Beginning on July 5th, anti-war and human rights activists will march from the Blue House (Korea's Presidential Residence) to Daechuri, in Pyeongtaek, the site of the U.S. military's Camp Humphreys.

The 285 li (a li is a traditional Korean measure of distance) march will protest the Korean and American governments' expropriation of the 2,850,000 pyong (1 pyong = 3.3 meters squared) of land currently belonging to the farmers of Daechuri and Doduri.

On July 5th, the march will begin with a press conference at 10am at the Blue House and will then pass through Gwanghwamun, move on to Seoul Station, and will pass Yongsan Garrison, the U.S. military's headquarters on the peninsula. There will be a performance in front of the Korean Ministry of National Defense at 1pm. The march will then cross Seoul's Dongjak Bridge and will hold a 7pm candlelight vigil at Sadang Station. The day's march will then continue to Gwacheon where the marchers will rest for the evening.

On July 6th, the march will resume with a 10am rally in front of the Government Complex at Gwacheon. The march will then continue to Anyang Prison and the Keyonggi-Do police Headquarters. A 7pm candlelight vigil will be held at Suwon Station.

On July 7th, the march will begin at 10am in front of Suwon Airbase. The route will pass Byeongjeom Station and Osan College Station before holding a 7pm candlelight vigil at Osan Airbase (located in Songtan). The marchers will sleep outside the main gate of Osan Airbase.

On July 8th, the march will resume at 10am from Osan Airbase and will continue to the Pyeongtaek City Council Building. A 1pm rally will be held at the Pyeongtaek jail, where Kim Jitae and others are being held. This will be followed by a 7pm candlelight vigil at Pyeongtaek Station. The marchers will then continue on to Daechuri village.

July 9th, a general demonstration will be held in Daechuri.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 10:49 PM | Permalink

Sunday, June 25, 2006

South Korea refusing return of U.S. bases ‘as-is’ Gen. Bell: New standards exceed SOFA agreements By T.D. Flack, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Wednesday, June 7, 2006 SEOUL — South Korea has rejected America’s attempts to return 25 closed military camps, calling for environmental cleanup standards that exceed those agreed upon by the Status of Forces Agreement, according to U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. B.B. Bell. And that issue, Bell told members of the Korea Defense Forum during a speech Monday morning, must be resolved to keep “relocation efforts on track, and the fabric of our alliance as strong as it is.” A copy of the speech was provided to Stars and Stripes. In the last three years, Bell said, USFK closed 32 installations, but the South Korean government has only accepted seven. The 11,000 acres of land on those 25 bases are worth more than $527 million, Bell said, and “once the Korean government receives the land, it can use it and the capital improvements in any way desired for the betterment of the Korean people.” He said the United States has tried to return the land in the past 18 months based on the SOFA. “In that time, the Republic of Korea has decided to require the U.S. to achieve a new standard for camp returns, a standard outside our mutually agreed-to SOFA,” he said. “This new standard would require extensive environmental remediation to essentially return the land to pre-Korean War conditions.” And when the United States sought compromise, offering and executing additional cleanup efforts including the removal of underground fuel tanks on all camps and underground water table remediation on five camps, Bell said, South Korea rejected the offer. “It is fair to say that we loved this land and its people enough to die for it,” Bell said. “To state now that we have been irresponsible stewards of Korean land, while standing side by side with you, is a charge that hurts my heart.” The agreement between the countries states that the United States is not required “to restore the facilities and areas to the condition they were in at the time they became available to the U.S., or to compensate the government of the ROK in lieu of such restoration,” Bell said. Instead, the United States must “remedy known, imminent, and substantial endangerments to human health.” Bell said those fixes were made. In exchange, he said, Korea agreed to accept the land “as-is.” He said the United States made a long-term commitment to South Korea’s defense in the “aftermath of the ashes of the Korean War.” “Over nearly 60 years, we have invested billions of U.S. dollars to build and maintain military facilities for our servicemembers, and invested huge amounts to train, exercise and modernize our joint and combined formations,” he said. America didn’t allow economic hardships or “competing demands for our military forces around the world” to affect the commitment in South Korea, he said. Bell said the United States can’t charge South Korea for capital improvements such as buildings and other facilities when returning land. “We give back the land, the buildings, the facilities and any improvements free to the Korean government for its use as desired, regardless of the dollar investment the United States has made over the years,” Bell said. “This provision means when we close and return our base camps, the U.S. forfeits the billions of dollars of improvements made over the years,” he said. The empty camps — which USFK officials have said cost about $400,000 a month to guard — must be returned, Bell said. “The United States needs to return these base camp lands to the Korean people for their use and for their benefit. We need to do it in accordance with our SOFA and the additional measures offered by the United States beyond the SOFA,” Bell said. “And again, we need to do it now.”

Posted by savePTfarmers at 01:08 AM | Permalink

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Korean environmental groups sue for U.S. base data Activists allege pollution at sites being returned to South Korea By Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Sunday, June 25, 2006 Local report details problems with bases Earlier this year, Seoul’s Hankyoreh newspaper said it acquired leaked preliminary data from the Ministry of Environment’s research on U.S. bases to be returned to South Korea. Neither U.S. Forces Korea nor the South Korean government would confirm or deny the findings, which included the following: Lead levels at the Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and North Carolina firing ranges in Area I ranged between 4,990 and 15,200 milligrams per kilogram of soil. If lead leeches into groundwater in high quantity, it can severely damage the brain and kidneys when ingested, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency caps safe drinking water lead levels at .015 milligrams of lead per liter/kilogram of water. Levels of BTEX, a group of four chemicals that make up a large percentage of petroleum products, at Camp Page registered at 1,152 milligrams per kilogram of soil. South Korea’s national standards call for “anti-contamination measures” at 200 milligrams per kilogram of soil. Benzene, one of the chemicals in BTEX, is listed by the EPA as a known carcinogen. The EPA’s maximum permissible level for benzene in drinking water is 5 parts per billion, or .005 milligrams per liter/kilogram. Total petroleum hydrocarbons, which can include several chemicals, also showed elevated levels. Levels at Camp Page registered 50,552 milligrams per kilogram of soil. Camps Howze, Greaves, Stanton and Garry Owen ranged between 20,767 and 47,819 milligrams per kilogram of soil. South Korea’s national standards call for anti-contamination measures at 1,200 milligrams per kilogram of soil, according to Green Korea, which filed a lawsuit against the South Korean government for full release of its base environmental data. — Erik Slavin CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — Two groups have filed a lawsuit against the South Korean Ministry of Environment to gain the release of pollution data from U.S. military bases scheduled to be returned to South Korea. Green Korea and the Chuncheon Civic Group claim in a lawsuit filed earlier this month that the October 2005 data, some of which was acquired by a Seoul newspaper and debated in the national assembly, is of overriding interest to the nation’s citizens. U.S. Forces Korea refused to release any environmental data to Stars and Stripes, stating that the status of forces agreement between the United States and South Korea prevents it. Both the United States and South Korea must consent to the official release of data from the Environmental Subcommittee of the SOFA Joint Committee, USFK spokesman Dave Oten said. “While some preliminary data has been gathered, information of public interest will only be released by the subcommittee upon mutual agreement of the ROK and USFK representatives using a joint statement,” Oten said. “No such statement is currently planned.” A report from the Seoul-based Hankyoreh newspaper earlier this year said the leaked data showed unsafe levels of ground and water contamination at several military sites. They include Garry Owen, Greaves, the Kimpo post terminal, Stanton, Edwards, Giant, Page, Falling Water, the Freedom Bridge, Howze and the Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and North Carolina firing ranges. “It is not understandable that such information is not being disclosed to the Korea National Assembly, as well as Korea’s citizens,” said Green Korea spokeswoman Ko Ji-sun. She said that the cited SOFA provision is absurd and fosters suspicion among South Koreans. The United States has tried to return closed bases for the past 18 months, but South Korea has declined. Army officials boil the issue down to two main points: money and sticking to an agreement. When the base handover agreements were completed by a previous South Korean government, that government agreed to take the land “as is,” including all buildings and infrastructure at no cost, military officials have said. Further cleanup efforts beyond what the United States already has done should be handled by the South Korean government as “the price of peace,” some Army officials say. Meanwhile, guarding the empty bases costs America $400,000 each month, USFK officials say. In an interview earlier this year, USFK commander Gen. B.B. Bell told Stripes that the U.S. sought to compromise, offering to remove all underground fuel tanks on all camps and underground water table remediation on five camps. South Korean officials rejected the offer, Bell said. Meanwhile, South Korean environmental government officials have refused to comment on the leaked data and status of the bases in question. “We cannot confirm any of things from the study, and I have nothing to say about the issue,” said Seung Su-ho, chief of the military base environment management division for the Ministry of Environment. Hwang Hae-rym contributed to this report.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 01:06 AM | Permalink

The full article is here.

from the article:

"Radome
Radar + Dome = Radome  

5. Dismantle the golf ball

"Right now, somebody is watching your every movement." This may sound like something from a science-fiction movies, but instead, it's real.

In the greatest surveillance effort ever made, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) created a global spy system -- codename ECHELON -- which captures and analyzes virtually every phone call, fax, email and telex message sent anywhere in the world. ECHELON is controlled by the NSA and operated in conjunction with the Government Communications Head Quarters (GCHQ) of England, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) of Canada, the Australian Defense Security Directorate (DSD), and the General Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) of New Zealand. These organizations are bound together under a secret 1948 agreement, UKUSA, whose terms and text remain under wraps even today.

The ECHELON system is fairly simple in design: It positions intercept stations all over the world to capture all satellite, microwave, cellular, and fiber-optic communications traffic, and then processes this information through the massive computer capabilities of the NSA, including advanced voice recognition and optical character recognition (OCR) programs.

It looks for code words or phrases -- known as the ECHELON "dictionary" -- that will prompt the computers to flag the message for recording and transcribing for future analysis. Intelligence analysts at each of the respective "listening stations" maintain separate keyword lists for them to analyze any conversation or document flagged by the system, which is then forwarded to the respective intelligence agency headquarters that requested the intercept. Besides the main five countries, there are other countries that help the U.S. spy system, and Korea is one of them.

In May 2001, the European Union reported that ECHELON is "the electronic, international spy system of the U.S. with confidential attitude." The report recommends not using phone, fax, and Internet while sending secret information. Many media compare the identity of ECHELON to "Big Brother," the omnipresent overseer of George Orwell's novel "1984." There are U.S. radome bases in England and Australia, observing messages from all over the world.

Peace activists of England and Australia have been gathering with pickets signs, trying to hit the radars with golf balls and insisting the militaries dismantle the bases.

I am not sure that whether the golf ball of Hwangsaewool field is used for the same purpose. A military expert said, "If it was that important of a military facility, it would not be installed on the open field so that people can see or approach it easily."

He suggested the radome is for weather forecasting. However, radomes for weather forecasting are usually smaller than Hwangsaewool's radome. Also, considering that scout planes frequently take off and land at Camp Humphrey and Osan Air Force near the radome, and these scout planes observe activities as far away as Okinawa and North Korea, it is not very difficult to imagine the radome's true function.

The military expert emphasized that, "The most important U.S. base on the Korean peninsula should be Pyeongtaek, because it is the core base of communication security." Therefore, the golf ball of Hwangsaewool is not that simple."

Posted by savePTfarmers at 04:14 AM | Permalink

According to the traditional Korean system of measurements, the area of land which the United States military wishes to take from the villages of Daechuri and Doduri for the expansion of Camp Humphreys is "2,850,000 pyeong".

Beginning on July 5th, 285 peace activists will march 285 li (the traditional Korean measurement of distance) from Seoul to Daechuri.

The group will hold protest at every US military installation along the way, including Osan Airforce Base in Songtan.

We invite all peace activists to join us. Details and updates will be posted as they become available.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 11:43 PM | Permalink

On Sunday, June 18th, 2006 approximately 5,000 people from around Korea marched in Pyeongtaek toward Daechuri and Doduri, vocalizing their opposition to the expansion of the American base there.

 

Approximately 200 supporters were inside the village, and managed to march from Daechuri to Doduri and back to Daechuri, despite heavy police opposition.

 

College students in inflatable rafts sailed out onto the river between the main area of Pyeongtaek and the villages, apparently to hold a demonstration on the water. They then crossed the river and into the village as the police stood by, helpless, and very much otherwise occupied with the 5,000 marchers who were all marching on the villages from various parts of the area.

 

It is reported that the Korean national police force mustered for the day numbered some 11,000 men. There are no reports of violence or serious injuries. Many have reported that the days' action has reinvigorated the movement to save the farming villages, which was dealt a major blow on May 4th, with the destruction of the Daechuri primary school and the laying of Concertina razor wire around the villages. Many villagers also expressed their renewed hope that they will, indeed be able to keep their homes.

 

 

 

 

Posted by savePTfarmers at 01:01 PM | Permalink

June 18th 2006
Peace Action
2pm in Daechuri
(Location subject to change.  An update will follow.)

June 30th 2006
Government's planned date to begin demolishing empty homes in the villages.  The government has signed contracts for "hired civilian workers" who are known to be plain clothes ex-military strikebreakers.
A campaign to find peace observers to protect homes has begun.
To become a peace observer, contact savePTfarmers@yahoo.com.

October 30th 2006
Government's planned date for forced evictions of all residents.
Peace observers and village defenders are needed to be living in the villages before this time.

On Going
Farming trips are being organized to teach any willing participant anything they would like to know about farming.  To set up a trip with an English interpreter, contact savePTfarmers@yahoo.com.

A foriegner's house is being organized to facilitate visits for foriegn journalists interested in learning about Daechuri and the surrounding area's struggle, and to accomidate foriegners for as long as they wish to stay.
For more information, contact savePTfarmers@yahoo.com.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 01:33 AM | Permalink

Korean Farmers Protest U.S. Base Expansion, Free Trade Agreement

SAN FRANCISCO, June 8 (OneWorld) - U.S. military and economic might in South Korea are being called into question this week as villagers launched a hunger strike to protest a U.S. military base expansion that would force them from their lands and farmers' unions demonstrated in Seoul against a proposed free trade agreement. Korean authorities have arrested the head of a small village for protesting against the government's plan to expand a giant U.S. military base, known as Camp Humphreys, in Pyongtaek, about 40 miles south of Seoul. According to residents, police arrested Kim Ji Tae when he arrived for scheduled negotiations over how to end a stand-off in two townships that would be affected by the proposed base expansion. In response, supporters have launched a hunger strike. "This is not a problem of compensation. This is about the rights of farmers to remain on their land," Father Moon Jhung Hyun told OneWorld. The priest, who says he will not eat while Kim remains in prison, heads up the Pan-Korean Solution Committee for the U.S. Base Expansion in Pyongtaek. This is not the first time the farmers have been evicted to make room for a military base. During World War II, Father Moon said, "these villagers were expelled from their homeland for a Japanese base. Then, in 1952, the U.S. troops wanted to make an extension of their base and they occupied their land and expelled them. So this is the third time." The expansion of Camp Humphreys is part of a redeployment of the estimated 35,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. Once the move is completed in 2011, the U.S. military will have reduced the number of troops on the peninsula by a third with the soldiers stationed in fewer--but larger--bases. In a statement United States Forces Korea (USFK) maintains the move will greatly improve its "ability to effectively deter aggression and defend the peninsula in a strategically flexible way." As part of the redeployment, USFK also plans to build new facilities to improve quality of life for American soldiers stationed in Korea. According to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, those amenities include a new fitness center at Camp Humphreys "complete with a gym, indoor pool, running track, and four-story parking garage." In addition to an eight-lane, 25-meter indoor swimming pool, the center will feature a 626-foot indoor running track; separate rooms for cardio fitness, circuit training, free weights, and group exercise; basketball and racquetball courts; a martial arts training room; and climbing walls, the newspaper added. But Korean farmers chafe at the idea their land will be taken away so foreign soldiers can feel more comfortable. "They don't want to move," Father Moon said of the farmers, many of whom are elderly. "They refused their compensation. They don't want to leave their homeland. They don't want this experience for a third time." While villagers in South Korea go on hunger strike to protest the American base extension, another group of farmers has descended on Washington to protest a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Washington and Seoul. The U.S. and South Korean governments are conducting a round of negotiations in the capital this week The protesting delegation is lead by the Korean trade union movement and the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation, who complain that free trade has meant plummeting rice prices in Korea leading to massive bankruptcies. "Even before the FTA the cost of rice cultivation is now higher than the price that farmers can get," said Lee Heung Se, vice chair of the Korean Advanced Farmers Federations. "Now we have high farming debt and many farmers leave the countryside and come to large cities. Small schools in the countryside continue to close and the farmers who move to the city for jobs are having difficulty adjusting to city life, finding housing, and securing education for their children." "In the end when its time to pay off the debt many are so discouraged that hundreds are committing suicide each year," he added. The Korean delegation has the support of America's major labor federations Change to Win and the AFL-CIO. "This administration seems to think that 'free trade' means they get to freely trade workers' rights and protections for the benefit and profit of global corporations," the chair of Change to Win, Anna Burger, said in a statement. "We need fair trade, not trade that leads to fewer jobs, lower pay, worsened working conditions, and environmental degradation." U.S. labor groups compared a possible FTA with Korea with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Labor groups blamed NAFTA for the loss of more than 1 million jobs and job opportunities in the U.S., and increasing downward pressure on both U.S. and Mexican wages. They also pointed to the economic problems in Korea that have led to an increased speculative investment and "jobless growth" and expressed concern that the proposed FTA could accelerate and deepen these trends. For Korean unionist Lee Heung Se, there is a parallel between his group's opposition to the Free Trade Agreement and the Pyongtaek farmers' protests against a new military base. "The Pyongtaek farmers struggle against the U.S. military base is a struggle against the U.S. military domination in our country and the struggle against the free trade agreement is a struggle against U.S. economic domination on Korean farmers," he said. "In this way, the two struggles are connected."

Posted by savePTfarmers at 09:05 AM | Permalink

Father Mun, a leader of the KCPT, the umbrella organization working in solidarity with the communities of Daechuri and Doduri to resist US Base expansion, continues to hunger strike in front of the Blue House, now with the support of 2 free activists, and 15 activists who remain in police custody from actions on March 15th, April 7th, May 4th and May 5th.  Father Mun stated, "  The reason why I started [this] hunger strike is to follow our chairperson [to give support in his suffering] and to ask our government to be honest."
    All began their hunger strikes to demand the release of Daechuri villiage headman, Kim Ji-tae.  Kim Ji-tae surrendered himself as a condition for resumed talks between the residents of Daechuri and Doduri and the Korean government. It was understood that he would not be arrested or held, only interrogated.  However, on June 6th, it was announced that Kim Ji-tae would not be released.  Residents withdrew from talks with the government and held a protest at the Pyeongtaek police station.  Solidarity vigils are held throughout Korea and in Gwanghwamun in central Seoul nightly at 7pm.  
    After being denied bail at a review hearing on June 7th, Kim Ji-tae continues to be held in prision while awaiting trial on alleged illegal protest activities.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 01:14 AM | Permalink

On June 5th, Kim Jitae, Daechuri village headman and Residents' Committee chairperson, turned himself in to authorities in Pyeongtaek. He was wanted for questioning regarding allegations of organizing illegal protest activities. His surrender was a condition for resumed talks between the residents of Daechuri and Doduri and the Korean government. It was understood that he would not be arrested or held, but only interrogated.

However, on June 6th, it was announced that Kim Jitae would not be released. Residents withdrew from talks with the government and held a protest at the Pyeongtaek police station. Solidarity vigils are held throughout Korea and in Gwanghwamun in central Seoul nightly at 7pm.

Father Mun, a leader of the KCPT, the umbrella organization working in solidarity with the communities of Daechuri and Doduri to resist US Base expansion, has begun a hunger strike in front of the Blue House (the Korean Presidential residence). At least one imprisoned activist, among the 60 or more who are still in police custody from actions on March 15th, April 7th, May 4th and May 5th, have joined the hunger strike in solidarity.

On June 7th, a review hearing was held to determine whether Kim Jitae would be released from police custody as his trial proceeded. Release was denied and he remains in jail. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by savePTfarmers at 10:16 PM | Permalink

a new art museum has opened inside daechuri village. here are a few of the artworks you can see there.

 

Posted by savePTfarmers at 12:51 PM | Permalink

by the way, there is another good article here.

 

"Confrontation between the government and protesters over expansion of a U.S. military base in Daechuri is becoming increasingly serious. Opinion on both sides of the issue aside, some say the media are trying to exaggerate or scale down the surrounding facts. The Hankyoreh examined the mixed positions surrounding the conflict."

Posted by savePTfarmers at 12:38 AM | Permalink

 

Getting stopped at two checkpoints on the way into the village wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. The officer in charge stopped our taxi, saw that it was filled with foreigners and a box of fruit and eggs, looked perplexed and asked the driver where we were going. he replied, "Daechuri", to which the somewhat stunned  officer asked "why?" The driver responded that he had no idea, and the police at the checkpoint just looked at each other, shrugged and let the car pass.

The villagers have cleaned up a tremendous amount since I was last there. all the rubble of the school has been pushed to one side of the schoolyard, and they've made a nice, big soccer field for the kids so they can play along with the Korean national team as they win (of course Korea will win!) this year's World Cup. There are flags and totems sticking up out of the remains of the school and an artist has come out and begun wielding farm tools and brooms and mops and household things into a wild, beautiful sculpture above it all.

 

 

 

The hill in front of the old Catholic church has become "Daechuri Peace Park" and they've planted flowers, erected some lovely sculptures (and some disturbing sculptures, like a huge metal cutout of the continental United States which frames the view of the fields) and made a stage for the performers at the nightly candlelight vigil.

 

 

 

 

Sunday, the village was having a huge feast, and Daechuri's soccer team battled Doduri's soccer team, the villagers got to dance a little bit to some indescribably beautiful traditional drumming, and we got to run into some old friends.

Up at the Peace Park I finally found Hyunju, the little girl who's been very special to me ever since she tried to single-handedly run me out of the village when we first met. (She thought I was a "bad guy" who'd wandered to the wrong side of the fence.) She's the toughest little kid I've ever met and last night she had a little beebee gun and was terrorizing the neighborhood with it.

 

 

She ran up to me when she saw me, calling out, "Uni! Uni!" She grabbed my hand and led me off to where the metal US map is and she wanted to shoot at it with me, but I convinced her not to, because the beebees might bounce off and hit some of the other people nearby. Eventually, she relented and contented herself with shooting at the soldiers in the fields a long way off.

Later on, she commandeered my camera, taking a series of photos of her thumb, several of my friend's socks, and one of me making a very silly face. 

We decided we were hungry and went up to Maria's house to make eggs and rice. Apparently, my egg-frying technique is inferior and so she instructed me on the correct ways to fry an egg, (her method is indeed superior to my own) and then she decided my table manners were lacking as well, and set upon modifying my eating habits.

We sat in the living room drawing pictures and she gossipped about her older sister's love life, and scrawled a little note for me on the cover of my notebook (the kind of note that I suppose all primary school teachers and parents of young children get, that pure, kid love that just seeps out of their pores and infects us all). And then we washed the dishes together and she took my hand and we walked  down the street to her home.

 

 

And I fear it will not be her home for much longer now, because we do not know when the house to house evictions will begin, or how they will proceed. We tried, we all tried, but it seems the Korean government is intent upon this project, regardless of the cost. And so, for Hyunju and her sister, I am afraid.

 

 

 

Posted by savePTfarmers at 02:53 PM | Permalink