Thursday, January 29, 2004
TROUBLE BREWING IN P'YONGT'AEK. The Marmot points to and translates chunks of an OhMyNews piece on local protests of the proposed relocation of U.S. military bases near P'yongt'aek (basic info on the city here, better info here, map here). Put simply: the locals aren't pleased at the prospect of more American bases and troops nearby.
I actually feel no small amount of sympathy for the denizens of P'yongt'aek and its environs. I suspect that few Americans, particularly rural Americans would be all that pleased if a large military base was set up in their back-yard. I suspect that even fewer would welcome the development if the troops stationed there were not Americans but were French, German, Korean, or whatever. Still, there is NIMBY-ism galore here. Most South Koreans still want U.S. troops somewhere on the peninsula, they just don't want them near them. Off course the uncompromising rhetoric of the protestors probably doesn't bode well for any sort of compromise solution. If they make good on their claims, we will see a lot more of P'yongt'aek in the news in the months to come.
We entered the sit-down strike tent, and there the married women's club members unburdened their hearts of their losses suffered from the U.S. military. Lee Ok-ja (59, P'yeongt'aek City, P'aengseong-uep, Daech'u-ri) said, "We've had land taken from us for the U.S. base, and rather than compensation, we've been forced from our homes naked or had to build and live in mud huts? we've had to cry tears of blood."
Lee Kyeong-bun (50, Daech'u-ri, president of the club) said, "Because of the ear-splitting sound from the American warplanes, our children go into convulsions, and because the American soldiers carelessly burn waste fuel, we couldn't hang up our laundry," and "I have nothing to ask the American military. The only thing I wish is that they would just go back to their own country quietly."
...
Conveying the urgency of the situation, he said "The villagers oppose the turning over of land to the U.S. military with such a do-or-die spirit that they joke among themselves that they'd rather kick out the U.S. military and accept a nuclear waste dump."
Lee also said, "The government and the U.S. military, by inflicting damage once again on the pure, simple-hearted villagers, are turning them into believers in anti-Americanism." He revealed his struggle plans, saying, "From this year, we will unite with other groups from across the nation that oppose the U.S. base move and launch a struggle. In March, we are planning massive demonstrations."
Kim Ji-t'ae (44, P'aengseong-eup, head of the Response Committee) said that the owners of the land on which the American base is to be expanded have agreed not to negotiate on selling the land. Kim said, "We cannot surrender one p'yeong of land to the American base. If they can take it, let them try." He stressed that "If the government says it's going to forcefully expropriate the land, it'll have to prepare for even stronger resistance than they faced in Buan."
I actually feel no small amount of sympathy for the denizens of P'yongt'aek and its environs. I suspect that few Americans, particularly rural Americans would be all that pleased if a large military base was set up in their back-yard. I suspect that even fewer would welcome the development if the troops stationed there were not Americans but were French, German, Korean, or whatever. Still, there is NIMBY-ism galore here. Most South Koreans still want U.S. troops somewhere on the peninsula, they just don't want them near them. Off course the uncompromising rhetoric of the protestors probably doesn't bode well for any sort of compromise solution. If they make good on their claims, we will see a lot more of P'yongt'aek in the news in the months to come.
