Jiyul ends hunger strike on 100th day
Government, Buddhist nun reach breakthrough in tunnel dispute
The government agreed yesterday to halt construction of a controversial tunnel through Mount Cheonseong, prompting a Buddhist nun to end her protest hunger strike on its 100th day.
After visiting Jungto Society headquarters in Seoul where the nun, Jiyul, has been fasting, Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan called a ministerial meeting and decided to make concessions to avoid a tragic end to her protest. Jiyul then announced an end to her fast.
Monk Beopryun and a prime minister's aide met to work out an agreement, but no details were announced immediately.
Jiyul, a 47-year-old Buddhist nun from Naewon Temple in Mount Cheonseong, 420 kilometers southeast of Seoul, had been demanding an immediate halt to the tunnel construction and a joint environmental impact study of the project, which will used for bullet train service between Seoul and Busan.
Hundreds of citizens hold candlelit vigils in support for nun Jiyul at Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, yesterday evening. [Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald]
Environmentalists claim the mountain contains about 30 protected species and ancient marshlands that will be critically damaged by the tunneling work. However, government officials are citing an official environmental appraisal conducted a decade ago that said the ecosystem will not be adversely affected.
The breakthrough came after the general public and lawmakers expressed support for Jiyul, who observed her 100th day of fasting to protest the tunnel project.
Hundreds of people held candlelit vigils in support of Jiyul's fight in Gwanghwamun in central Seoul and in 16 other cities across the country, demanding an environmental review.
"We want Jiyul and salamanders to live peacefully in Mount Cheonseong," said a group of students from an elementary school in Seoul, who brought about 300 paper-folded salamanders as a token of their support.
Salamanders, one of the endangered species living in Mount Cheonseong, have become the symbol of Jiyul's protest.
"She's not doing this for her own sake. I don't know about who's right and who's wrong, but shouldn't we first think of how to save a person's life?" said Jang Young-ik, a 30-year-old man working at a publishing company.
Earlier in the day, the parliamentary committee on construction and transportation also held an emergency meeting and unanimously passed a resolution signed by 92 lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties.
They urged the government to conduct a joint study on the environmental impact of the tunnel through the mountain while appealing to Jiyul to end her fast.
"The devil-may-care way of thinking of the environmental influence which has been rampant in the government whenever it is pushing for developmental projects has brought about this situation," lawmakers said.
The lawmakers refrained, however, from calling for an immediate stop of blasting construction work at Mount Cheonseong in South Gyeongsang Province.
(milaya@heraldm.com)
By Lee Sun-young
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Nun Jiyul hunger strike at 100-day mark
Despite concerns from all walks of Korean society, Buddist nun Jiyul pushed her fast-unto-death protest against construction of a tunnel through Mount Cheonseong into its 100th day yesterday and showed no sign of giving up.
The Jungto Society, a Buddhist training center where Jiyul is now staying, said the 47-year-old nun talked and smiled at colleagues yesterday morning, although she has been critically weakened by the long hunger strike that began Oct. 27.
Her condition is deteriorating as time goes by. She has not been able to take a pinch of salt through her throat any more during the past few days and lost consciousness once, Jungto officials said.
In Gwanghwamun in central Seoul and in 16 other cities across the country environmentalists and religious leaders were set to hold candlelit vigils in support of Jiyul's fight demanding a review of the construction of the tunnel for a high-speed railroad because of the environmental impact.
Even though Jiyul has refused to meet visitors, prominent figures have showed up at the Jungto Society hall in Seocho-dong, southen Seoul, in a bid to dissuade her from continuing her deadly protest.
Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan planned a visit yesterday, following in the footsteps of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, Home Affairs Minister Oh Young-kyo, and Construction Minister Kang Dong-suk among many others. None was able to come up with a breakthrough plan, nor meet Jiyul.
Apparently trying to prevent the protest from ending tragically and heaping fallout on President Roh Moo-hyun and other political figures, the parliamentary committee on construction and transportation held an emergency meeting yesterday and unanimously passed a resolution signed by 92 lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties.
They urged the government to conduct a joint study on the environmental impact of the tunnel through the mountain, 420 kilometers southeast of Seoul., while appealing to Jiyul to end her fast.
"The devil-may-care way of thinking of the environmental influence which has been rampant in the government whenever it is pushing for developmental projects has brought about this situation," lawmakers said.
They refrained however from calling for an immediate stop of blasting construction work at Mount Cheonseong in South Gyeongsang Province.
Environmentalists claim Mount Cheonseong contains about 30 protected species and ancient marshlands and will be critically damaged, but government officials cite an official environmental influence appraisal conducted a decade ago that said the ecosystem will not be damaged.
(milaya@heraldm.com)
By Lee Sun-young
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