Wave of national flags on S. Korean border island

Wave of national flags on S. Korean border island. August. 11, 2016 06:57. by 강화도=박희제기자 min07@donga.com. “We wish to create a wave of Taegeukgi at this site where you can see North Korean waters and sense the pain and agony of a divided nation.”

Choi Jae-seok (69), the head of the fisheries cooperative at Acha Island, looked full of emotions when this reporter met him Wednesday morning. Acha Island, the northernmost island of Ganghwa island, has been reborn as an "island of national flags" after concerted efforts by Choi and villagers. Twenty-three Taegeukgi were flying on the 6-meter high flagpole podium over the breakwater bank at the gateway to the village from the ferry wharf. The national flags were also flying at the front yard of all 24 houses in the village.

Villagers started the campaign to transform Acha Island into a Taegeukgi island early this year. “Let’s overcome the vivid pain of a divided nation right in front of our eyes with Taegeukgi,” said Choi, a Vietnam War veteran. He proposed the creation of a Taegeukgi village, and raised about 4 million won (3,600 U.S. dollars) with donations from villagers and other sources. The villagers installed robust flagpoles that can endure strong wind, by burying steel rods up to 50 centimeters deep, and now the village has 47 flagpoles.

A ceremony for raising the national flags, in which people declared Taegeukgi Village, took place at the Acha village hall on Wednesday. The event brought together more than 40 villagers and over 10 members of 14 veterans’ affairs associations in the Ganghwa area, including the Gwangbokhoi (Liberation Council), the association of disabled military and police veterans, Vietnam War veterans, and the associations of bereaved families of the war dead. All attendees looked deeply impressed and touched as the national flags were raised amid streaming South Korean national anthem after the pledge of alliance.

When Kim Jong-hwan (85), chairman of the Korean War veteran in Ganghwa Council, chanted “Long Live, the Republic of Korea,” and “Long Live, Ganghwa Island,” villagers followed him to recite, holding the national flag high up. “I am deeply touched to see a campaign pledging innocent love for the nation is being staged on this small island,” said Lee Jae-hoon (67), chairman of the council of Ganghwa county veterans associations.

Acha Island is situated about one-hour ferry ride from Oepori Wharf of Ganghwa Island. The island belongs to the township of Seodo-myeon along with Jumun Island, Boleum Island, and Mal Island. It only measures 7 kilometers from Mal Island to the Haeseong Peninsula of Yeonbaek County, Hwanghae Province in North Korea.

The South Korean island was once a frontier fisheries base within Ganghwa Island, with more than 200 fishing boats flocking, before the 1950s when the divide of the Korean Peninsula was solidified. The Acha fisheries cooperative, which was established in 1931, is the origin of the Gyeongin Bukbu Fisheries Cooperative, which has grown to become the nation’s largest fisheries cooperative. However, the area has been struggling these days due to an influx of Chinese fishing boats that violate the inter-Korean neutral waters at the mouth of the Han River, and engage in illegal fishing.

The island villagers launched a company last year in a bid to regain its lost fame, and are developing the island into Taegeukgi village. “We will construct Yeondo Bridge linking Acha Island, Jumun Island, and Boleum Island by 2022 to make Seodo-myeon area into a tourist hotspot,” said Moon Gyeong-shin, chief of the fisheries and green department at Ganghwa County Office.