Jeju Naval Base controversy

[1][2] By 2011, construction had been halted seven times by protesters concerned about the base's environmental impact and who saw it as a US-driven project aimed at China, rather than enhancing South Korean defense.

[12] According to South Korean defense officials, the base is a multipurpose joint civilian-military project and will not allow permanent stationing of American or other foreign naval vessels.

The estuary is Jeju Island’s only rocky wetland and acts as home to several endangered species and soft coral reefs.

[18] In December 2009, Jeju Island Governor Kim Tae-hwan nullified the ACA designation to proceed with the naval base construction.

[19] During its recent archeological excavation of the Gangjeong coastal area the Jeju Cultural Heritage Research Institute discovered artifacts dating back to 4-2 B.C.E.

[20] A recent statement to the International Union for Conservation of Nature signed by a number of leading academics and well known figures including Vandana Shiva, Walden Bello, David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky, Gloria Steinem and Robert Redford cites police brutality and claims that over 500 people have been arrested thus far.

[25][26][27][28] Writing in The Diplomat in 2013, professor Andrew Yeo of Catholic University argued most South Koreans do not support the protesters, rejecting their cause as a case of either NIMBYism or "a politically motivated agenda driven by leftist activists and opposition party members.

[30] A press conference was held in the Jeju Special Self-governing Provincial Council on October 4, 2011, where protesters such as university students and religious figures shared episodes of harassment they faced at the hand of members of the ROK Navy Ship Salvage Unit.

[41][42] In August 2013, one thousand demonstrators, including filmmaker Oliver Stone, participated in the Grand March for Life and Peace and the Human Chain that encircled the base.

In 2010, Samsung C&T Corp. was contracted to build two piers for the naval base to accommodate cruise ships, but due to severe protests, construction did not get underway until 2012.

The officials also said that when the Jeju Naval Base opens, the Navy’s 7th Task Flotilla and part of the Submarine Force Command will be relocated there from Busan and Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province, respectively.

[51] In October 2011 and March 2012, two international environment activists, Angie Zelter and Benjamain Monnet, had been arrested and then deported from the country[52] when they illegally approached the construction site.

[53] Julia Marton-Lefèvre, the Director General of the IUCN, stated that "...The Republic of Korea has the responsibility of keeping its country safe; it has equal obligations on the development of the society and economy and the protection of the environment..."[54]