Peace protester is arrested in South Korea

A peace protester from Knighton has been arrested during a protest in South Korea.

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Angie Zelter is among those who have been arrested in ongoing protests against the building of a new naval base on Jeju Island in South Korea.

The military base is due to be built on the island, which was named an 'Island of World Peace' by the South Korean government in 2005.

Explosions have already begun on the Gureombi rocks on the island to prepare for the construction and hundreds of protestors have been involved in non-violent blockades of the site.

Miss Zelter, who was last arrested just over two weeks ago, said local villagers had been engaged in a five-year long struggle to prevent the construction, which she said threatened the sacred coastline of the village and the fragile corals in the bay.

She said 94 per cent of Jeju islanders voted against its construction and had used every democratic means available to them to oppose it.

She said: "With all my heart I believe that Gangjeong villagers' peaceful lives and the pristine nature of Jeju deserve to be protected from this aggressive act by the Korean Navy and its US backers.

"I am happy to do my little bit to help.

"Building the naval base does not advance the security of Jeju or South Korea – it just adds to military tension on and around the Korean peninsula. This affects us all."

Professor Dave Webb, chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, who has just returned from the island, added: "Jeju has been designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO – as such it is the concern of all of us. We cannot allow the military to destroy such a unique resource."