[URGENT: Aug. 25] Three got the restaint warrant! Fr. Moon was arrested, too! The village needs help!

In Update: Please spread news! See also Anne Wright's report at the bottom of this blog.

See Aug. 24 situation
See Facebook
See Twitter(Check the right column here)
See photos HERE(Thinkunit) and (Coconeck) and HERE(Director Cho)
See Jeju Naval Base and Security dilemma by Cheong Wooksik, Peace Network
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http://cafe.daum.net/peacekj/JWOn/70

From the time of arrest of mayor Kang to the time of arrest of Fr. Moon (Aug. 24 to 25) by Doongree

In the beginning of the video, wife of mayor Kang cries against the policemen, "What has my husband done? He has just wanted to save his hometown!"



At 2pm: Three got the prosecutors' decision of restraint. Fr. Moon was arrested
(Based on the SPARK report in Korean language)

A peace activist and a villager were released but mayor Kang Dong-Kyun, a villager and an activist were carried to the Dongbou police station by the prosecutor decision of restraint against them. When Fr. Moon Jung-Hyun blocked the police car carrying the three, the police immediately arrested Fr. Moon. Fr. Moon is now investigated in the Seogwipo police station. It is told that his cloth was torn and cane was broken during forceful arrest! In the village, people are struggling hard to block the construction as well.


Fr. Moon blocking a police car that carried the three restrained
http://yfrog.com/user/thinkunit/photos

Fr. Moon with a peace activist, around 12pm, before his arrest
http://twitpic.com/photos/coconek


Otherwise, the Supreme Police Agency laid off the chief of the Seogwipo Police station reasoning he under-reacted such as doing negotiation with villagers regarding the matter on the release of five yesterday. It is expected that the police would react with more violent and oppressive measure in the future. It is pressing that all the peace power throughout the Jeju Island and nationwide should gather energy, stop the input of state power, and pressure the government to solve the naval base issue in reasonable and peaceful way. International help and solidarity would be more important than ever!


12:00pm (Based on the SPARK report in Korean language)

It is clear that the Seogwipo police have not kept the promise with Moon Dae-Rim, chairman of the Island Council, to release all the five last night. The police are saying they are in the position not being able to release them as the security dept. of the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ office has not ordered them to release them because he mattered the incident of the Seogwipo police chief being detained by villagers for a while last night. There is news that the Democratic Party is strongly demanding the lay-off of the chiefs of the Jeju National Police Agency and Seogwipo police, charging their excessive input of state power. In front of the Seogwipo Police station, about 100 people are continuing sit-in.

Otherwise, the navy started to assemble the crane for the purpose of resume construction to relocate tetra-pods and caisson covers that had been left in the construction site. Against this, about 20 people are protesting demanding stop of construction. The police troops have now been all withdrawn from the village.

Otherwise, the small committee for the investigation on the Jeju naval base business under the budget committee composed of the ruling and opposition parties on Aug. 24 bears a serious problem. Three among the Grand National Party (ruling party) members, including Gwon Kyung-Suk, chairman of the small committee, originate from military and it should not be silenced that a National Assembly man belonging to no party and originating as an army general is mentioned to play a role of non-bargaining body recommended by the chairman of the budget committee. It would be difficult to hold a fair investigation on the naval base if the small committee is composed primarily by military-affiliated. Not only that, it would be difficult to control or settle on the police input of state power that guarantees the navy’s forceful construction. The navy’s behavior to make propaganda on the naval base business drawing the national defense reporters and to resume construction despite bringing conflict with villagers yesterday might be related to the composition of the small investigation committee in which military-affiliated were primarily considered.

To have a small committee primarily composed of the military-originated members is nothing but to make the works by the National Assembly that had been made after hard efforts to be inactive. The military-originated personnel should be excluded from that small committee to be fair.


As of 10:00am, Aug. 25: The five were not released and people are in anger. In front of Seogwipo police station, more police were mobilized against people. It is worried that construction would be resumed in the village today while people are keeping the police station site. The village is also in watch.









http://yfrog.com/h3wdmuoj (All photos by Thinkunit)

As of 3:30am, Aug. 25, the five were not released yet, unlike police promise that they would be released before midnight. The police has delivered investigation result to a prosecutor in Jeju and the latter is told to decide the matter of release of five at 9am, after approval of chief of the Jeju Prosecutors' Office and security director of Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office . The prosecutor is told that he matters the process of arrest in which people resisted, as 'seriously damaging state power.' It is worried whether the prosecutors intend to expand the accident as 'security affair.'

People are angered because mayor was not doing any activities that the police call as ‘obstruction of business.’ Mayor was just talking with the construction company personnel when he saw they were building the power crane.

The people say the arrest was ‘intentional.’

About 50 villagers and activists are holding street protest in front of Seogwipo police station. see the below photos



(Source: Jeju Sori)


(source: Jeju Domin Ilbo)


(source: http://yfrog.com/kfufjnmj)


As of 12:00am, Aug. 25, the police have not released five yet. The villagers who could not wait for the release of five on the spot, went to the Seogwipo police station to protest . It is worried that the police might close a key spot farm road where Hyun Ae-Ja, a former national assembly woman chained herself from possible police attack and others have been keeping from construction, a SPARK peace activist says. It is known that the mayor was carried to the Seogwipo medical center to get the hospital cure because his ribs were hurt during forceful arrest.

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Ann Wright's report (Via Facebook)

Yesterday, August 24, 2011, sirens wailed for citizens to come to the main gate of the Naval Base in Kang Jeong Village on Jeju Island, South Korea where the Korean Navy wants to continue construction of a naval base for 18 ships and a 2 submarines in an area that will destroy a pristine shoreline and endanger marine life. Local villagers and activists from the mainland of South Korea have struggled for five years to prevent the construction of the base.

Sirens signal an emergency-the mayor and four activists are arrested

The siren sounds like a tsunami warning signaling an emergency. And that is what it is-an emergency with 5 activists arrested, including the mayor of the village of Kang Jeong at a huge construction crane on the base. The crane had been brought onto the naval base several years ago in the middle of the night in the Navy’s attempt to escape the wrath of the villagers. It is a huge crane weighing 250 tons and it was brought over a bridge that can hold only 50 tons. The mayor of the village is intent on not allowing the illegal crane to be operated. He wants it dismantled and taken away. The mayor, the peace camp cook and three activists who came racing to the aid of the mayor were also arrested.

Hearing the emergency siren, 60 people quickly arrived to block the main gate of the base with trucks, cars and their own bodies. Others raced to the back entrance to the base to block it. Many were local farmers who had come directly from their fields of tangerine trees and from hot houses where they grow vegetables. They had jumped on their motor scooters to answer the emergency call, not bothering to change from their farm work clothes and wide brimmed work hats and rubber boots. Text messages were flying explaining the situation and directing people to go to the gates of the base. Tweets were alerting solidarity activists around the world to the emergency. An international peace camp had been held here last week and those activists would want to know about the situation.

At the main gate, ten citizens locked chains around their necks and around each other and sat directly in front of a police line that had been placed in front of the gate. One citizen locked a chain around his neck and directly onto a truck that was blocking the entrance to the base.

Crowd stops police car and surround the police

Four of those arrested had been moved from the naval base to the local jail by the time the entrances were blocked. Only the mayor remained inside the base. After several hours, the crowd spotted a police car attempting to leave the base by another entrance and inside was the mayor. The crowd chased the police car on foot, caught it and put their bodies in the way so the driver could not move forward. Cars and trucks quickly followed successfully blocking the police car.

About 60 police reinforcements with batons and shields but no weapons pushed their way past the activists and formed a protective ring around the police car. The police appeared to be new recruits who were doing their obligatory government service. They were very young and looked very scared.

Very quickly the citizens encircled the police and the police car and sat down. From time to time, the police would attempt to move the crowd out of the way, but the citizens would stand up and move directly in front of the police shields. Women, old and young alike, were on the front lines refusing to let the police move and pushing back furiously.

Remarkably, the police did not use their batons on the demonstrators. One person told me that the police on the island are very aware of the history of Jeju Island in which over 30,000 persons, many of whom wanted their country unified after World War II, were massacred by the right wing government of Sighman Rhee that considered them communist sympathizers. Anyone found farther inland that 2 miles were considered guerillas and were hunted down in a scorched earth policy by military and right wing youth brought in from the mainland of Korea.

Many of the police who live on the island had relatives that were killed in what is called the April 3 massacre that lasted over 18 months (1947-48). The small island police force does not want to be seen as heavy handed. Because of this attitude, the national government last month heavy-handedly sent 1,500 mainland police to Jeju Island to use water cannons and tear gas against those challenging the construction of the naval base.

The stalemate of citizens encircling and trapping the police lasted for 5 hours and took on a community event atmosphere. The fiery wife of the mayor stood on the top of a vehicle urged the crowd to protect her husband and then dived into the police line from on top of the vehicle! A huge sound system on the top of another van blasted favorite protest songs including one that told the story of the April 3 massacre. The nightly 8pm candlelight vigil was held in the road with candles placed in front of the police line. Friends sat in small groups talking about the next steps in preventing further construction of the naval base.

Activists chain themselves to a van

Another scene was unfolding back at the main gate. As the police rushed from the main gate up the road to protect the police car carrying the mayor, the way was left open for a protest van to move onto the entrance of the bridge just past the main gate, blocking one of the main roads on the island. Citizens with chains surged to the vehicle and locked themselves onto the undercarriage of the van. A smaller group of police then surrounded the van, but after several hours of watching the group chained to the van, they got tired and sat down along the sides of the bridge.

Police Doublecross

By midnight a deal had been struck. The mayor and four others would be released after making an appearance at the Seogwipo Police Station/jail. The crowds slowly opened so the police and the police car could leave. Not all the citizens agreed to the deal thinking that once the mayor left in the police car, their leverage was gone.

And they were right. 50 citizens slept all the rest of the night on the sidewalk outside the jail waiting for the appearance of the Mayor and the other activists-to no avail! The police violated their agreement and at 2pm all are still in jail.

Another Emergency

In the meantime, another emergency siren blared this morning, calling people to the construction site again. A crane operator was moving some heavy equipment. Citizens raced to the site and laid down in front of the crain where they still are.

Here goes the siren again-another emergency in the lives of the citizens of Kang Jeong to save their lovely land.

Paco Michelson had a comment to Anne Wright's in the same site:

Just some minor points, I'm not good at estimating numbers really but I think there were about 200-300 riot police and then some extra plain clothes officers, maybe around 30. They were not all surrounding the car but most of them were. Also the struggle last about 10 hours if you count the first struggle to arrest Mayor Kang. ..Also another reason the police didn't attack us to much because there was lots of mainstream press. We may not be so lucky in the future.