Feature story - April 3, 2012
Yesterday morning, three senior Greenpeace staff members were denied entry to South Korea. They were accompanying the organisation’s International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo as part of a delegation going to meet with political and NGO leaders to discuss nuclear issues.
03 April 2012
Greenpeace staff members at South Korea's International Airport
This is once again an indication of the manner in which governments, together with the nuclear industry, operate. The South Korean government wants to silence Greenpeace from campaigning against nuclear power – last year they put US$9 million towards countering Greenpeace's anti-nuclear campaign, and said that Greenpeace would be dealt with in a systematic manner.
This in a country that recently held a summit to discuss nuclear safety.
“Yet again we see that democracy and nuclear power don’t mix. The nuclear industry cannot stand public scrutiny, and the people of South Korea should be asking themselves what do the industry and government have to hide? What conversation would my colleagues from Greenpeace start that is so challenging that they deserve to be banned from the country? Are they concerned about Greenpeace’s finding in Fukushima and Chernobyl? Or is it our critique of nuclear economics?” said Kumi Naidoo.
Greenpeace Africa condemns the deportation of these activists from South Korea.
This is a particularly ominous sign when South Korea could be one of the countries vying for the tender to build the Nuclear-1 plant in South Africa.
We urge the South Africa government to stop its nuclear plans and avoid a similar trap to the one seen in South Korea and throughout the nuclear industry, where a total lack of transparency and openness permeate their workings.