INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF GANGJEONG VILLAGE

June 2011

We, the undersigned organizations, stand in complete solidarity with the Gangjeong villagers on Jeju Island, South Korea in their struggle to stop the construction of a Navy base.

As we can already see, the Navy base construction effort has begun the destruction of this fishing and farming community’s natural way of life.  This construction process will irreparably harm the soft coral reefs, the fish, the rocks, the vegetation, the water, and other life forms. 

When Gangjeong supporters have called the South Korean embassy in Washington DC they have been repeatedly told, “Call the U.S. government.  They are pushing us to build this Navy base.”

It is evident that as the U.S. expands its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region it needs more ports of call for its naval arsenal. China transports 80 percent of its oil on ships that pass through the Yellow Sea alongside Jeju Island. A base on Jeju Island would give the U.S. Navy greater access, and thus, potential control, of those shipping lanes.

The people of Jeju Island wish to be an island of peace. The building of a Navy base for U.S. warships will only make Jeju Island a target and a zone of conflict. 

We demand that construction of the Navy base at Gangjeong be halted and the village be left to its natural state.

• Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Maine, U.S.
• Nebraskans for Peace, Nebraska, U.S.
• Citizens for Peace in Space, Colorado, U.S.
• American Friends Service Committee-Maine, U.S.
• Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, London, United Kingdom
• Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Leeds, England
• Swedish Peace Council, Stockholm, Sweden
• Stop the War Machine, New Mexico, U.S.
• Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases,
• Greater Brunswick PeaceWorks, Maine, U.S.
• The Taos Group, New Mexico, U.S.
• SS. Francis & Therese Catholic Worker of Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
• Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, New York, U.S.
• Peace Action Maine, U.S.
• Maine Green Independent Party, U.S.
• Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights, Ontario, Canada
• CodePink Maine
• Atsushi Fujioka, Professor of Economics at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan
• Peace Not War, Tokyo,  Japan
• Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition
• Lynda Williams, Physics Teacher, California, U.S.
• Makiko Sato, Global Network board member, Oita, Japan

• Granny Peace Brigade, New York City, U.S.

Please note...we are only trying to list groups, though we will list individuals who have a specific title