"The people decide...cancel the plan to build a second airport in Jeju"
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"Next Government, White Paper on the 2nd Airport, which was saved by the civil war and Togun forces"
Jeju 2nd Airport Resolutions of the Jeju Emergency Residents' Assembly on the 24th. ⓒHeadline Jeju
Ahead of the presidential election to be held on June 3, members of the Jeju 2nd Airport opposition group and citizens are urging the political power to cancel the project.
The Jeju Emergency Residents' Committee to Stop the 2nd Airport held a resolution meeting on June 24 at 7 p.m. in the square in front of Jeju City Hall.
The resolution meeting began with a speech by Kang Jae-pyo, who serves as the permanent representative of the Emergency Residents' Committee, followed by condemnation speeches and performances, solidarity speeches by political parties, and the reading of resolutions.
"It's been 10 years already. The village has changed a lot in the 10 years that Gangsan has changed," he said. "The 6070 households that started opposing the second airport 10 years ago have become 7080 households, and we are here to say that we must stop the second airport no matter what, even though our mobility has become inconvenient."
He continued, "I want to ask, why should our residents, who have done nothing wrong, suffer for 10 years?" "Ten years ago, the construction of the second airport was announced suddenly. Hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in Onpyeong-ri, Nansan-ri, and Susan-ri will be expropriated for the airport site."
He added, "Even if farmers are compensated for losing their land, they cannot save their farmland because the surrounding land prices have risen." He expressed concern that "Sinsan, Nansan, and Susan will become uninhabitable villages because of the noise from the airplanes."
Jeju 2nd Airport Resolutions of the Jeju Emergency Residents' Assembly on the 24th. ⓒHeadline Jeju
"The decision to destroy the lives of the residents was made without any consultation with them. Can we accept it?" he said. "So we formed a targeted task force for each village and stood in solidarity, and now 10 years have passed."
He added, "We have two questions that we want answers to. "To this day, we still haven't heard a convincing answer," he emphasized.
"They say it's hard to get airline tickets these days, but it's not because the airport is cramped, it's because airlines are diverting flights to international destinations that are more profitable," he said, adding, "The number of tourists to Jeju hasn't increased in 10 years, so why do we need a second airport that's bigger than Jeju Airport?"
"If you go up to Dodongbong in my village, the airport site is a wide flat area, and at first glance it looks appropriate for an airport, but it's not," he said. "If you look around (the airport site) during the rainy season, when it rains heavily, you can see the troughs, where the water flows into the groundwater."
He added, "The troughs mean that there are caves in the ground that receive water." "Seongsan is the rainiest place on Jeju Island. Without them, the crops would be submerged and we wouldn't be able to farm."
He also pointed out, "What would happen if we blocked them all? Whenever it rains, there will be a flood," he said, adding, "If climate change causes heavy rains, it will become an area that is difficult for people to live in, let alone farm."
"The coastal area around the site of the second airport, which runs from Hadori in Gujwa-eup to Jongdali, Seongsan-eup, Ozori, and Sinsan-ri, is a migratory bird arrival belt," he said, adding, "Even after seeing the tragic Muan Airport disaster not long ago, it does not make sense to build an airport in a place where migratory birds come and go."
"This has already been recognized by experts at national research institutes, which is why the Moon Jae-in government's Ministry of Environment rejected the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment," he said. "However, the reason why the conflict has continued for 10 years is because of irresponsible governors and politicians."
"It makes no sense that the governor and lawmakers have no position on the issue of the second airport, which is the biggest issue in the region," he said, adding that "Governor Oh Young-hoon and the Democratic Party of Korea should come out with a clear position even now." He urged the presidential candidates to express their opposition to the second airport.
"We implore the presidential candidates to ask the people of Jeju Island for their opinions on the second airport and promise to make a decision based on those opinions," he said, emphasizing that this is the only way to resolve the longstanding conflict.
"We will fight vigorously without giving up until the day we win the right of people's decision together with the people and cancel the second airport," he said, calling for active support.
Chae Ho-jin, secretary general of the Jeju Federation of the National Federation of Farmers' Associations, who farms in Seongsan-eup, said, "If you go to the intersection of the post office in Goseong-ri, Seongsan-eup, there are people who have been standing for 10 years. "They are the members of the Seongsan-eup Farmers' Association," he said, emphasizing that "they are the ones who have been picketing against the second airport."
He added, "I've also heard stories like, 'Those people are paid to come and oppose the second airport.'" "What kind of person would stand there for 10 years, picketing," he said, "We farmers are fighting to protect our right to survival. We farmers are standing there with a desperate heart to defend our right to survival."
"Forcing a second airport is taking away the right to survival of farmers and sending them into a death spiral," said Chae. "We farmers resolutely reject the second airport. We will proudly block the construction of the second airport."
Jeju 2nd Airport Resolutions of the Jeju Emergency Residents' Assembly on the 24th. ⓒHeadline Jeju
Jeju 2nd Airport Resolutions of the Jeju Emergency Residents' Assembly on the 24th. ⓒHeadline Jeju
홍영철 제주참여환경연대 대표는 "지난해 말 무안국제공항에서 참사가 발생했다. 189명의 안타까운 생명이 돌아가셨다"라며 "누가 잘못했는가. 엔진에 빨려들어간 새인가, 로컬라이저인가. 바로 국토교통부가 잘못한 것"이라고 성토했다.
홍 대표는 "문재인 정부에서도 철새와 숨골 때문에 전략환경영향평가를 반려했다"며 "그런데 윤석열 전 대통령과 원희룡 전 장관이 이 쓰러져가던 사업을 일으킨 것"이라고 비판했다.
그는 "대선이 치러지고 새로운 대통령이 나와도 이들(국토부)은 끝까지 발악할 것이다. 토건세력이 살아있는 한 국토부는 멈추지 않을 것"이라며 "국토부의 조류충돌 조사나 숨골 조사에서 진실은 하나도 없었다. 전부 말장난이고 속임수"라며 제2공항이 백지화될 때 까지 싸워나가겠다고 밝혔다. <헤드라인제주>
Jeju 2nd Airport Resolutions of the Jeju Emergency Residents' Assembly on the 24th. ⓒHeadline Jeju
