Jeju naval base plan ruled lawful

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the military Thursday to continue construction of a naval base on Jeju Island.

It overturned a lower court ruling that the initial base construction plan, approved by the Ministry of National Defense in 2009, was invalid because it was pushed without a proper environmental assessment.

“The court regards previous rulings as based on a misinterpretation of the law,” Justice Min Il-young said.

“The law states the environmental assessment to be made before initial architectural design, not before initial construction, and therefore the earlier decision is null and void.”

The top court’s decision is expected to speed up the construction of the base.

In January 2009, 438 residents filed a suit against the ministry over the construction plan near Gangjeong Village on the resort island.

The new base, when completed, will be able to accommodate 20 warships and two 150,000 ton cruise ships. The project is also part of the ministry’s strategy of coping with growing tension in the West Sea.

The plan has faced protests from some local residents, environmentalists and anti-government activists who claim that the base will cause environmental damage.

The clash intensified when a construction company hired by the Navy blasted Guremobi seashore, a rock bed at the site of the naval base early this year. The protesters claimed the rock bed with rare topographical features was a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve.

The government plans to finish the 480,000-square-meter base by 2015.

Jeju, an hour-long flight from Seoul, is a special self-governing province with autonomous rights in such fields as administration, taxation, finance and business. It is one of South Korea’s most popular tourist destinations. <The Korea Times/Yi Whan-woo>

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