Last year some friends and I attended a music festival organized by artist-activists from Gangjeong Village on the southern coast of Jeju Island. The area also happens to be the location of a controversial naval base. Occupying most of Gureombi, a 1.2 kilometer coastal stretch of volcanic bedrock, the military-subjugated area used to be a designated Absolute Conservation Zone for its biodiversity and rare, soft coral beds, as well as a sacred site where locals have held shamanic rituals for generations.