Days in Daechuri

  Oppression of Pyongtaek Defenders, 6 People including President Suhoe Noh (National Alliance for Democracy and Reunification of Korea)
News summary from tongil news (posted on www.antigizi.or.kr/english)

A new wave of arrests of individuals involved in protests against the Pyongtaek base expansion has begun.  Residents and social justice organizations are calling this oppression against public peace.  

On October 14 at 11:00am KPCT (represented by co-chairman Mr. Junghyun Moon) held a press conference in front of the Pyongtaek branch of the Suwon Public Prosecutor’s Office to censure the “excessive arrests of Pyongtaek defenders and oppression of the public peace.”  

The previous day (October 13) Representative of the Residents Committee (and village head of Dachuri), Mr. Jitae Kim’s, was briefly opened but closed after only 4 minutes. KCPT has held that “although the verdict should have been forthcoming, the prosecution presented some evidence with no meaning and asked for the verdict to be delayed in order to keep Rep. Kim in prison.”  

Mr. Chunjae Lee, President of National Alliance for Democracy and Reunification of Korea, Seoul Division, said also, “the public prosecutor is acting from an antihuman rights position.”

On the same day a hearing was held for 8 people who participated in the demonstration on May 4th to stop the destruction of the elementary school in Dachuri.  The National Alliance’s co-president, Suhoe Noh, 4 members of Kia Labor Union, and a member of the DLP were sentenced to imprisonment.

Mr. Jijoong Ahn of the National Alliance commented that the actual situation on May 4 had not been one you could imprison people for and the verdict was illogical.  He said he had not expected this merciless imprisonment.

Presenters at the press converse call this move to arrest Pyongtaek defenders 5 months after the fact an abuse of government authority.  They say it represents an act of oppression against the entire movement to stop the Pyongtaek base expansion and protect peace on the Korean peninsula.

According to KCPT, the people arrested related to anti-base protests include 40 related to March 14, 31 related to April 17, 524 related to May 4, 100 related to May 5, 24 related to September 13. Among these there are warrants being requested for 73 people and eight people, including Representative Jitae Kim are imprisoned.      

Posted by savePTfarmers at 07:42 PM | Permalink

Anjeong-ri, the town that greets US soldiers when they walk out of the gates of Camp Humphreys, doesn't feel like other Korean towns. On the pedestrian shopping street, American flags fly right next to Korean flags on the lampposts. Almost ss many signs are in English as Korean. Some residents have become prosperous by selling cell phones, housing, alcohol, and whatever else the US soldiers might want to buy. Like in all base towns, the sex industry has thrived-- but of course, not the sex workers.

Some of those who have earned the most from the soldiers' dollars, especially local bar and club owners, have formed the Paeng Seong Merchant's Association to protect their profits. In July, when soldiers were required to stay on base (out of the bars) during a protest march, a gang of stick-wielding Merchant's Association members attacked Daechuri and Doduri supporters (see www.saveptfarmers.org/blog/2006/07/). The Merchant's Association fears a drop in business if the base expansion doesn't go through, a fear that the Korean government has actively encouraged.

On October 14^th and 15th, the Merchant's Association organized the “Korean-American One Heart” festival to celebrate the US presence in Anjeong-ri. The festival opened up with platitudes and empty promises from local politicians, business leaders, and high-ranking US Army officers.

A group of independent documentary filmmakers, working on films about Daechuri and Doduri, had come out to interview rank-and-file soldiers and officers about the base expansion. As the program turned to the weekend's cultural events, we tried to talk to some of the US officers who had spoken on the stage. Two officers refused to be interviewed, so we took to filming a third officer as he glad-handed soldiers, Merchant's Association leaders, and local residents.

After 10 minutes of uneventful filming, we saw the officer speak to a young soldier who we had interviewed earlier in the day. The soldier pointed at us as he talked to the officer, and we assume that he told the officer about our interview. Immediately after, the officer spoke to a Merchant's Association leader, who said something to another Merchant's Association member. This man walked over to us and insisted, with a firm hand on our shoulders, that we follow him. At first we thought we were being taken to interview the US officer. But we found ourselves being led past the officer down an empty side street, accompanied by 8 very unfriendly-looking men in sharp black suits. These men were the bar bouncers who also serve as all-purpose bodyguards and thugs for the Merchant's Association.

When we refused to go any further, the bouncers and Merchant's Association member surrounded us and demanded to see our business cards. Fortunately, we didn't quite fit their profile of “dangerous”. When they saw our cards they said, “Oh! We thought you were college students! Or friends of (outspoken Daechuri supporter) Father Moon!” We wonder what would have happened if they had decided that we really were “friends of Father Moon”. In any case, we were firmly escorted, big hands on our shoulders, back onto the main street and away from the US officer.

Later in the day, as we interviewed a rank-and-file soldier on an Anjeong-ri side street, the soldier stopped to answer a call on his cell phone. He told us that the call had been from a superior, though he wouldn't tell us who. He had been told to ask us for our press credentials, which we showed him.

It's not surprising that the US Army doesn't want to talk about the base expansion. Whatever the US Army may say about it being an affair between the Korean government and the Korean people, the expansion is clearly the consequence of decisions made by American policy makers, to strengthen US imperial control in East Asia.

It isn't very surprising either that the US officer had local thugs intimidate journalists and avoid questions about the expansion. From the beginning, the US has relied on the the Korean army and police to do its dirty work and clear out Daechuri and Doduri farmers. The Korean police and army have in turn depended on privatized violence to terrorize the Pyeongtaek farmers. On May 4^th and 5th, thugs hired by the police attacked demonstrators in Daechuri. And the Korean government has only encouraged the Merchant's Association in its campaign against the Pyeongtaek farmers.

There's no reason to believe that the US army is unaware of these tactics. In fact, it fits perfectly with the US military strategy of complementing official state violence with unofficial or private violence for especially dirty jobs. In Iraq, some reports indicate that the US has fomented or at least tolerated the death squads that are inflaming sectarian violence in the country. More concretely, across Latin America, the US army has trained local militaries in the formation of death squads and right-wing paramilitary armies since the 1960s.

In Colombia, some US military training manuals have finally become public. These manuals explicitly instruct the Colombian army to use armed civilian allies in their dirty war against social movements. But in Pyeongtaek like in Colombia, farmers resist these dirty war tactics and continue to fight for their land.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 09:25 AM | Permalink

Police have been patrolling the roads around Daechuri ever since the May 4^th attack on the village. But Daechuri residents have managed to keep police from entering the village or from driving through the main road that passes through town. For Daechuri residents, the police is an occupying force that has blocked their fields and destroyed part of their village, and they aren't welcome. Residents also understand that if they ease up and let the police into the town, they'll establish a permanent presence that will make it harder for residents to defend against future attacks.

On October 11, police decided to push the limit and sent a squad of cops through residential areas of Daechuri. Father Moon, an elderly Maryknoll priest who has lived in the village for more than a year and a half, saw the police patrol pass by his house. He came out and demanded that they leave the village. The cops surrounded Father Moon, wrenched his arm behind his back, and pushed him to the ground. When two other Daechuri residents, a young man an elderly farmer, ran over to help Father Moon, they were arrested. Father Moon, who has heart problems, suffered a small heart attack and was sent to the hospital. The other two residents were jailed overnight and freed the next day.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 04:10 PM | Permalink

Dachuri Leader Ji Tae Kim’s Trail Closed in 4 Minutes.   Today, Oct. 13, the trail of Mr. Ji Tae Kim, Representative of the residents of Daechuri, was opened in the in the 23rd courtroom of the Pyongtaek courthouse at 11:56am.  It was closed in 4 minutes after the prosecution, represented by Mr. Im Yul Choe, presented evidence related to Mr. Kim’s role in the 7.10 peace march, claiming it was new. The prosecution stated that at this stage of the trial, if there was an unfinished discussion or new evidence had been discovered it was possible to ask for the trial to be reopened and continued.  On this basis the trail was closed and the next date set for November 3 at 10am.   On the 22nd of last month when the trail of Mr. Kim was near an end, the prosecution had asked for an extension of the case on the basis of having new evidence.  Residents and the KCPT have criticized this as an excuse to keep Mr. Kim imprisoned and an example of human rights violation. Hearing the conclusion, aged residents of Dachuri and Doduri who had come to witness the trial raised angry voices claiming that it is unreasonable to keep Mr. Kim in prison and postpone the verdict.  They shouted, “How is it that there can be another trail?  How is it that the verdict is postponed?”  They were able to remain in court room for a few minutes before being made to leave. The defense lawyer, Mr. Dukwoo Lee said, “The prosecution presented evidence as if it were new but there was nothing new.  Even if a verdict is reached in the next one or two weeks, this is unreasonable.” Ms. Yoo-gyung Go, representative from the legal team for Pan South Korean Solution Committee to Stop the Base Expansion in Pyontaek (KCPT) said of the evidence presented by the prosecution, “after hearing it, I see that there is nothing new.  Everything was already presented in the written arraignment.  The purpose of this was just to have the trial pushed back.”  “This is an underhanded move” she criticized.  She said that KCPT will carry out a petition campaign and try to post bail again. The group who came to witness the trail today reached 700 in number and was mainly made up of Daechuri and Doduri residents as well as social justice organizations. Mr. Ji Tae Kim has been in jail for over four months on charges related to his role in the 7.10 demonstration and disturbing public affairs. There was also a trail scheduled in the afternoon today for 9 members of social justice organizations in relation to the struggle with police on May 4th made in attempt to stop the base expansion.  Several other related trails have been scheduled the upcoming weeks.  According to Mr. Jung Hyun Moon of KCPT, “this is a measure to keep the residents isolated by tying up activist in legal problems as the forced eviction draws near.” Indeed, as the legal battle related to Pyongtaek, continues and the destruction of still-occupied houses nears, the decisions of the courts is drawing attention.     article from www.antigizi.or.kr/english/

Posted by savePTfarmers at 04:08 PM | Permalink

Pyeongtaek supporters in Germany organized an action against the displacement of Pyeongtaek farmers, and several organizations and individuals wrote letters of solidarity.  The solidarity messages follow:

                      <  Attac Berlin  에서 보내는 연대사 >
Dear friends!                                         19.9.2006

As part of the movement against neoliberal globalization, we wish you
Every possible success in your struggle against the presence of US troops in
Your  country. In particular, we support your campaign against the extension
of the military base of Pyeongtaek which would lead to another massive
violation of the rights of the local communities.

The presence of foreign troops in another country almost never serves
peaceful purposes. Their function is not to secure peace in their ㅂㅐㄿost country?
but to serve the strategic interests of their home country. This is true for
soldiers of any nationality, may they be American, European or from any other
country or region.

We know this and we know that the presence of foreign troops always
raises the chance of open war. This is why we oppose both the so-called peace
missions of our army in other countries and the presence of the US and other
armies around the world.

Even George W. Bush acknowledged referring to Lebanon that
democracy is not possible in an occupied country. The same is true for freedom itself.

In solidarity                
Urs Kleinert
On behalf of attac in Berlin

----------------------------------
<한스 페터 리히터의 연대사>


Dear friends in Korea!

We declare our solidarity with your struggle against the US military
base of Pyeongtaek. As in South Korea we in Germany have many US military
bases. All these bases are necessary to spread war in all parts of the
world. If we want to have peace in the world the first step is to get
rid of the foreign bases. We support every step in this struggle and
wish you success.

Greetings of solidarity

Hans-Peter Richter
German Peace Council
(member of the World Peace Council and of the Berlin local coalition
called Axis of Peace)

-------------------------------------------------
<Heike Haensel 독일 좌파당 연방 국회의원의 연대사 (독일press용)>
Fraktion DIE LINKE. im Bundestag
Pressemitteilung 1286/2006
Berlin, 22.09.2006


Protest gegen den Ausbau von US-Milit?basis in S?korea

Am Sonntagabend wird in Berlin eine Solidarit?skundgebung f? die Bauern im s?koreanischen Pyeongtaek stattfinden, die sich gegen den Ausbau der US-Milit?basis in ihrer Region wehren. Heike H?sel, entwicklungspolitische Sprecherin der Fraktion DIE LINKE., unterst?zt den Protest.

Das Projekt zum Ausbau des US-St?zpunktes in Pyeongtaek folgt der neuen Milit?strategie der "Strategischen Flexibilit?", mit der die US-Armee ihre schnelle Einsatzf?igkeit weltweit erh?en will, und ist mit einer weiteren Aufr?tung der US-Pr?enz in S?korea verbunden. Heike H?sel sieht in dem Projekt deshalb einen weiteren Baustein zur Militarisierung in dieser Region. "Diese milit?ische Aufr?tung versch?ft den Konflikt mit Nordkorea und gef?rdet die Existenz zahlreicher Bauern in der betroffenen Region", so die Abgeordnete. "Die Bauern sollen der vergr秤erten Milit?basis Platz machen. Sie wehren sich seit Jahren gegen die Enteignung ihrer Felder und die Vertreibung aus ihren D?fern. Das Milit? geht mit H?te gegen sie vor. Sie brauchen internationale Solidarit? f? ihr berechtigtes Anliegen. Deshalb begr廻e ich die Initiative von in Berlin lebenden Koreaner/innen, am Sonntagabend um 19 Uhr eine Protestkundgebung an der Ged?htniskirche abzuhalten."

Posted by savePTfarmers at 08:12 PM | Permalink

Photos from Daechuri's Chuseok harvest celebration. For a report from the Chuseok celebration, see earlier post.

Drumming in a household courtyard as a resident gets food ready for the drummers:

Resting from drumming: 

Drumming:

 

 

 

 

Posted by savePTfarmers at 02:47 PM | Permalink

Posted by savePTfarmers at 04:23 PM | Permalink