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Two faces of the same coin - Pyong-taek and FTA

F-killer, Nicolas

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The expansion of the Pyong-taek USA military base and US-South Korea FTA, two faces of the same coin?

Annyeonghaseyo? This is F-Killer news.


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As part of our coverage and analysis of different aspects related to the negotiation of a FreeTradeAgreement b/w South Korea and the USA, we would like to present you this week the situation of the village of Deachuri, in the district of Pyeong-Teak city, near Seoul, threatened of expulsion by the expansion of the nearby USA military base supported by the Korean government, but also a hot spot of creative resistance and solidarity. We wish this will give you an idea of the politics of Korea regarding the USA power.

This threatened eviction would certainly not be the first one in South Korea which, in its vertigo-inducing fast "development" led by dictatorships, has maybe established, in the wrecking balls and machines competition category, records of painful ruthless displacement of people, driven away from their home and their land in the name of the nation's progress. But, people have been told that the time of democracy has come and finally could dream of living in peace and security after all these "sacrifices". This hope for relief must have been especially strong for the people of Deachuri. The elders can remember a forced displacement in 1950s, to make place for the USA army. The ones yet older or their parent have memory of a displacement forced on them by the colonizing Japanese army when it was establishing a military base. Before settling where they now call home, the people of Deachuri had to work hard to dry what used to be tidal flats (wet areas). About the Deachuri they made flourish, an elder told me "we had all we wanted."

Then, after having bought important part of the surrounding farm land and talked about giving some money, one day in 2005, the Korean government declared to the residents of Taechu-ri that they would be evicted. The government said that they needed that land for the expansion of the nearby US military base which had become necessary to transfer the US military out of Seoul. But, looking at the dimensions of the planned new base, it is more an expansion of the USA military infrastructure in Korea than a simple transfer! Such a move also fits with the new strategy of the USA called strategic flexibility, which about enabling the easy movement of the army in the whole region. The plans are not only to protect SK from the NK.

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Under pressure, some villagers left but many of the village families, about a third, decided that they would stay in their village and cultivate their land regardless of the government orders. Thus they spoke, "We will live and die here! Let us harvest again this year!" Why? There could be many reasons. First, they probably cannot accept the situation in which they would be put by the eviction. Some probably cannot imagine having a decent life by moving somewhere else. Because they can hardly obtain new land, this somewhere else is likely to be a city. What would they do there? What kind of life they can dream about moving there? They are farmers who see their land and their farming as their identity. And most of the residents are elders, for whom it would be difficult to find another job. Furthermore, these people value not only farming, but the life of the village, their neighbourhood, the owls in the trees, etc. But this valuation is not a matter of quantification; from them the decision has to be based on principles. They refuse the logic of the government that converts life into money : a fifty-something year old persimmon tree as "one hundred dollar" (= one hundred thousand won), a wooden gate as "ten dollar" (= one thousand won), and so forth. The government that says "Just take the money and get out of here."
The resistant villagers don't want to give their land for the purpose intended by the government and the USA. No matter the money offered. They have had enough of the military, and the USA army involvement in Korea.  They have received support from many people and civil organizations. A struggle has begun.

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The military police has showed up to the village, increasingly putting pressure, recently establishing a checkpoint at the village entrance and controlling people who go in and out. If you are not a resident of Deachuri but want to go see this village, it is a challenge to get in. You'll need the clever help of residents, happy to get support. In May, when the police came to destroy the local school, the people fought with their bodies. In front of this injustice perpetrated by their own government, some residents destroyed their Korean identity cards and declared renouncing their citizenship.

Taechu-ri is under a very pressing situation right now. The government
stated that they will pull down all the vacant houses by the end of
August; and there is the rest of the eviction scheduled for October. But
some of the so-called vacant houses are not vacant houses. They are vacant only in legal terms.. Human rights activists
who have named themselves "the guards(?) of Pyong-taek" embraced
Taechu-ri issue and moved in the vacated
houses. The residents and
activists are now running a program to refurbish the newly occupied
buildings.
And an art village is born and grows. Museums, paintings on the walls, refurbished houses, unfortunately uncommon sharing lifestyle, intergenerational solidarity, candle vigils and artistic performance, people come to sing from all over the country, creating new songs and interpreting classics, like the pansori.

The movement organizes a large scale, non-violent parade
on September 24 in order to resist the forced eviction scheduled for
October.

What is the link with FTA? I will leave the details for next week, hoping to have sparked your curiosity. Just foods for thought: what could be the nature of the relationship between Korea and the USA that makes the Korean government act in such a way for the expansion of the military base? What kind of pressure for a FTA?

The residents and activists are
staking their whole life to fight America's Global Repositioning Plan
and the logic that replaces life with money.

Listeners in the region, let's visit Taechu-ri at least once.
Let's struggle with the residents.
Our life is not different from the life at Taechu-ri.
The capital and power that threatens the life in Taechu-ri threatens our life.

Our struggle to fight off US military base is the struggle to
resist the US-South Korea FTA.

I will wrap it up with the song, "People live." sung by one of the
guards of Pyong-taek, dopehead. Good-bye, everyone and I will meet you
all at the site of struggle.