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A standoff between the Defense Ministry and protestors against the relocation of U.S. Forces Korea bases to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province looks set to culminate in a violent confrontation between the two unyielding parties. On Tuesday, when it became clear that clashes would be inevitable, the secretary-general of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announced, ¡°Workers in South and North Korea came together and resolved to stage an anti-American campaign on Labor Day¡± at Daechu-ri Elementary School, the impromptu headquarters of activists there. ¡°It is the U.S. that drives this peaceful land to war and squeezes the public of its blood and sweat,¡± he said. ¡°Daechu-ri in Pyeongtaek has its place in our fight against the U.S.¡±
The KCTU website, one of the 110 organizations that came together to stop the movement of U.S. Forces Korea¡¯s headquarters there, ran an article under the title, ¡°Are we going to see another Gwangju Democratic Uprising in Pyeongtaek?¡± linking the protests with the bloodily suppressed democracy protests in 1980.
That shows clearly that the KTCU¡¯s opposition to the relocation plan has nothing to do with protecting residents¡¯ right there, which it abuses as a weapon in its anti-American campaign. On the surface, residents in Daechu-ri and the 110 organizations are as one in their rejection of the plan, but in reality the activist are in complete control of the movement. It claims the Pyeongtaek base will be used to stage pre-emptive strikes against North Korea and that the plan is a recipe for war on the Korean Peninsula, with South Korea becoming an advance base for U.S. stratagems to invade other nations. Any claims by the activists that they are there to prevent the land being taken away from the farmers are a lie.
No wonder negotiations between the government and the resistance failed to produce any tangible results. The Defense Ministry a few days ago proposed putting the issue of compensation for expropriated land on the negotiating table, but the protesters refused saying the relocation plan itself must be up for discussion. The Defense Ministry, in other words, wants to talk about follow-up measures on the premise that the plan stands, and the protestors want the plan scrapped. Of course there could be no narrowing of the gulf between them.
The base relocation plan is a major national project approved by Seoul and Washington and ratified by the National Assembly. Our security, our future and a huge amount of taxpayer¡¯s money hang on it. We should certainly do our best to take the residents and the local community into account, but such an important project cannot be allowed to fall hostage to anti-American campaigners whose identities are unclear. That is why it is critical to separate these suspicious protestors from local people in Pyeongtaek who oppose the plan for reasons of their livelihood, and to seek a settlement only with the latter.
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