hankyoreh

Father Mun Jeong-hyeon, who for decades has been one of the leading figures against the US military presence in South Korea, is shown engraving a sign that he plans to display in front of the American embassy. The sign says, “War is terrible violence that destroys human life.” Mun, who was born in North Jeolla Province and moved to the village of Gangjeong on Jeju Island in 2011 to show support for residents who were fighting against construction of a controversial naval base, blames the US government for raising the threat of war on the Korean Peninsula. In addition to protesting the American troop presence, Mun was actively involved in the May 18 Democratization Movement and founded the group Catholic Priests for Justice in opposition to the Park Chung-hee dictatorship during the 1970s. He was awarded the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights in 2012.