A Peaceful Year in Jeju

Throughout 2011 I was usually pretty good at blogging about the latest news out of Gangjeong in Jeju Island, South Korea. Things were pretty heated there throughout the entire year, with plenty of protests, arrests and international calls for solidarity. A friend of mine was arrested, as was the mayor of the village, whom I had met when I was there the year before. Both were eventually freed after spending months in prison. The central conflict is over the fate of Gangjeong Village and its beautiful environment. As a small village in Southern Jeju, it was identified as the site for a new joint US-ROK Naval facility. The majority of the people there, not wanting to see their land and their sea life damaged, have decided to protest this action. Incidentally and ironically, Jeju was named several years ago as "an island of peace." The protesters are attempting to ensure that their island lives up to its name.

I haven't posted much on my blog, but emails and the reading of other blogs such as Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes and the website Save Jeju had still kept me up to date. I thought I would post below the video of an artist who has been regularly chronicling the struggle in Gangjeong in various media. It is by Dunguree and it is titled "Our Life, Our Love and Our Struggle."

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