Mayor Kang joins Mayors for Peace while in custody_Aug. 28th

[영실(YoungSil)]

http://www.2020visioncampaign.org/en/home/artikel/4cf6da5e89/south-korean-mayor-kang-joins-mayors.html

28.08.2011: 

Mayor Kang joins Mayors for Peace while in custody

Imprisoned South Korean Mayor leads non-violent protests against new Jeju naval base

BREAKING NEWS - being updated

Jeju Island (South Korea), August 28th 2011 - Today Mr. Kang Dong-Kyun, Mayor of Gangjeong, signed the Mayors for Peace membership registration-form while in police custody. Mayor Kang joined Mayors for Peace during a visit of the village committee chairman Mr. Go Gwon-Il. Mayor Kang has been on the forefront of non-violent protests against plans to establish a new naval base in his village. Mayor Kang was arrested on August 24th. On Monday Mayor Kang is to be transferred to Jeju prison. Jeju Island means Peace Island. The new member of Mayors for Peace appeals to international solidarity: ''I want to embody the spirit of Jeju as the Peace Island during the struggle''. When not a mayor, Mr Kang is a farmer who tends tangerine groves.

In January, the South Korean Navy began construction on a US$970 million base in Gangjeong. Once completed in 2014, it will be home to 20 warships, including submarines, that the navy says will protect shipping lanes for South Korea’s export-driven economy, which is dependent on imported oil. Matthew Hoey, an arms control analyst based in Cambridge, Mass., who recently visited Gangjeong to support those fighting the base, argued that the base could set off a regional arms race by prompting China to upgrade its own strategic deterrent.

Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun (Born in 1957) was elected as the mayor of Gangjeong village in 2007.  The village of Gangjeong is located in the southwestern coast of the Jeju Island, South Korea.  Under the leadership of Mayor Kang the village has maintained the principles of ‘non-violence’ all through a hard struggle for four years. A struggle which is increasingly touching people throughout South-Korea and the world. The story of Mayor Kang receives increasing attention, including major articles in, for example, the New York TImes.

In April, 2007, the South Korean navy aiming to set up Jeju naval base in the village, with the connivance by the Island's then governor, bribed  the then mayor and other influential figures in the village, after its failure to build the base in the two former proposed locations on the Island since 2002, because of residents’ strong resistance in those places.

On April 26, 2007, about 80 villagers were cajoled by the navy to pass a resolution in favor of naval base installation in their village, without the knowledge of most of the other villagers.  Once the other villagers learned of this, they held a temporary general meeting and laid off the then mayor (417 ballots in favor of his lay-off, 15 ballots of opposition and 3 ballots of annulment) on Aug. 10, 2007. 

On that same day, the village electorates dominantly elected Kang Dong-Kyun as the new village mayor. Many of the respected village elders  wholeheartedly supported him because they saw him as the leader who would lead the struggle against naval base on behalf of most villagers.

The villagers’ own democratic vote regarding con and pro of naval base was held on August 20, 2007. At the time, among 1,050 electorates, 725 villagers voted. 680 ballots were in opposition of naval base (94%), while ballots in favor were 36 and cancellation ballots were 9. To the villagers’ great fury and frustration, the South Korean government has never acknowledged villagers’ own democratic votes as the official when there is even a video recording of that very moment.

The village, Gangjeong, is, according to mayor, Kang Dong-Kyun, ‘the diamond of the Island,’ while the Jeju Island is pearl of South Korea. The Gangjeong village built as a naturally established town has maintained with 400 years’ history of strong community in which good traditional customs such as respect to elders and preservation of ecology have been kept with strong commitment. It is not accidental that the South Korean government designated the village as an ecology-excellent village in 2006. Among all the villages of Jeju, it has the most abundant fresh water; ‘Gang’ and ‘Jeong’ both signify ‘water.’  The sea in front of the village is the area where the UNESCO protected soft coral flourishes.  The village is also the habitat of endangered species such as red-feet crab, small round frog and Jejusaebangii (a kind of shrimp with unique shape).  The village is also home of sweet fishes that live only in the cleanest water such as the Gangjeong stream in the village. Only through the villagers’ efforts is such such preservation possible.

The pride of the villagers for their hometown is evident as is Mayor Kang's strong commitment to save his hometown from the construction of the naval base which is according to the villagers ''a war base to host a missile defense system which will threaten the eco-systems and the peaceful future of their descendents and peace of the Asia Pacific''.

Since elected, Mayor Kang has thoroughly devoted himself to save the village from building of naval base, at the risk of his own health, his own family’s livelihood and his own freedom. That is why he is a beloved and respected figure by most villagers.  

You can send messages of support to Jeju Prison.

Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun (No. 621)
Jeju Prison, 161 Ora-2dong, Jeju City, Jeju Special Island, South Korea Zip code: 690-162

Back-ground information:

*  Interview with Gangjeong Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun | No Base on Jeju Island in July, 2011 (Video: English subtitled)
www.youtube.com/watch