The Marmot’s Hole

Protestors at a pro-U.S. base expansion rally outside Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek carry signs that read ‘[can't make out beginning, but most likely] Anti-American groups, go North [rather than protest here]‘ and ‘USFK guarantees the peace of our fatherland’ (Pic ripped off from OhMyNews)

In a piece in OhMyNews, Kim Tae-hyeong and Choe Yu-jin discussed the complex opinion process at work in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, the site to which the U.S. Yongsan Garrison and U.S. 2nd Infantry Division will be moved.

To briefly summarize, if you’re a Pyeongtaek resident, your opinion on the base transfer is pretty much a function of where exactly in Pyeongtaek you live. If you live on the 3.49 million pyeong of land in the northwest area of Paengseong-eup (near Camp Humphreys) that is scheduled to be transfered to the U.S. military, you’re pretty much opposed to the move. The real estate, which comprises the villages of Daechu-ri, Dodu-ri, Donchang-ni, Nae-ri and Shinnae-ri, is mostly agricultural and the farmers, many of whom have probably lived on the land for generations, are naturally pretty attached to their soil.

Residents in the southeast of Paengseong-eup, including commercialized Anjeong-ni, and other areas just outside the area to be taken over by USFK are mostly in favor of the move. In particular, the store owners in front of the main gate of Camp Humphreys are particularly high on the move, and for obvious reasons. Apparently, land speculators are on the prowl down there, too, so locals may be expecting a boost in property values, something that might figure into the motives of both those in favor and opposed to the expansion.

Oh, and according to the taxi driver the intrepid OhMy crew spoke with, the rest of Pyeongtaek couldn’t care less about the base expansion issue.

Anyway, the farmer folk are currently adamant in their opposition to the move — the government’s explanation meeting ended ugly, and they [the farmers] are talking about protecting the land (and their livelihoods) with their lives. Meanwhile, residents in Anjeong-ni seem to think the stink is simply a way to get the government to increase the compensation given those currently on the land. They also talk of “outside agitators” coming in from outside of Pyeongtaek, a charge that might be at least partially true judging from Kim and Choe’s other piece on the issue.

Actually, I do feel sorry for the farmers, as the first 240,000 pyeong of land from Daechu-ri is scheduled to be turned over to The Hump by the end of this year, which obviously doesn’t give the locals a whole lot of time to adjust. The government had announced a plan to compensate the 740 some-odd families that will be forced to relocate, but given the opposition of the targeted families, either the compensation offered will have to be sweetened or the land will have to be taken by force, with very little time to play politics. Sucks for everyone involved.

Anyway, Pyeongtaek residents have been getting (or will soon get) a full display of protest techniques, including head shavings, blood writing, hunger strikes, candlelight demonstrations, and the like. On Yonhap News, I watched the head of the residents’ group opposed to the move scuffle with the head of the Anjeong-ni store owners’ association, and demonstrations both for and against the base expansions were held simultaneously Saturday, requiring the presence of about 2,000 police (which was apparently more than double the number of protesters). The 100-man strong pro-expansion demonstration, led by the local commercial association, was a particularly rowdy affair (well, according to OhMy, anyway), with booze, food, music, Filipino bar girls and chants of “Go North, you anti-American commie bastards.” One guy apparently rammed his car into some flower wreaths set up by the anti-base expansion protesters and sped off. Not very nice. For what it’s worth, I’m sure the 500-strong opposition protest had its fair share of nonsense, too — members of the decidedly non-Pyeongtaek-based anti-American civic group Peace and Unification People were there, no doubt to educate the local farmers on the intricacies of U.S. imperialism.

P.S. Korea blogger Budaechigae, who was recently transferred to lovely Pyeongtaek, has this to say about Saturday’s festival:

Michael, from the looks of things, “cultural heterogeneity” is already here. Sunday had two groups protesting the USFK move at the camp front gate. The vets and merchants were on one side of the street decked out with hired doumis and techno trot music, while the hanchongnyong college crowd, complete with folk dancers and the “we are one” blue korea banners on the other…The groups were of course separated by riot police from all over Kyonggi-do and Seoul.