(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on April 29)

Jeju naval base
The Jeju Special Autonomous Province and the central government signed an
agreement Monday for the construction of a large naval base on Korea's
southernmost and largest island. The five-year, 1 trillion won project is to
establish a strategically-important base for the Navy's operations in the
Pacific.

The naval station is to share berths for civilian cruise ships, a gambit
to secure residents' support. As a result, the new base earned the peculiar title
of "civilian-military composite tourism port."
We believe it would have been better if the defense authorities had chosen
another one of the many islands in the South Sea instead of the resort island of
Jeju. But the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Navy Headquarters saw Jeju Island to
be the best home for a new fleet that will be responsible for protecting Korea's
sea lanes. The military authorities were also looking to operate naval task
forces from the Jeju base in the event of international maritime disputes a long
way offshore.
Berths for 20 warships, including sophisticated Aegis destroyers, will be built
at the new naval base west of Seogwipo. A civilian section will be built to
accommodate two cruise ships at the same time. According to the agreement, the
Air Force will return a disused airfield to the province and instead establish an
air search and rescue detachment near the projected base to support the Navy
fleet.
The autonomous province and the central government took pains to ease the
negative impact on the residents. The document provides that construction
contracts will be given to companies based on the island and that civilian jobs
to be created on the naval base will primarily be offered to Jeju residents. No
fighters shall be flown to and from the air search and rescue base and no
military facilities shall be designated outside the base.
Despite these provisions, which reflected residents' demands, the Jeju provincial
council refused to endorse the accord on the grounds of incomplete assessment of
the base's environmental impact. Some NGOs and a Catholic priests' group are
leading a campaign to scrap the naval base plan. Polltakers found the majority of
residents were in favor of the base project but objectors claim that samples were
too small to be representative.
As we look at it, the defense authorities favored the Jeju coast in consideration
of the living conditions of the Navy and Air Force personnel in addition to the
island's operational advantage. Certain egotism is thus detected on the part of
the military. On the other hand, opponents' claim that existence of a naval base
would seriously tarnish the image of Jeju Island in the eyes of international
tourists or investors is not entirely acceptable. Jeju's "Island of Peace"
catchphrase may rather be more impressive to foreign visitors when they watch a
large cruise ship berthed in the harbor of the naval station side by side with an
Aegis destroyer.
The signing of the agreement between the province and the central government
would by no means bring residents' opposition to an end, but it could intensify
it. It should therefore mark the beginning of steadfast efforts of the military
and the Jeju autonomous administration to persuade all affected residents and
ensure fair compensation of people who will need to be relocated from their
homes. The violent protests in Buan in 2004 over the construction of a nuclear
waste storage facility are still vivid in our memory. No such problems should be
repeated in building a key naval base.
(END)