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By Huh Ho-joon, Jeju Correspondent
Friday saw the third straight day of blasting on Jeju‘s Gureombi Rock coast and intense resident protests against it. Twenty-nine residents and religious figures were arrested during a clash with police.
An environmental group called for an investigation into mud that was observed flowing into the waters off the rock as of Friday morning, arguing that this was caused by blasting. While residents were protesting the muddying of the water, six civic group activists held a protest on the water, swimming toward the coast carrying a flag bearing the words “Opposing the naval base to death.”
The Gangjeong Village association said that although a diversion channel and sand basin were set up on the coast prior to the blasting, soil flowed underground into the seawater as the rock was blasted apart.
“Given that the waters around Gureombi Rock turned to mud without any rain recently, it appears that the diversion channel and sand basin are basically useless,” said Lee Yeong-ung, secretary-general for Jeju’s chapter of the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements.
“This needs to be investigated thoroughly,” Lee added.
At about 10 am Friday, around thirty residents of Seogwipo and Gangjeong village, religious figures and civic group activists broke through the fence around the naval base construction area and entered the site. They approached the area near the coast, bearing signs reading “Save Gureombi Rock” and chanting “Halt the blasting,” before clashing with police, the Navy, and employees of the company carrying out the blasting. Among those arrested was and questioned by police was well-known Catholic priest Mun Gyu-hyeon, 63.
Another scuffle with police broke out at 11 am as residents and religious figures held a “peace mass” in front of the gate of the naval base construction site, which blocked the path of the police bus carrying the arrestees.
　　
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