DAECHURI, South Korea (The Irish Examiner) – She screamed into my ear wielding her index finger across her neck saying: “The American soldiers must die!” Then she leaned even closer, chanting “You’re American, aren’t you? Aren’t you? Aren’t you?!”
Actually, I am but before I could answer the young woman whom I came with assured the room full of elderly women that I was from the neutral nation of Ireland. The scene outside where I am sitting is similar to Belfast; there are beautiful murals covering the walls of houses and buildings that say things like “Resist! This is Our Land!”
This is not Belfast. This is the town of Daechuri in South Korea where plans for the expansion of a US Army base have made it illegal for residents to live in their own houses.
Yesterday, the Korean government launched its most aggressive eviction campaign since forced evictions began in March of this year.
Yesterday’s evictions focus on Daechuri Primary School where many residents and activists concentrate their efforts to save the town. Water cannons were shot into the windows of the school while people clashed with riot police outside.
Mi-Kyung Cha, a resident of Daechuri, said that “14,000 police and military attacked supporters of the village.” More than 200 people are said to have been arrested yesterday alone.
More than 1,000 people from the towns of Daechuri and the neighbouring town of Doduri have been forced to vacate their homes to make way for the expansion of Camp Humphrey’s, a United States military base located in the province of Pyeongtaek, approximately 35 miles south of Seoul.
Currently, the United States has 37,000 troops and 95 bases spread throughout South Korea. According to an agreement made between the United States and the Republic of Korea in 2004, Camp Humphrey’s is to be expanded by 2,851 acres. The enlargement is to make room for the relocation of Yongsan Garrison, a US Army base located in the heart of Seoul, just 32 miles from the border with North Korea. Two villages, Daechuri and Doduri stand in the way of the proposed expansion. Residents of the area have been offered compensation for their land, but many refuse to leave because the money being offered is not enough to maintain their current way of life. Amnesty International said, “It would be almost impossible to buy equivalent areas of land for subsistence farming with the lump sum offered.”
In March of this year, the Korean government began forced evictions from the two villages. Students and other activists have moved into the area to support the residents who have chosen to stay behind. You-Bin Lee, a student from a neighbouring province, said she moved to Daechuri because she was alarmed at how the elderly and farmers were being treated. She gave accounts of farming equipment being destroyed by government forklifts and residents being arrested for farming the land.
The United States Forces in Korea have not commented on yesterday’s evictions but say the relocation of Yongsan Garrison to Pyeongtaek will “contribute to regional and national development” of Korea.
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