On the island of Jeju, in the south of Korea, since 2015 the South
Korean government has wanted to build a second airport, a Large
Unnecessary Imposed Project. In search of a second wind, the local
opposition movement resists the State a bit like Notre Dame des
Landes... ---- Jeju, a remarkable geography, a painful history ----
Located in the strait of Korea 85 kilometers from the continent, between
Japan and Korea, Jeju today has nearly 700,000 inhabitants over an area
of approximately 1,800 square km. With a subtropical climate, the island
of volcanic origin still has remarkable biodiversity and contrasting
relief, with an extinct volcano at its center peaking at 2000 m, which
has played a role in its recent history (see insert).
The island has the status of a special autonomous province, supposed to
promote its economic development, but the capital invested in Jeju comes
from the capital Seoul and the possible profits, drawn from tourism...
return there, without benefiting the local populations.
In 2007, the US army imposed a naval base on the southern coast of Jeju
near Gangjeong (the Korea Strait is strategic for US containment of
China) against the advice of the population, although invited to
participate "democratically» at public information meetings (in France,
we are well aware of the participatory democracy of the state-EDF on
nuclear power...). During the protests, there were numerous arrests,
with trials and heavy fines; Fortunately, significant financial
solidarity is expressed throughout the country. This experience of the
populations on the uselessness of public pseudo-consultation meetings
(construction begins in 2011 and ends in 2016) will lead them to boycott
the official public meetings around the new airport project.
In November 2015, Seoul announced the airport project to the people of
Jeju. In fact, tourist numbers are exploding: 5 million/year in 2000, 15
million in 2024, and the government is targeting 40 million in a few
decades. A poll in Jeju in 2016 gave 68.5% for and 16% against the
project. The file progressed slowly until October 2017.
Kim Kyum Bae, a small farmer, then led a hunger strike for 42 days to
protest against the project. The governor of Jeju, who wants to defuse
the affair, goes to his bedside but shows such contempt towards him
(like Macron?) that he sets things on fire. Tent camps are set up in
front of the governor's headquarters in Jeju and also in Seoul;
politicians who attempt visits are met with refusal from demonstrators.
The diagnosis for choosing the location of the airport was rejected by
the Minister of the Environment, then by the opposition movement in
2019, then in 2021 for ecological reasons (a survey then gave 44 for the
airport , 47% against).
In 2020, a televised debate confronted the governor and the leader of
the opponents of the project. Secretly the governor commissioned a
specialized foreign company to audit the project, a company which gave
him a negative assessment. The leaked file is revealed live during the
debate but the politician, informed, dodges the negative assessment of
the report.
In 2021, an official consultation of the population of Jeju on the
airport project gives 51 °/° against and 43 °/° for the project. The
governor, who nevertheless promised abandonment from a majority and a
single point more against the project, reneges on his promise based on
the result of a second simultaneous survey, this time of the sole
population living in the area. immediate approval of the project which
favored it with 70°/° in favor, against only 30°/° in refusal. It is
known that a good survey depends on the question asked, the area chosen,
the moment, and if it is still bad... we can sit on it.
In 2022, the anti-airport movement grouped around a platform, Jeju Gachi
(the values of Jeju) presents a candidate for the election of governor
of Jeju, to give more visibility to the fight against the airport. It is
supported by civil aviation specialists and former members of the Seoul
government. But the different left-wing parties have fluctuating
positions, there is no support for a single candidate and the scores are
unfavorable.
In 2023, the diagnosis of the project's implementation, already refused
twice, is validated by the Minister of the Environment despite the
negative opinion of specialists, the famous "experts". A new poll
confirms the negative polarization of opinion: 41% for, 53 against.
After the referendum and the cold shower of maintaining the project,
citizen mobilization suffered a drop in enthusiasm. Jeju does not have a
social fabric of activists that allows it to hold out over the long term
in the face of a government that has time and the media on its side.
The third diagnosis of the project's implementation was to provoke an
official rejection, based on the negative opinion of recognized
specialists, but the government approved it against all expectations...
The Jeju Gachi opposition pole did not succeed in unite the various
local collectives, geographically centered on their villages around the
island, nor the small left-wing or green parties. For the moment
construction has not started, no company is officially in charge of the
project (as could be the multinational Vinci in Notre Dame des Landes,
offering a prime target).
Politicians, in Korea as in France, have demonstrated that they will not
keep any commitment following a referendum, nor any case of technical
coherence following a consultation of experts, going against the
interests of the investors. For the moment, the project is stagnating.
The Korean situation is much more complex, particularly because of the
international context (the airport probably interests the USA), but the
two struggles have many similarities; small mobilized farmers, rejection
of the lure of participatory democracy, politicians and pseudo
consultations.
Article written thanks to the patient collaboration of two comrades from
Jeju, passing through the Ambazada to learn the history of the
anti-airport struggle - ZAD NDDL - Vend. March 8, 2024.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Korea located at the crossroads of three empires (China, Japan, Russia)
underwent Japanese occupation, ranging from protectorate - encouraged by
the USA to counter Russia - until colonial annexation (1910) for almost
40 years, which ended centuries-long feudal rule under the Joseon
dynasty. For its military needs, Japan created a non-existent road and
rail network in this territory with its rugged terrain and launched
industrialization to have weapons production.
After the Japanese defeat of 1945, the US army installed a Korean
dictator who came in its vans (Stalin's army was not far away, nor was
Mao's...). On the island of Jeju on March 1, 48 - the traditional date
of protest against the Japanese presence - a demonstration came under
fire from the Korean police (who were still serving Japan a short time
before); on April 3, the revolt destroyed several police stations, cops
were killed. The motivation is the reunification of the country. The
repression is brutal: 30,000 deaths (10% of the population), prison,
torture... On the continent a massive protest strike is repressed. The
American army hunted down opponents on Jeju Island until 1953 (anyone
captured more than a few kilometers from the coast, in the mountains,
was considered an outlaw and a communist). This American repression
remains in the collective memory and many elderly people think it is
impossible to resist the State...
There will be other revolts on the continent, notably student and
popular in Gwangju in 1980, repressed in blood with army tanks and the
American blessing of Democrat Carter... Of course the North Korean
Stalinist dictatorship does not facilitate the building of popular
resistance. The (South) Korean regime democratized at the turn of the
1990s, establishing an American-style two-party system like Republicans
versus Democrats, with a dose of corruption regularly denounced. There
are small left-wing parties with diverse positions: social democrats
from the Justice Party (6 deputies in 2024), left-wing nationalists from
the Progressive Party, the Labor Party and a small Green party with no
elected representatives. This fragmentation complicates any attempt at
unitary recomposition within the framework of a struggle.
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4146
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Korean government has wanted to build a second airport, a Large
Unnecessary Imposed Project. In search of a second wind, the local
opposition movement resists the State a bit like Notre Dame des
Landes... ---- Jeju, a remarkable geography, a painful history ----
Located in the strait of Korea 85 kilometers from the continent, between
Japan and Korea, Jeju today has nearly 700,000 inhabitants over an area
of approximately 1,800 square km. With a subtropical climate, the island
of volcanic origin still has remarkable biodiversity and contrasting
relief, with an extinct volcano at its center peaking at 2000 m, which
has played a role in its recent history (see insert).
The island has the status of a special autonomous province, supposed to
promote its economic development, but the capital invested in Jeju comes
from the capital Seoul and the possible profits, drawn from tourism...
return there, without benefiting the local populations.
In 2007, the US army imposed a naval base on the southern coast of Jeju
near Gangjeong (the Korea Strait is strategic for US containment of
China) against the advice of the population, although invited to
participate "democratically» at public information meetings (in France,
we are well aware of the participatory democracy of the state-EDF on
nuclear power...). During the protests, there were numerous arrests,
with trials and heavy fines; Fortunately, significant financial
solidarity is expressed throughout the country. This experience of the
populations on the uselessness of public pseudo-consultation meetings
(construction begins in 2011 and ends in 2016) will lead them to boycott
the official public meetings around the new airport project.
In November 2015, Seoul announced the airport project to the people of
Jeju. In fact, tourist numbers are exploding: 5 million/year in 2000, 15
million in 2024, and the government is targeting 40 million in a few
decades. A poll in Jeju in 2016 gave 68.5% for and 16% against the
project. The file progressed slowly until October 2017.
Kim Kyum Bae, a small farmer, then led a hunger strike for 42 days to
protest against the project. The governor of Jeju, who wants to defuse
the affair, goes to his bedside but shows such contempt towards him
(like Macron?) that he sets things on fire. Tent camps are set up in
front of the governor's headquarters in Jeju and also in Seoul;
politicians who attempt visits are met with refusal from demonstrators.
The diagnosis for choosing the location of the airport was rejected by
the Minister of the Environment, then by the opposition movement in
2019, then in 2021 for ecological reasons (a survey then gave 44 for the
airport , 47% against).
In 2020, a televised debate confronted the governor and the leader of
the opponents of the project. Secretly the governor commissioned a
specialized foreign company to audit the project, a company which gave
him a negative assessment. The leaked file is revealed live during the
debate but the politician, informed, dodges the negative assessment of
the report.
In 2021, an official consultation of the population of Jeju on the
airport project gives 51 °/° against and 43 °/° for the project. The
governor, who nevertheless promised abandonment from a majority and a
single point more against the project, reneges on his promise based on
the result of a second simultaneous survey, this time of the sole
population living in the area. immediate approval of the project which
favored it with 70°/° in favor, against only 30°/° in refusal. It is
known that a good survey depends on the question asked, the area chosen,
the moment, and if it is still bad... we can sit on it.
In 2022, the anti-airport movement grouped around a platform, Jeju Gachi
(the values of Jeju) presents a candidate for the election of governor
of Jeju, to give more visibility to the fight against the airport. It is
supported by civil aviation specialists and former members of the Seoul
government. But the different left-wing parties have fluctuating
positions, there is no support for a single candidate and the scores are
unfavorable.
In 2023, the diagnosis of the project's implementation, already refused
twice, is validated by the Minister of the Environment despite the
negative opinion of specialists, the famous "experts". A new poll
confirms the negative polarization of opinion: 41% for, 53 against.
After the referendum and the cold shower of maintaining the project,
citizen mobilization suffered a drop in enthusiasm. Jeju does not have a
social fabric of activists that allows it to hold out over the long term
in the face of a government that has time and the media on its side.
The third diagnosis of the project's implementation was to provoke an
official rejection, based on the negative opinion of recognized
specialists, but the government approved it against all expectations...
The Jeju Gachi opposition pole did not succeed in unite the various
local collectives, geographically centered on their villages around the
island, nor the small left-wing or green parties. For the moment
construction has not started, no company is officially in charge of the
project (as could be the multinational Vinci in Notre Dame des Landes,
offering a prime target).
Politicians, in Korea as in France, have demonstrated that they will not
keep any commitment following a referendum, nor any case of technical
coherence following a consultation of experts, going against the
interests of the investors. For the moment, the project is stagnating.
The Korean situation is much more complex, particularly because of the
international context (the airport probably interests the USA), but the
two struggles have many similarities; small mobilized farmers, rejection
of the lure of participatory democracy, politicians and pseudo
consultations.
Article written thanks to the patient collaboration of two comrades from
Jeju, passing through the Ambazada to learn the history of the
anti-airport struggle - ZAD NDDL - Vend. March 8, 2024.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Korea located at the crossroads of three empires (China, Japan, Russia)
underwent Japanese occupation, ranging from protectorate - encouraged by
the USA to counter Russia - until colonial annexation (1910) for almost
40 years, which ended centuries-long feudal rule under the Joseon
dynasty. For its military needs, Japan created a non-existent road and
rail network in this territory with its rugged terrain and launched
industrialization to have weapons production.
After the Japanese defeat of 1945, the US army installed a Korean
dictator who came in its vans (Stalin's army was not far away, nor was
Mao's...). On the island of Jeju on March 1, 48 - the traditional date
of protest against the Japanese presence - a demonstration came under
fire from the Korean police (who were still serving Japan a short time
before); on April 3, the revolt destroyed several police stations, cops
were killed. The motivation is the reunification of the country. The
repression is brutal: 30,000 deaths (10% of the population), prison,
torture... On the continent a massive protest strike is repressed. The
American army hunted down opponents on Jeju Island until 1953 (anyone
captured more than a few kilometers from the coast, in the mountains,
was considered an outlaw and a communist). This American repression
remains in the collective memory and many elderly people think it is
impossible to resist the State...
There will be other revolts on the continent, notably student and
popular in Gwangju in 1980, repressed in blood with army tanks and the
American blessing of Democrat Carter... Of course the North Korean
Stalinist dictatorship does not facilitate the building of popular
resistance. The (South) Korean regime democratized at the turn of the
1990s, establishing an American-style two-party system like Republicans
versus Democrats, with a dose of corruption regularly denounced. There
are small left-wing parties with diverse positions: social democrats
from the Justice Party (6 deputies in 2024), left-wing nationalists from
the Progressive Party, the Labor Party and a small Green party with no
elected representatives. This fragmentation complicates any attempt at
unitary recomposition within the framework of a struggle.
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4146
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten