South Korean villagers want Koon-ni
range included on U.S. closure list
By Jim Lea and Christina Ko, Stars and Stripes
Andy Dunaway / Stars and Stripes
A Maehyang-ri protestor with the group's orange flag yells at the Korean police for not
letting the villagers out of the bus. Korean police wanted the protest held further away
from the U.S. Embassy in order to protect tourists around the area. |
Opposition is growing in South Korea against American military bases, with community
groups demanding that bases near them be among the 15 facilities to be closed under a U.S.
Forces Korea plan.
On Thursday, about 20 residents of the village surrounding the U.S. Air Force’s
Koon-ni bombing range failed in an attempt to hold a protest at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.
Maehyang-ri villagers are upset that the U.S. and Korean government did not include
Koon-ni range in the Land Partnership Plan.
Waving orange flags, the protesters screamed obscenities at South Korean police who
refused to allow them to hold demonstrations near the embassy.
The police blocked the protesters’ bus in the middle of the road for nearly an
hour.
Korean law prohibits protests within 100 yards of foreign embassies.
"We want them to reposition their protest to a park right near the embassy because
too many tourists are around the area," said Joo Ki-Hwan, a member of the foreign
affairs division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. "We’re taking safety
precautions and minimizing effects on tourism."
Chon Man-kyu, leader of the village protest group, said not closing the range is
"constitutes infringement on South Korea’s national sovereignty."
"All of you are our fellow Korean sons," an elderly protester cried out from
the bus door to the police. "Let us out!"
The protesters repeatedly called the South Korean police "traitors" and threw
water onto the officers. From inside the bus, they chanted, "Remove Koon-ni
range!" and "Go home American soldiers!"
Maehyang-ri is a group of five villages surrounding Koon-ni range. Area residents say
that the Air Force’s exercises at Koon-ni cause injuries and damage to the region.
Koon-ni range was established in 1952 when the area was sparsely populated. About 3,000
people now live in the area.
Civic groups in two other communities also have spoken out against the Land Partnership
Plan:
- A coalition of 60 civic groups in Uijongbu are calling for the U.S. military to close
Camp Red Cloud, headquarters for the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. A spokesman for
the coalition said the group would hold a rally during U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell’s visit on Friday to Seoul.
- For more than a decade, civic groups in Taegu have demanded the helipad at Camp Walker
be closed.
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has said repeatedly that American troops must
remain in South Korea to help maintain stability on the peninsula.
Bae Gi-chul contributed to this report.
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