[Jeju Update] [Translation] Important Lawsuit Result Will Be Today, on July 15

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* See the related blogs on the lawsuit on Dec. 17, 2009, Feb 12, April 19, April 20, May 29, and July 13, 2010.
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* See the latest blog on the Jeju naval base issue: The Island Government and Council agree to hold the policy consultation meeting regarding the naval base issue (July 13, 2010)
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* See all the blogs on the Jeju naval base issue (156 on the date of July 15, 2010)
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The above photo was taken in the night of April 19, 2010.
It was the day when this site manager heard the news that the result of the 1st review trial that the villagers had cautiously expected to win over the navy, had been postponed, due to the navy’s manipulation.

The ugly makeshift gate of the navy site in the eastern tip of the planned base area has been set up right beside the Gangjeong stream since its raid accompanied by the police into the Gangjeong village on Jan. 18, 2010.

Since then, the villagers have set up the vigil tent right in front of the navy site, holding the rotational twenty-four hours’ vigil (below photo).

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* Below is the arbitrary translation of the Sisa Jeju article on July 14, 2010. The blue letters are the quotes or references by the No base Stories of Korea.
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Sisa Jeju

해군기지 소송 D-1…논란해결 전환점 될 수 있을까?
:1년3개월 끌어온 '국방군사시설 실시계획 승인처분 무효확인소송' 14일 1심 선고공판

One Day before the Lawsuit on the Naval Base Plan.. Could It Be the Turn for the Controversy Settlement?
: ‘Lawsuit on the Confirmation for the Cancellation of the Approval Disposal on the Execution Plan for the Defense/ Military Facilities’ that has been extended for a Year and Three Months Has the 1st Review Trial Judgment on July [15].

2010년 07월 14일 (수) 11:30:41
Wednesday, July 14, 2010

고동명 기자 (lonegm(at)sisajeju.com)
Koh Dong-Myung reporter (lonegm(at)sisajeju.com)

제주 해군기지 사업 관련 ‘국방군사시설실시계획승인처분 무효확인소송’이 1년3개월여만에 1심 선고 판결이 15일 내려질 예정이어서 그 결과에 이목이 집중되고 있다.

Related to the Jeju naval base business, public attention is being gathered on the [coming] result of the 1st review trial Judgment on the ‘lawsuit on the confirmation for the cancellation of the approval disposal on the execution plan for the defense/ military facilities,’ as it will be done on July 15, after a year and three months have passed [since its appeal by the villagers].

서울행정법원 행정 13부는 이날 오전 10시 이번 소송에 대한 선고공판을 연다.

The administrative department No. 13 of the Seoul Administrative Court will have the judgment on the lawsuit at 10am on July 15.

이 소송은 지난 2009년 4월 20일 강동균 강정마을회장 등 449명이 서울행정법원에 국방부장관을 상대로 제기한 것이다. 지난 5월27일 9차변론을 끝으로 1년여간 모두 9번의 변론이 있었다.

The lawsuit is what 449 people including Kang Dong-Kyun, the Gangjeong mayor have appealed to the Seoul administrative court against the Minister of the National Defense on last April 20, 2009. There have been total nine pleadings for about a year, of which the last was the 9th pleading on last May 27, 2010.

그동안 절대보전지역해제와 환경영향평가 동의안이 도의회에 상정, 주민과 경찰은 물론 의원들간 몸싸움까지 벌어지기도 했다. 또한 해군과 시공업체의 공사를 막는 과정에서 크고 작은 물리적 충돌이 생겨났고 이 과정에서 강동균 마을회장 등 많은 주민들이 고소·고발 되기도 했다.

Meanwhile, as the agendas on the agreement on the cancellation of the absolute preservation area and environmental impact assessment have been submitted to the Island assembly, there have even been the body struggles among the assembly men, not to mention those between the villagers and policemen. Further, during the process to prevent the construction by the navy and construction-carrying-out companies, big and small physical clashes have occurred and in that process, many villagers including Kang Dong-Kyun, the Gangjeong mayor happened to be indicted and accused [by the navy & police].

이번 소송의 주요 쟁점을 살펴보면 일단, 환경영향평가법상 환경영향평가서의 제출시기다.

Looking out the main controversy points in the lawsuit, one of them is above all, the presentation period of the report on the environmental impact assessment, by the law of the environmental impact assessment.

원고측 즉 강정마을 주민 등은 “국방군사시설사업의 경우 환경영향평가서는 ‘국방군사시설 실시계획 승인 전’에 제출되거나 협의요청을 해야 한다”는 입장이다.

The position of the plaintiffs, in other words, the Gangjeong villagers, is that, “In case of the defense/military facility business, the environmental impact assessment should be presented 'before the approval of the practice plan on the defense military facility’ or be requested with the consultation.”

반면 국방부는 “환경영향평가서의 제출시기는 ‘기본설계의 승인 전’ 이므로 실시계획 승인 시기와는 무관하다”고 주장한다.

On the contrary, the Minister of the National Defense claims that, “Since the presentation period of the report on the environmental impact assessment is before the ‘approval of the basic layout,’ it is nothing to do with the period of the approval on the practice plan.”

원고측은 사전환경성검토가 부실하게 이뤄졌다고 주장하고 있다. 이들은 “사전환경성검토서에 환경정책기본법상의 필수 검토사항인 대안, 입지타당성 등 내용이 전혀 없다”고 주장하고 있다.

The plaintiffs are claiming that the prior environmental review has been unreliably done. They say, “In the report on the prior environmental review, there were no contents on the substitutes or location validity that are the necessary review items, by the basic law of the environmental policy.”

국방부에서는 “사전환경성검토서 2·3차보완서에는 입지타당성, 대안 등이 충실히 검토됐다”고 맞서왔다.

The Minister of National Defense confronted against them, saying, “In the 2nd & 3rd supplementary reports for the prior environmental review, the points on the location validity or the substitutes have been faithfully studied.”

절대보전지역 문제에 대해서 원고측은 “제주해군기지 사업부지내에 절대보전지역이 포함돼 있어 실시계획승인처분 전에 절대보전지역문제가 협의 또는 해제가 됐어야 한다”는 입장이다.

Regarding the matter of the absolute preservation area, the position of the plaintiffs are, “Since within the Jeju naval base business area, absolute preservation area was included, the issue of the absolute preservation area’ had to be consulted or canceled before the approval disposal of the execution plan.”

국방부는 “절대보전지역은 실시계획처분의 대상지역이 아니고 추후 항만공사 착공 전에 절대보전지역을 해제하거나 서귀포시의 행위허가를 받으면 문제 없다”고 주장한다.

The Minister of National Defense claims, “There are no problems since 1. the absolute preservation area is not the target area of the execution plan; and the absolute preservation area can be canceled before the setting-up of harbor & bay construction (* which is the first part of the construction) or if there was the permission of the action by the City of Seogwipo.”

원고측은 국방·군사시설 실시계획 승인처분은 지난 2007년 4월26일 강정마을 임시총회의 의결에 근거한 것인데 이 의결은 마을향약 규정을 위반한 것이어서 무효이고 기지 건설에 반대하는 주민들의 의견이 충분히 반영되지 않았다는 입장이다.

The position of the plaintiffs is that the approval disposal of the execution plan on the defense/military facilities that was based on the vote of the temporary general meeting of the Gangjeong village on last April 26, 2007, is null and void because the vote decision had been violating the village rule and the opinion of the villagers who opposed against the naval base plan had not been enough reflected.

(* Mayor Kang Dong Kyun explained about the situation on April 26, 2007 as the below, according to Feb. 12, 2010 Tongil News article. Click HERE)

' “It was revealed [later] that there had been the contact in the closed room between the governor Kim Tae-Hwan and ex-mayor whom we discharged. [To say again], there was an operation behind the door. The ex-mayor had brought the acquainted to his side and won the fishing community over, by saying it to give it 100million~150million won [* about $ 86,000 ~$130,000]."

“ The situation of the village general meeting [on the day] had no make sense, neither. I mean the fishing community and sea diving women who had not ever been present in the village general meeting by then, participated in large numbers and cast their ballots for favor to host [the naval base]. The public announcement term was only three days not a week and the agenda [which was originally] about the naval base related, was also changed to that of whether to host the naval base, on the very day of the general meeting. To say how serious was the degree of those people’s manipulation, all the result of the general meeting appeared in the Internet site even before the end of general meeting. They had already made their press release to media."

It was a situation that most village people were betrayed behind their backs. Since then, in the village people’s vote on August [20], despite the interruption of the navy and Jeju Island, about 700 people joined the vote and opposition ballots [against the naval base] were overwhelmingly 680.'

* The Gangjeong villagers had their own vote on August 20, 2010. In the vote, among total 1025 electorates in the Gangjeong village, 725 voted, opposition votes were 680 that was about 94% of the total voters. You can see the very scene including that of the villagers' great excitement upon the vote result at the time in the beginning part of the first video HERE. )

그러나 국방부는 “국방ㆍ군사시설사업 실시계획 승인처분에 있어서 마을 주민의 의견 수렴은 적법요건이 아니”라고 반박한다.

However, the Ministry of National Defense retorts that, “In the approval disposal of the defense/ military facility business, the collection of the villagers’ opinion is not the lawful element.”

＃소송결과 '동상이몽'…갈등해소 여전히 과제로 남을 듯

＃ Different thoughts on the lawsuit result… [the issue of] the conflict solution will still remain as a task.

이번 소송은 지난 수년간의 해군기지 논란에 새로운 전환점이 될 수도 있어 관심을 모아왔다.

Since the lawsuit this time could become the new turning point in the naval base controversy for last years, it has gathered people’s attention.

강정주민들은 승소한다면 이제까지 주장해왔던 절차적 문제를 법원이 인정해주는 것이어서 입지 재검토 등 해군기지와 관련한 새로운 논의가 시작될 수 있는 계기가 될 수도 있기 때문에 승소판결을 기대하고 있다.

Because, if the Gangjeong villagers win the lawsuit, it means the court acknowledges the procedural problems, [during the navy's unilateral drive process for the base plan], that they have claimed so far therefore it could be the chance for the start of new discussion related to the naval base [issue], such as on the reconsideration of location, the Gangjeong villagers expect the winning lawsuit.

해군측에서는 승소할 경우 무엇보다 미뤄왔던 공사를 시작할 수 있는 명분이 생긴다는 점 등에서 이번 판결에 촉각을 곤두세우고 있다.

The navy is paying acute attention to the judgment, in the sense that they could have the cause to [re]start the construction that has been postponed, if it wins [the lawsuit over the villagers]

(* In reality, the navy was hideously driving the construction)

특히, 출범 전후로 "갈등해소 없이는 공사 강행도 없다"는 입장을 밝혀온 민선 5기 우근민 제주도정이 판결 이후 어떤 행보를 이어갈지도 주목된다.

Specially, it is noticed which way the new Woo Geun-Min’s 5th civilian-elected Jeju island government would take, that has expressed its position that, “There should be no enforcement of construction without the conflict solution.”

하지만 해군기지 논란이 단순히 행정과 법적 절차의 문제를 떠나 행정기관과 군, 그리고 주민간의 소통부재 그리고 이로 인한 신뢰 상실 등에서 비롯된 점을 생각할 때 법원판결이 ‘갈등해소’ 라는 관점에서 얼마나 기여할지는 좀 더 지켜봐야 할 것으로 보인다.

However, seeing that the naval base controversy has originated from the absence of communications among the administrative institute, military & villagers and [villagers'] loss of trust on the navy because of them, it looks one has to more watch how the court decision will contribute to the ‘conflict solution.’