Nun’s hunger strike to save salamanders enters 100th day
Once dismissed as a mere protester, she gripped national attention this week as her dogged strike entered its 100th day and doctors warned she is so weak that her life hangs by a thread.
“Save nun Jiyul!” chanted hundreds of people gathered in central Seoul holding candles around a pile of paper salamanders.
The vigil, held simultaneously at 20 locations throughout the country, brought together thousands of activists, whose concerns ranged from protecting the endangered Korean amphibian to saving the nun.
A hundred days ago, Jiyul, who uses only one name like most Korean Buddhist nuns and monks, began fasting to demand the Government halt construction of a tunnel through Mount Cheonseong, near Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city.
The tunnel is part of a multibillion-dollar high- speed train line the Government is building between Seoul and Busan.
Because of the cost and route design, the government sees no alternative to building the tunnel.
For Jiyul, it’s an ugly symbol of government callousness toward the environment. For her, the bureaucrats’ emphasis on development over environment is something she should fight with her life.
The tunnel, now under construction, could harm up to 30 endangered species, including Korean clawed salamanders.
Too feeble to sit, Jiyul lies in a Buddhist temple in Seoul refusing to see doctors or Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, who visited the temple yesterday.
National media carry daily updates on her condition.
Amid the intense media attention, the National Assembly backtracked from an earlier decision and said it would conduct an environmental study jointly with civic groups but still refused to halt construction.
The Government also hurried to convene a meeting of cabinet ministers.
“It just doesn’t make sense that they would offer to conduct an environmental study while still continuing with the construction,” said Chung Myung-hee, a spokeswoman for Green Korea. “It looks like a ploy to persuade nun Jiyul to stop her fasting, just to get her off its back.”
