansion. Human rights and free speech are also at stake.

Villagers have been arrested during nonviolent protests. Police and construction workers have assaulted elderly members of the community, who

represent a large portion of the activists.

Jeju Island is under attack. “Touch not one stone, not one flower,” is its residents’ battle cry. Will you join them?

For more info please check out:
☞ SAVE JEJU ISLAND

 

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Impressions from "Su-hyang", a traditional place right in the middle of Myeong-dong 'redevelopment' area. And of course, like all the other places there, it will be destroyed in the near future (if we can't stop the construction mafia!):

"Ensure by law our right to live/exist!"

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The 4th "Hope Bus" Campaign...

...led last weekend about 5000 activists (the organizers expected 10,000) to the S. Korean capital Seoul, and not like in the past to Busan. But the main topic was still the same: supporting the struggle of dismissed Hanjin workers and Kim Jin-suks sit-in strike on the crane No. 85.

Saturday's main protest event in downtown Seoul was opened in the afternoon by a rally of "irregular" workers, but unfortunately only about 100 activists, mainly elderly workers and some activists who are right now fighting in Myeong-dong against their forced eviction attended it.
 

Later on the main "Hope Bus" protest rally - attended by about 5000 KCTU members, civil right and political activists etc. - ended at 10 pm. During the rally, Japanese comrades delivered their solidarity message to the audience and Kim Jin-suk held a powerful speech by telephone, urging all S. Korean to fight until a just solution for all workers and people in resistance to exploitation and oppression is achieved.

After the rally a protest march to the presidential palace (Blue House) was planned, but the entire area, resp. its exits were blocked thousands of riot cops and nobody was able to leave (or enter) the place.

But finally the masses were able to escape (actually after a very short time/"guerilla" style^^), but hunted by the cops. During the next 30 minutes they were also able to avoid twice blockades by the riot cops and ultimately escaped complete and created in almost the entire downtown area traffic chaos...

But today, during the last "Hope Bus" protest...

...came the government's, i.e. riot cop's vengeance:

Related reports/articles:
☞ 4차 희망버스, “희망버스 기획단장은 이명박과 조남호” (NewsCham, 8.28)

☞ 대통령님, 이 현수막 잘 보이시죠? (OMN, 8.29)
☞ Police fire water cannons at 'Hope Bus' ralliers (Korea Times, 8.28)
☞ Police fire water cannons on pro-union protesters in Seoul (K. Herald, 8.28)

 

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[8.25] Impressions from Cafe 'Mari' (inside and outside):