A Buddhist nun whose hunger strike from late 2004 though to early 2005 interrupted tunnelling for a high-speed rail tunnel in South Korea has received a two-year suspended jail sentence.
The nun, Jiyul Sunim, was found guilty in her absence by Ulsan District Court of interfering with tunnel works at Mount Cheonseong.
In August 2006, South Korea’s supreme court dismissed an injunction brought by the nun demanding the tunnel project, at Yangsan, South Gyeongsang province, be cancelled.
The nun rose to prominence in protests when she claimed the works would endanger the habitat of 30 species of flora and fauna.
Her actions delayed work but Hyundai Engineering & Construction resumed tunnelling and is due to be finished in late 2008.
