I will take the village back!

The residents left on April 16. They will stay in temporary housing until their new homes, in a new village, are ready. One of the villagers' main demands, once they accepted the governments' final ultimatum to leave voluntarily or be forced out with nothing, was to be able to live together in a new village.1)

Villagers were forced into "accepting" their forced displacement after a brutal year: the destruction of their school, the demolition of vacant and re-occupied houses, dozens of politically motivated arrests (including of former village leader Kim Ji Tae), repeated police attacks, the fencing off of their fields with barbed wire, and arbitrary police checkpoints on the roads leading to the village. After most of their fields were occupied by the Korean army in May 2006, the villagers had come together to collectively farm the few fields left to them. But in November, the police returned to fence off the few fields that had been left free of barbed wire. Since then, the villagers have found themselves with no way to support themselves, and an increasingly desperate financial situation.2)

Finally, during negotiations between the residents' committee and the government, the government gave villagers an ultimatum: leave now and take our (inadequate) offer, or wait until April and leave with nothing. The government made it clear that either way, the village would be destroyed in April.
Meanwhile, other Koreans will continue to fight against the base expansion. The reasons for opposition to the base expansion are the same as ever: rejection of US intervention on the Korean peninsula and US imperialism in Northeast Asia, and now more than ever, the forced displacement of Daechuri residents. The KCPT, an alliance of Korean social movements and organizations, continues to actively oppose the base expansion.
Although some press reports and Korean government statements have announced the residents' “voluntary” departure, there is nothing voluntary about it. The “peace” that the government proudly announces is a peace without justice, achieved through physical and economic violence. The Korean government gloats that it “look[s] forward to putting an end to this conflict..." But as long as US imperialism tramples on people's rights, in Korea and around the world, people will keep on fighting against the global empire and the states that support it.
An amazing center of community, art, and hope was destroyed to make way for a center of war and repression. But the Daechuri villagers' strength and determination, and the memory of what was created in Daechuri, will live in all of our struggles. Wherever there is global empire and exploitation, there will be a thousand Daechuris ready to resist, and next time, to win. Daechuri lives!3)

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1) saveptfarmers, Last candlelight vigil in Daechuri, KCPT English News, 2007.

2) savePTfarmers, Korean government forces an "agreement" from Daechuri residents, KCPT English News, 2007.

3) saveptfarmers, Korean government forces an "agreement" from Daechuri residents, 2007.