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The Defense Ministry will put up a barbed wire fence around farming land in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province designated as the new site for U.S. Forces Korea headquarters before rice planting begins. The ministry is trying to prevent locals and activists from planting rice there because they hope to delay construction of the new USFK base. The fence will be some 20 km long and 1.80 m high and surround the entire farmland, a ministry source said Thursday. The source said the ministry will be able to finish the work in a day and is considering whether to hire private contractors or mobilize military engineering troops for the work.
Meanwhile, some 1,000 leaflets comparing protests against the base to the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising have been distributed in Pyeongtaek. Under the title of ¡°Pyeongtaek May Become a Second Gwangju,¡± the leaflets demand, ¡°The defense minister should resign because he defines the people of Pyeongtaek as enemies.¡± It is unclear who distributed them.
The ministry says even if it mobilizes military forces to build the fence, they will not be allowed to carry batons and shields. ¡°They will be unarmed and have construction equipment only, so they will not confront residents there directly,¡± it added.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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