(from here)
Pyeongtaek isn’t the only place where angry residents are protesting the construction of military facilities.
In Jeju Island, the residents of Namwon-eup, Wimi 1-ri held demonstrations in front of Jeju-do Provincial Hall today to oppose the construction of a ROK Navy base in their town. In a resolution, the residents said, “The Navy and provincial government is using the logic of economic development and security to deprive the residents of Wimi 1-ri of their livelihood and is violating even our property rights… We oppose plans to build a navy base, which will bring about the collapse of the regional community.” They also said, “It’s clear that the base the Navy is planning will result in accelerating arms races with other countries… We cannot accept the construction of a base that is turning Jeju Island, an island of peace, into the front line of an arms race.”
Some of the protesters cut their hair, while others wrote protest messages in their own blood.
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These guys are not protesting, they are in-it for the free haircut.
The guy in the back-row looks like a frustrated Jimi Hendrix impersonator.
The bald are so much more persuasive than the haired.
can someone explain the significance of shaving your head bald? i’ve heard about students shaving their head after failing in class or something to symbolize a new beginning or start, but what’s the significance in terms of protesting? anyway, if anything, looks like that frustrated jimi hendrix guy can use a clean shave.
I wonder who put these words into their mouths. Such a thought is well beyond the daily affairs of local Chejudo people. It sounds more like something the Chinese and their North Korean vassals would say.
If only it were true. Ever since the Jeju-do Massacre of April 3, 1948 when around 25,000 civilians were massacred indiscriminately by the ROK Army and Police in a 5 month period in the name of fighting communism (and covered up massively until just last year when Roh finally admitted that it did happen), people down there are less than trusting of the national government.
The ROK gov’t ought start thinking about making restitution and issuing formal apologies before pushing those people around again.
Obviously Jeju needs _some_ security and so the issue for me would be “how big a base” and how many others there are, but I would sympathize at least with their sentiments if one of the reasons they’re opposed is because they feel it’s being put there because its Jeju. I’ve heard two (not always very reasonable) people from Jeju say the 1948 massacre was in part an independence movement, a revolt against the mainland. While that’s probably a little fantasizing, I’ve seen (once) and heard about Jeju people, when drunk, vent some serious anger at the mainland for exploitation, ruining the distinct culture, etc. If you go to the “anti-mongolian struggle momument” there and read carefully, one description reads about how the people of Jeju “fought againts the Mongolian and mainland forces.” I wouldn’t be surprised at all if some of them feel they are being used, abused, or pushed around over this.
Of course it might just be about fishing grounds…
“can someone explain the significance of shaving your head bald?”
I’d say there is quite a bit of symbolism here in Korea with regard to the head shave.
First, there is a strong Buddhist tradition, where a would-be monk would shave his/her head to break with the secular world and begin a new life of religion. It therefore signified strong commitment or dedication, and that kind of symbolism is probably still carried within the Korean subconscious.
Second, the Confucian tradition of the Chosun era also forbade people to cut their hair, as taking care of one’s body, inherited from one’s parents, was considered a starting point for the basic tenet of ‘효’ or filial piety. The act of cutting or trimming your hair would therefore be a highly disrespectful or sacrilegious act against one’s ancestors. This is why Korean men of that period wore their long hair in topknots, and when Korean men were ordered to cut their hair short in the ‘western’ style, a significant number of Yangban rebelled against the measure.
Take these two factors together, and you can see that Chosun era Koreans just didn’t go around shaving their heads all that often. They either didn’t cut their hair at all or cut it in order to enter the priesthood(or would that be monkhood?). Sure, you can see the odd Korean youth who shaves his head simply as a fashion statement, but among the more elderly population, shaving the head as a show of determination can be a powerful method of appeal. The very act itself has symbolic meaning, and they also know that in conformist Korea they look ridiculous bald - but they are willing to endure that in order to prove a point.
http://kin.naver.com/open100/r.....b=u+i53w==
The Cheju naval base will be the headquarters and base for the Dokdo class LPXs, KDX-3 Aegis destroyers, KD-2 destroyers and KSS-2/3 submarines of the “expeditionary fleet”.
Personally, I don’t see the reason for basing all of ROKN’s high end ships in one location where they can be wiped out in a single surprise attack.
Jeju has considered itself independent for many years in Korean history probably due to being of sizable land with the sea to protect it from the interests of the 3 Korean Hans. At one time or another it had its own “king”, recognized by PaekChae, then Shilla, then Koryo, and I believe the Chosun king got rid of this long tradition of a nominal Jeju king who paid tribute to the main peninsula.
Jeju actually has history of being militarily important. The Mongol/Koryo alliance used Jeju to base its invasions to Japan.
Koryo’s Sam Byol Cho used Jeju, for its last stand against the Mongol Empire.
The Japanese made plenty of bomb shelters, pill boxes, bunkers with cannons, machine guns, etc, stacked with ammo in Jeju island, preparing for a US, island hopping style invasion in World War II.
Communists tried to instigate Jeju to turn against South Korea, due to it being separated by sizable waters from the peninsula.
i see a point in putting it at Jeju. To attack South Korea, one should attack Seoul first. Right?
If the Navy is at Jeju. You have to split your attack to Jeju, too. Right? At least you didn’t get the Navy and about 50% of population that are not in Seoul.
So, there are at least 2 points to attack, thus a single attack to finish Korea? No.
Inchon, Mok Po, Pusan, kind of crowded.
Besides, Jeju base means you are better located for Japan, China, and North Korea, versus any of the 3 above.
What’s the deal with the head bands? Protesters are always wearing headbands. It seems to be the protesting uniform. Have headband, will protest. Have Visor will hike. Have Polyester Tie will drink Soju.
I’d almost believe them if they were protesting the base because of its negative impact on Jeju’s fisheries and tourism industries.
maybe you guys should join in some wae-gook-in protests. Hire some dude to teach you the ins and outs of ROK protest culture
you know, sing some songs, get a head band, maybe sport a bald look when you come back, do a lot of drinking, kick some riot police butt, and make sure someone gets you by the end of the day, if you don’t come back home… kind of like a party??
WJK, Maybe we can get some “Let’s go Mets” headbands and shave our heads if they don’t make it to the playoffs! However, I will not cut off a finger.
You can see a lot of the people in those pictures are old. They protest everything. I remember once in my mother-in-law’s neighborhood they protested Korean Electric opening up an entrance to the new Korea Electric building on their road. It seemed completely random to me.
If only it were true. Ever since the Jeju-do Massacre of April 3
You have to understand that Cheju-do was used as a “devils Island” before it was ever considered a valuable tangerine growing resort. The massacre was a terrible thing, but the people were not completely innocent.
When people get that excited about something, it’s usually because there is money to be lost or made.
…I’d say in this case, it’s probably money to be lost: many of them are going to end up living in apartment buildings because they won’t be able to afford a house near the coast with what they government will give them (there aren’t enough up for sale to meet the demand, which will drive up the prices).
Reference the Cheju “massacre”. I’d love to see an unbiased account of this. The various references to it always come up with wonderfully round numbers, such as 25,000, 30,000, 15,000. Such a scale is possible, but the mere number raises serious questions, considering tht only 6,000 allied soldiers were killed assaulting the beaches at Normandy, and this was a full Allied Army consisting of surordinate armies, corps, and divisions, all fully armed to the teeth, and up against the most tactically proficient Army of its time, who’d been preparing for this event for several years. Most of what I know about Cheju-do I’ve picked up off of Kimsoft’s website. His problem is that he posts some good materials, such as an account by the former Army commander of the island, but he apparently lacks the critical reasoning skills to spot the discrepancies bedtween the very materials he posts or links to. For instance, the state of the Korean Army of the period, initially armed with Japanese Arisaka rifles and ammunition that, in Cheju-do, had been reclaimed from the sea by local divers, makes it highly unlikely that they could have been able to inflict casualties on such a scale. The former Regimental commander (who only had a single battalion in his regiment) alludes to the police being better armed, and in conflict with the population. Of course, some accounts reference the U.S. Navy as “sealing off access to the island”, something that does not appear in any U.S. military accounts, while others allege that U.S. troops participated, again without any corresponding reference in U.S. military histories of the period. 10,000, 15,000, or 25,000 bodies or more cannot simply disappear. We’ve had over ten years of government by administrations that could have uncovered the necessary mass graves. Even if the bodies had been dumped into the sea, piles of bones would remain. So why hasn’t a full inquiry been launched and specific civilian casualty figures published? 1,500 would be a tragedy. Adding more zeroes does not make a massacre more worthy of commemoration. Or could it be that the scale was such, that the legend serves a better purpose than the truth of disappointingly (to the ultra nationalists) smaller real numbers?
There has long been an underground independence movement on Jeju Island. After the Japanese Surrender, many on Jeju saw an opportunity to attain more autonomy if not independence. For most of it’s history as a possession of Korea, Jeju was administratively a part of Jeolla province. In 1946, Jeju was given full provincial status for the first time. This taste of autonomy, I believe, helped to fuel a desire for even greater self determination leading ultimately to the April 3 incident of 1948.
Next to the 516 road (named for the date of Park Jung-hee’s coup d’etat) is a large building surrounded by barbed wire which is the Jeju headquarters of the Korean Information Service (KCIA). I was told in 1996 by a former student (and Jeju Provincial government civil servant) that its primary function was to monitor Jeju’s underground independence movement.
Interestingly, last year Jeju was elevated to an “Autonomous Province” (제주특별자치도). This might have been part of some sort of quid pro quo related to the establishment of the naval base.
Let’s remember that Jeju is a province where many people boycot Emart. Why? Because it is mainland owned. My Jeju mother has gotten angry at me before for buying a cake at Paris Bagette (a mainland company) when I could have bought one from a Jeju owned bakery.
Jeju people have a complex relationship with the mainland. When Korea does something positive like do well in the World Cup in 2002, Jeju people suddenly feel Korean. Otherwise, however, Jeju people feel towards mainlanders the way Koreans feel toward the US and Japan. The Xenophobia runs very deep.
I should have said my Jeju mother in law, not mother.
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