Negotiation with POSCO and February 2015 fact-finding visit to Kyaukphyu Island

After the August 2013 visit where legal representation was in place for the Kyaukphyu farmers, the Clinic contacted DAEWOO International in February 2020 for negotiation. Daewoo International was not acquired by POSCO and it was called POSCO International. POSCO International argued that, although DAEWOO paid for the lands, it was the Myanmar government entity Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) that was a party to the land transfer. It was conflicting with the fact that DAEWOO is the signatory to the land transfer agreement.

In February 2015, the Clinic came back to gather additional information this time with a Korean law firm representative tasked with the litigation.

Since the August 2013 visit, two things have changed: One of the most serious obstacle was that the land transfer agreement was not given to the farmers during the land transfer so the farmers did not know under what terms the transfers were made. Almost immediately after the August 2013 visit, the local government offered to distribute the contracts. Most of the farmers refused to receive them, fearing that such receipt may hurt the chance of winning the lawsuit by finalizing the transfer. One of them did receive a copy of the contracts. For the first time, the Clinic got hold of the document setting out the terms of the land transfer.

1 Agreement Bond relating to Transfer and Relinquishment of the Rights.pdf

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Secondly, again almost immediately after the August 2013 visit, electricity was provided to the villages. We have no way of finding out about the relationship between the August 2013 visit and the electricity.

The "warehouse" school remains the same. The photo shows one of the three sections probably occupied by two grade levels between the two screens. This photo was taken in the evening, showing the newly provided electric lighting.

During this visit, the Clinic registered more farmers as potential clients. The Clinic also sought and interviewed former local government officials who oversaw the land transfer. The Clinic obtained a video recorded testimony from one of the officials, a now retired military officer, that no negotiation on the prices was allowed during land transfer and the terms of of the contract were not explained to the farmers.

Win Naing, one of the plaintiffs, states that he signed the agreement because he was told (by the local government) that if he does not sign, the Korean company will take the land anyway. This Feb 2015 video interview was later broadcast on prime time by SBS, the South Korean television channel on June 26, 2019.

Daw Kyin Kyi, one of the farmers, also stated on record that the land was taken "without her consent". She said that she signed the agreement because the military government had taken and given back the land by force previously without asking for any consent and therefore she assumed that the transfer to DAEWOO was also mandatory like the previous times. This Feb 2015 video interview was later broadcast on prime time by SBS, the South Korean television channel on June 26, 2019.

One of the retired military officer, who was overseeing the land transfer as the then Chairperson of the Village Peace and Development Council, the local government entity, stated on record that "the farmers were not even notified of the amount of compensation they were receiving, and found out only when they received the checks." This 2015 video interview was later broadcast on prime time by SBS, the South Korean television channel on June 26, 2019.

From viewer's left: Hongki YOON, Jinmin HUH (the law firm representative), Heewon SUH, Soomin KIM, and Professor KS Park