NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Two urgent messages about the situation in Gangjeong, Jeju: ************************** From Save Jeju Dear friends, Starting today, Gangjeong is in an emergency situation. Nearly 700 police have arrived from the mainland in Gangjeong village to monitor the blasting of Gureombi, the volcanic rock coastline, and the dredging of the seafloor. Not only will the marine life, including endangered crabs and coral reefs, be swept away, the blast has already impacted the fresh water springs that the majority of the island is dependent upon. Though our numbers are small in the village, we will do our best to fight to stop the blast of Gureombi. It is still uncertain whether the Seogwipo Police will allow the Navy to blast Gureombi on Monday, when the Governor of Jeju Island is supposed to make his decision. Please send an email to the Governor NOW asking him to please stop the blast of Gureombi. Thank you for one minute of your time. We urgently need international solidarity NOW. In p

More updates and information on the situation in Gangjeong on Jeju Island, South Korea. The first comes from Sung Hee Choi who runs the very informative blog No Base Stories Korea . She is currently in Jeju and working with the villagers of Gangjeong. According to her most recent update, protestors were forcibly prevented from setting up a vigil outside of the Jeju Assembly building, two of the protestors were injured by police. According to Sung-Hee: Yesterday, while I was in the village, the Pan Island Committeee Against the Military Base confronted the Jeju City authorities and police as the city did not allow the activists' tent vigil in front of the Island assembly. One member was arrested and two women - of whom one was greatly wounded in her face - were carried to the hospital. The second comes from the blog Ten Thousand Things , which gives more information on the ecological importance of Jeju and Gangjeong, and why it is a travesty for a Navy base for US and South Korean

Two days ago, close to 100,000 people gathered in Okinawa to protest the US military bases there. They were calling for the closure of existing bases in Okinawa and a protest against any further bases being built there. A number of different solidarity protests took place around Asia and the United States. This protests joins others which are taking place around the Asia-Pacific region. The United States has been working towards consolidating and expanding its presence in this part of the world for years now and so its very good to see people from everywhere, at all levels responding and speaking out. The fact that I can't read Japanese language newspapers or websites makes it difficult sometimes for me to gauge how people are articulating their critiques of the US military presence. Politicians and activists who come through Guam are always very mindful of not saying something which is most likely a central narrative point in these resistance to the US presence. That Guam is th