Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Korean Farmers Attacked for US Base Expansion

Daechuri International Solidarity Collective | 10.04.2006 19:14 | Anti-militarism | Free Spaces | Repression | World

April 7th, 6,000 riot police and 700 hired thugs attacked the
Autonomous Peace Village of Daechuri. They succeeded in destroying the irrigation system, making farming a near impossibility. 40 protesters were arrested, 30 were injured, 5 of those seriously.






Pyeongtaek, South Korea - The Autonomous Peace Village of Daechuri
has been resisting the expansion of U.S. Army base Camp Humphreys for over
three years. Within the past month, they have been attacked three times. This attack was the most devastating thus far.

The attack lasted from 9 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. They invaded the village from four different directions, targetting distant areas within the vast farmland, spreading the 100 villagers, human rights activists, and supporters dangerously thin. The riot police escorted backhoes, bulldozers, and cement trucks.

The main target of their attack was the irrigation system whose
gates had been opened the day before during an annual agricultural ceremony. While plain-clothed mercenaries brutally attacked the protestors, fertile dirt from the rice fields was scooped out and used to fill the water canals.
Cement was also poured into the canals. Though the protestors and villagers were spread throughout the farmland, two backhoes were halted. One bulldozer operator claimed that he was getting $450 to carry out the destruction. He was unable to continue after paint was splattered on his windshield.


The plain-clothed thugs, likely hired to deflect accountabilty of
atrocities away from government forces, were the first to attack, while the police observed and defended the equipment. Later in the afternoon the police joined in the melee. Some of the thugs, private contracted martial-artists, were as young as 16 years-old. Paid $65 for the day, many of them were unaware that they would be aiding in the eviction of elderly farmers, and expressed regret at their involvement.

One union worker supporter was hospitalized with a broken back. Another protester lost consciousness due to head wounds inflicted by the hired thugs. A villager had his leg broken by the riot police.

Amnesty International published a report
denouncing the brutality of the March 15th attack and the lack of a
just negotiation and compensation process on behalf of the government.

Having struggled against the loss of their homes and livelihoods for over three years now, and anticipating attacks for the past four months, many of the villagers and supporters are physically and psychologically drained. The main source of inspiration and hope comes from the continued farming of the land, a collective cultivation that commenced on March 17th. Despite their courage, the prospects for the community's survival were greatly dimmed.
Only international pressure can prevent the devastation that
accompanies the U.S. military's expansion in Korea.


Background

Daechuri International Solidarity Collective
- e-mail: s
- Homepage: http://www.saveptfarmers.org

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. Thanks for the report — Haidar
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech