Korea, South

The days pass so quickly here. On Tuesday 28th February I was needed to give interviews with a progressive Korean military publication who asked searching questions about how South Korea can protect itself from North Korea and China without US bases, what I think about South Korea getting nuclear weapons to protect itself from North Korea (this is something being seriously considered!) and why I was here. It was an opportunity to discuss the ever expanding US military presence in north-east Asia, what real security consists of and ways to stop proliferation.

Yesterday we internationals went into Jeju City for a press conference so that the Mayor of Gangjeong could explain the situation and internationals could make statements as to why they were supporting the villagers struggle against war and for peace.

Angie Zelter is in Korea supporting the people of Ganjeong Village in their struggle to stop the destruction of Jeju Island where the South Korean military has begun construction of a naval base which will be the port for the US Navy’s Aegis Destroyers.

135 full bows of prayers for peace at Destruction Gate

Trident Ploughshares member Angie Zelter is supporting villagers in their fight to stop the building of a US nuclear base on Jeju, the South Korean “Island of Peace”. The new base just 300-miles from the Chinese mainland will become a port for U.S. Navy Aegis destroyers fitted with the missile defence systems that are key elements in Pentagon first-strike attack planning. Gangjeong village and endangered soft-coral reefs will be destroyed to build the base. Here is Angie’s first report.

Trident Ploughshares Press Release: 23rd February 2012
The anti-nuclear campaign group Trident Ploughshares is among a number of international groups and individuals who are supporting villagers in their fight to stop the building of a US nuclear base on Jeju, the South Korean “Island of Peace”.

The anti-nuclear campaign group Trident Ploughshares is among a number of international groups and individuals who are supporting villagers in their fight to stop the building of a US nuclear base on Jeju, the South Korean “Island of Peace”.

Company Snapshot

The Samsung Group is South Korea's largest conglomerate and a global multinational corporation leading several major industries. It is composed of numerous businesses, including Samsung Electronics, the world's largest electronics company, Samsung Heavy Industries, one of the world's biggest shipbuilders and Samsung Engineering & Construction, a major global construction company. These three businesses form the core of Samsung Group and reflect its name — the meaning of the Korean word samsung is "tristar" or "three stars". Samsung Group has a corporate responsibility for South Korea, forming a vital core part of the South Korean economy, accounting for more than 20% of the nation's total exports. The company has a powerful influence on the country's economic development, politics, media and culture. Samsung Group is South Korea's largest company and exporter, the 5th largest transnational corporation in the world. Starting in the 1990s, Samsung became a world leader in memory chip production, and in recent years it has been one of the largest producers of flat-panel displays and mobile phone sets. A few years ago the company was being described as the "new Sony," but it is now facing intensified competition as well as a wide-ranging corruption investigation launched by Korean prosecutors in late 2007.

The Seoul International Aerospace & Defence Exhibition (ADEX) was held from the 18th to 23th of October, 2011 at a Seongnam airbase.

Many organisations including; Weapon Zero Team Korea, World Without War, and PSPD Center for Peace and Disaramament hosted the 2011 Peace & Disarmament Exhibiiton “Let's Talk about Peace Now” at the Bosingak Square during the Seoul Adex, from 22th to 23th.

Gangjeong is a small, quiet village of 1,900 residents on Jeju Island. The area has a lot of natural beauty and scenery. There is a UNESCO-designated biosphere preserve, Gurumbi, the only volcanic broad and flat rock in South Korea, which is one kilometre long beside the sea, and the Route 7 of the Ole' trekking course, which is a popular walking tour of Jeju Island.

For the second time, South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled on 30 August that the right to conscientious objection is not protected under the South Korean constitution. Almost exactly seven years after its first decision on the subject on 26 August 2004 (see CO-Update No 1, September 2004), the court ruled again with a majority of 7-2 that the country's military service act is constitutional.

Views of the Human Rights Committee under article 5, paragraph 4, of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (one hundredth and first session)

Concerning

Communications No. 1642-1741/2007**

Submitted by: Min-Kyu Jeong et al (represented by counsel, André Carbonneau)

Alleged victim: The authors

State party: The Republic of Korea

Date of communication: 21 September and 6 November 2007 (initial submissions)

The Human Rights Committee, established under article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

War Resisters' International, an international network of pacifist and antimilitarist organisa­tions founded in 1921, and with more than 80 affiliated organisations in more than 40 coun­tries, expresses its support to conscientious objector Moon Myungjin and all other con­scientious objectors in the Republic of Korea.

War Resisters' International was founded based on the following declaration from 1921:
“War is a crime against humanity.
I am therefore determined not to support any kind of war, and to strive for the removal of all causes of war.”

Chosun Ilbo reported on 22 December 2010 that compulsory military service will be frozen at 21 months, and will not be reduced to 18 months, as originally planned. The step, which is a response to the mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula, puts the brakes on a gradual reduction of conscription from 24 months to 18 months for the Army, 20 months for the Navy and 21 months for the Air Force, which was announced in September 2007.