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omonatheydidBy Lee Tae-hoon
GANGJEONG, Jeju ― The debate continues to rage as to whether an envisioned naval base on Jeju Island will strengthen national security or spur an arms race in Northeast Asia, potentially making it a prime target for military retaliation.
The Navy is building a naval base with a budget of 977.6 billion won ($920.5 million) in Gangjeong, a village on the southern coast of the volcanic island.
It is capable of housing more than 20 warships, including three Aegis destroyers, and mooring two cruisers or an aircraft carrier, according to a military source.
Opponents of the naval base argue that the militarization of the resort island, which lies south of the Korean Peninsula between China and Japan, will provoke Beijing and Tokyo to beef up their military presence and stir up regional instability.
Proponents claim that the operation of the new base will be strictly defensive in nature and it will be the least a country surrounded by superpowers can do to protect its sovereignty.
What’s at stake?
The Navy claims that its military presence in Jeju will help defend Korea’s maritime rights and interests, especially in the East China Sea, one of the last unexplored high-potential resource areas bordered by China, Korea and Japan.
The three countries have yet to reach an agreement on the delimitation of their maritime borders on the untapped reserves estimated to contain as much as 100 billion barrels of oil.
“We are waging a silent battle over resources against China and Japan,” a senior naval official said asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The dispute stems from overlapping jurisdictional claims and concerned countries’ different views on the method of maritime delimitation under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Japan argues that its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which is generally defined as an area within 200 nautical miles from a coastline, should extend as far as a median line that bisects the East China Sea.
Both Korea and China claim that their EEZ should stretch beyond 200 nautical miles from their shorelines on the ground their continental shelf stretches to the Okinawa Trough in the disputed area.
Dispute over Ieodo
Kim Hoon-bae, advisor to the Korea Defense Network, says the Jeju naval base will play a key role in strengthening the country’s sovereignty over Ieodo, a submerged mound on the overlapping EEZ of Korea and China in the East China Sea.
In 2003, Korea completed the construction of an ocean research station with a helipad on Ieodo, a reef submerged 4.6 meters below sea level.
“The naval base will help Korea effectively counter China’s increasingly assertive territorial claims over Ieodo,” he said.
Also known as Socotra Rock, Ieodo is located 149 kilometers southwest of Korea’s southernmost island of Marado and 247 kilometers northeast of the nearest Chinese island Tongdao.
Col. Lee Eun-guk, head of the Naval Base Business Committee, points out that the new naval base in Gangjeong will allow the country’s warships to arrive at Ieodo in seven hours.
It currently takes more than 21 hours for the Navy to dispatch warships to Ieodo from its base in Busan, compared to 13 hours from the nearest Chinese base in Sheshan Dao.
“If we completely give up Ieodo, Jeju will be exposed to security challenges that western border islands, such as Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong face,” he said, noting that the reef serves as a buffer zone between Jeju and China.
The Navy also claims that the new base will improve the surveillance and protection of the country’s southern sea lanes, through which over 60 percent of the country’s trade passes. Nearly all oil tankers coming to Korea also use those lanes.
Concerns over naval base
Cheong Wook-sik, head of the Peace Network, points out that the construction of a naval base on Jeju, which was designated in 2005 as the “Island of World Peace,” will turn “uncertain threats” to “certain threats.”
“Naval activities of China and Japan in waters off Jeju Island or the Korean Peninsula have never posed a serious security threat,” he said. “Should a maritime conflict arise, it would be more appropriate for the maritime police to handle the matter.”
Cheong contends that if Korea sends warships to settle disputes with China and Japan, it will only cause unnecessary military confrontations with the neighboring countries.
He also argues that the new 480,000-square-meter naval base is poised to turn into an outpost for a U.S. naval unit capable of intercepting China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“Jeju will become the shrimp whose back gets broken in a fight between whales,” he said, noting that Seoul won’t be able to resist the U.S. Navy’s demands to make use of the base to blockade China due to its military alliance.
Ann Wright, a retired Army colonel and former diplomat, suspects that the $1-billion project is driven by greed, rather than national security.
“I’d say that there are plenty of naval bases on the mainland of Korea,” she said.
“Every time the military expands its presence, you have to look closely at why they are doing it. More often than not, here in Korea too, it is all about big military contractors who want to make money.”
Justification of military buildup
The Navy claims that Korea needs to reinforce its military capacity as it lags far behind its neighboring powers in terms of military might.
Korea’s defense budget stood at $24.5billion last year, which was only a fraction of the $78 billion and $45.6 billion that China and Japan spent respectively in that year, according to the 2010 Defense White Paper.
“A proverb says if you wish for peace, prepare for war,” Col. Jeong Sam-man of Korea Naval War College said. “History shows that peace cannot exist when one is defenseless.”
Jeong also discounts the possibility of the Jeju base becoming a U.S. naval base.
“Not a single penny of the budget is allocated for the sake of the U.S. military,” he said.
Col. Lee also noted that the Jeju naval base lacks facilities to allow U.S. sailors to stay for a long term.
“We’re not building any facilities to support U.S. operations,” he said.
The military outlined a plan to build a new naval base on Jeju in 1993.
The plan gained momentum as the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration pursued a greater self-reliant defense capability in line with its efforts to push forward the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States.
The Korea Times
Here's an another article about protests and civil disobedience carried out by the people of Jeju Island and about the effects that the military presence on the island will have.
This article points out how the Korean government has blatantly disregarded the wishes of Jeju Island residents--expressed obviously through protests and social action over 5 years-- in order to construct the base. The undercover police cracked down on a peaceful protest on the 18th of June 2011. It also makes the case that the base is to serve US military interests, citing military analyst Matthew Hoey of the Cambridge-based Military Space Transparency Project. Lastly, it makes a mention of the environmental destruction the project will cause. Jeju Island is well known for its natural beauty and a host of rare ecological features, it has high biological diversity and unique volcanic features. It should not be sacrificed to satisfy the greed of military contractors, the project is projected to cost USD 1 billion, making it very profitable to corporations who will build and outfit the island with missile launchers and other weapons.
And here's another article which argues very well that this base is not in South Korea's interests, militarily or economically, instead benefits seem to accrue to the US. The military base is located in the East China Sea, a position that threatens China. This is very odd, because South Korea's biggest threat is North Korea, whereas China is its largest trading partner. On the other hand, this base would be useful the US to counter Chinese expansion into the mineral and oil rich East China Sea.
South Korea has long had ties with the US military, something the South Koreans are increasingly uncomfortable with. And the Korean government did not hold a legitimate vote for the people of Jeju Island to decide its fate, showing that the project itself is not legitimate.
GANGJEONG, Jeju ― The debate continues to rage as to whether an envisioned naval base on Jeju Island will strengthen national security or spur an arms race in Northeast Asia, potentially making it a prime target for military retaliation.
The Navy is building a naval base with a budget of 977.6 billion won ($920.5 million) in Gangjeong, a village on the southern coast of the volcanic island.
It is capable of housing more than 20 warships, including three Aegis destroyers, and mooring two cruisers or an aircraft carrier, according to a military source.
Opponents of the naval base argue that the militarization of the resort island, which lies south of the Korean Peninsula between China and Japan, will provoke Beijing and Tokyo to beef up their military presence and stir up regional instability.
Proponents claim that the operation of the new base will be strictly defensive in nature and it will be the least a country surrounded by superpowers can do to protect its sovereignty.
What’s at stake?
The Navy claims that its military presence in Jeju will help defend Korea’s maritime rights and interests, especially in the East China Sea, one of the last unexplored high-potential resource areas bordered by China, Korea and Japan.
The three countries have yet to reach an agreement on the delimitation of their maritime borders on the untapped reserves estimated to contain as much as 100 billion barrels of oil.
“We are waging a silent battle over resources against China and Japan,” a senior naval official said asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The dispute stems from overlapping jurisdictional claims and concerned countries’ different views on the method of maritime delimitation under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Japan argues that its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which is generally defined as an area within 200 nautical miles from a coastline, should extend as far as a median line that bisects the East China Sea.
Both Korea and China claim that their EEZ should stretch beyond 200 nautical miles from their shorelines on the ground their continental shelf stretches to the Okinawa Trough in the disputed area.
Dispute over Ieodo
Kim Hoon-bae, advisor to the Korea Defense Network, says the Jeju naval base will play a key role in strengthening the country’s sovereignty over Ieodo, a submerged mound on the overlapping EEZ of Korea and China in the East China Sea.
In 2003, Korea completed the construction of an ocean research station with a helipad on Ieodo, a reef submerged 4.6 meters below sea level.
“The naval base will help Korea effectively counter China’s increasingly assertive territorial claims over Ieodo,” he said.
Also known as Socotra Rock, Ieodo is located 149 kilometers southwest of Korea’s southernmost island of Marado and 247 kilometers northeast of the nearest Chinese island Tongdao.
Col. Lee Eun-guk, head of the Naval Base Business Committee, points out that the new naval base in Gangjeong will allow the country’s warships to arrive at Ieodo in seven hours.
It currently takes more than 21 hours for the Navy to dispatch warships to Ieodo from its base in Busan, compared to 13 hours from the nearest Chinese base in Sheshan Dao.
“If we completely give up Ieodo, Jeju will be exposed to security challenges that western border islands, such as Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong face,” he said, noting that the reef serves as a buffer zone between Jeju and China.
The Navy also claims that the new base will improve the surveillance and protection of the country’s southern sea lanes, through which over 60 percent of the country’s trade passes. Nearly all oil tankers coming to Korea also use those lanes.
Concerns over naval base
Cheong Wook-sik, head of the Peace Network, points out that the construction of a naval base on Jeju, which was designated in 2005 as the “Island of World Peace,” will turn “uncertain threats” to “certain threats.”
“Naval activities of China and Japan in waters off Jeju Island or the Korean Peninsula have never posed a serious security threat,” he said. “Should a maritime conflict arise, it would be more appropriate for the maritime police to handle the matter.”
Cheong contends that if Korea sends warships to settle disputes with China and Japan, it will only cause unnecessary military confrontations with the neighboring countries.
He also argues that the new 480,000-square-meter naval base is poised to turn into an outpost for a U.S. naval unit capable of intercepting China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“Jeju will become the shrimp whose back gets broken in a fight between whales,” he said, noting that Seoul won’t be able to resist the U.S. Navy’s demands to make use of the base to blockade China due to its military alliance.
Ann Wright, a retired Army colonel and former diplomat, suspects that the $1-billion project is driven by greed, rather than national security.
“I’d say that there are plenty of naval bases on the mainland of Korea,” she said.
“Every time the military expands its presence, you have to look closely at why they are doing it. More often than not, here in Korea too, it is all about big military contractors who want to make money.”
Justification of military buildup
The Navy claims that Korea needs to reinforce its military capacity as it lags far behind its neighboring powers in terms of military might.
Korea’s defense budget stood at $24.5billion last year, which was only a fraction of the $78 billion and $45.6 billion that China and Japan spent respectively in that year, according to the 2010 Defense White Paper.
“A proverb says if you wish for peace, prepare for war,” Col. Jeong Sam-man of Korea Naval War College said. “History shows that peace cannot exist when one is defenseless.”
Jeong also discounts the possibility of the Jeju base becoming a U.S. naval base.
“Not a single penny of the budget is allocated for the sake of the U.S. military,” he said.
Col. Lee also noted that the Jeju naval base lacks facilities to allow U.S. sailors to stay for a long term.
“We’re not building any facilities to support U.S. operations,” he said.
The military outlined a plan to build a new naval base on Jeju in 1993.
The plan gained momentum as the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration pursued a greater self-reliant defense capability in line with its efforts to push forward the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States.
The Korea Times
Here's an another article about protests and civil disobedience carried out by the people of Jeju Island and about the effects that the military presence on the island will have.
This article points out how the Korean government has blatantly disregarded the wishes of Jeju Island residents--expressed obviously through protests and social action over 5 years-- in order to construct the base. The undercover police cracked down on a peaceful protest on the 18th of June 2011. It also makes the case that the base is to serve US military interests, citing military analyst Matthew Hoey of the Cambridge-based Military Space Transparency Project. Lastly, it makes a mention of the environmental destruction the project will cause. Jeju Island is well known for its natural beauty and a host of rare ecological features, it has high biological diversity and unique volcanic features. It should not be sacrificed to satisfy the greed of military contractors, the project is projected to cost USD 1 billion, making it very profitable to corporations who will build and outfit the island with missile launchers and other weapons.
And here's another article which argues very well that this base is not in South Korea's interests, militarily or economically, instead benefits seem to accrue to the US. The military base is located in the East China Sea, a position that threatens China. This is very odd, because South Korea's biggest threat is North Korea, whereas China is its largest trading partner. On the other hand, this base would be useful the US to counter Chinese expansion into the mineral and oil rich East China Sea.
South Korea has long had ties with the US military, something the South Koreans are increasingly uncomfortable with. And the Korean government did not hold a legitimate vote for the people of Jeju Island to decide its fate, showing that the project itself is not legitimate.
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-11 11:46 am (UTC)just bomb the island, get it out of the picture, problem solved.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-12 05:11 pm (UTC)Dokdo is a tiny island with a lot of dispute and totally bombable.
Jeju is a fairly large island with rich cultural history famous for women divers.
I mean, where would SK'ers vacation without Jeju?
no subject
Date: 2011-09-13 05:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-13 06:37 am (UTC)an East Asian Cold War? that is NOT what that area needs.
get rid of Dokdo to get rid of that issue, have solid sea between those countries, less reason for them to interact and get pissed about nothing
if Korea really wants to build a base that bad (instead of say take care of its poorer population), then put it more strategicaly, say NK/SK border where they REALLY DO have something to worry about
this is rediculous
aren't they supposed to be trying to mend things between each other?
this is one GIANT step back.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-13 04:55 pm (UTC)I was just commenting on your comment to "bomb the island" when the island in the article is Jeju. Personally, - even before looking to international affairs - I think the biggest concern this article brings for internal affairs is the complete disregard of the citizens' dispute. The citizens obviously don't want it there. This is a slippery road to a totalitarian government that won't be that different from North Korea.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-13 04:56 pm (UTC)Please don't bomb Jeju!