Islamic business event drawing protest

Members of an anti-Islam alliance in Gangwon Province protest against the provincial government’s plan to host the World Islamic Economic Forum next year, in front of the provincial government office, Friday. / Courtesy of Jung Hyung-man

Christian residents against Gangwon’s drive to attract Muslim investors

By Kim Se-jeong

The Gangwon Provincial Government is at odds with some Christian residents over its attempt to host the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) next year.

Gangwon Province has made efforts for years to host the annual gathering of businesses from Islamic countries. It is optimistic that PyeongChang will be the host city in September 2017, especially following Governor Choi Moon-soon’s meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, garnering his support. The WIEF headquarters are located in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.

The 2017 host city will be decided during this year’s forum this August in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“This is the biggest Islamic economic forum, equivalent to the Davos Forum,” a provincial government official, who wished to be identified only by the surname Kim, told The Korea Times. “It invites heads of states, global company CEOs and other influential figures.”

However, the campaign has met strong opposition from a local anti-Muslim alliance of conservative christian groups.

Members of the alliance say the province’s Muslim-friendly policies will enable a large number of Muslims to enter Korea and expose the country to terrorism, thus endangering national security.

“The forum will mean opening the door for Islamic money to enter the Korean market,” said Jung Hyung-man, leader of the alliance. “Along with the money and businesses, their religious and political ideologies will come.”

He and 30 other protesters rallied in front of the provincial government office in Chuncheon earlier this month. “In the Islamic world, religion heavily influences businesses, and they invest in places where there’s potential for Islam to grow. We believe this is dangerous to Korea.”

This was not the first anti-Islam protest in Gangwon. In March, the government announced that it would withdraw its push to create a halal food zone, for which halal-certified meat producers and restaurants were planned, giving in to the strong opposition from the anti-Muslim groups.

Given that Namiseom, an island in the province, receives 200,000 Muslim tourists a year on average, the government intended to lay out infrastructure to accommodate their needs.

The provincial government has not decided what to do with the WIEF plan. The forum is too good an opportunity for the province to miss, according to Kim, because events of that level bring in a lot of people to the region, boosting the local economy.

“This is a great opportunity not only for Gangwon but for the entire country,” he said.

Asked what to do if the protest continues, Kim only said, “If the opponents’ concerns are reasonable, we will listen. But for now, they oppose the forum with some claims irrelevant to the issue. The most important thing is that the two parties need to understand each other and seek compromise.”