SPEAKING
FREELY Spinning the Korean
model By Beverly Darling
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
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Question: Can you
name one country that for more than four decades
after the Korean War was ruled by an authoritarian
regime or military junta while US forces provided
a protective and
supportive role? If you
guessed South Korea, you were right.
I am
not sure whether US President George W Bush
mis-inquired when he became intrigued with the
Korean model for long-term US troop presence in
Iraq, or if White House Press Secretary Tony Snow
misspoke when he stated: "Korea is one way to
think about how America's mission could evolve
into an over-the-horizon support role." Either
way, they both seemed unaware of and unacquainted
with South Korea's long struggle for democracy,
which finally emerged in 1997.
For those
unfamiliar with the Korean model, it first
developed toward the end of World War II when the
US proposed to the Soviet Union the possibility of
dividing Korea along the 38th Parallel so as to
deal with fewer numbers of surrendering Japanese
troops. The division between the two parts of
Korea soon hardened into two separate states. The
US backed South Korea and attempted to promote a
capitalist-based economy, while the Soviets
encouraged a communist system in the North.
From 1950-53, the Korean War was fought
over reunification and conflicting economic
systems, and left 2 million Koreans dead and
millions more displaced. After an armistice was
signed, the Soviets - who backed North Korea - and
the US - which supported South Korea - stationed
tens of thousands of troops on opposite sides of
the Demilitarized Zone. Both North and South Korea
developed into authoritarian regimes fearful of
dissenting views, opposition parties, political
and social rights, and, of course, each other.
The First Republic of South Korea was
ruled by Syngman Rhee from 1948 until 1960. A
descendant of the Yi Dynasty, he pursued a policy
of favoritism toward family members and for those
who supported his corrupt regime. Rhee had little
tolerance for democratic movements or individual
rights. When his term was due to end in 1952, he
declared martial law and prevented popular
elections. By 1960, massive student protests and
strikes were sweeping the country for the main
purpose of ousting Rhee. He reacted ruthlessly by
imprisoning, torturing and killing thousands of
Koreans. [1]
Major-General Park Chung-hee
capitalized on the social and economic unrest
brought about by Syngman Rhee's regime. In 1961,
he led a small group of military officers and
seized power, establishing the Second Republic.
Park immediately dissolved the National Assembly,
declared martial law, and suspended all political
parties. [2] His military junta created the Korean
Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), which was
patterned after and received support from the US
Central Intelligence Agency. During this time
thousands of Koreans were placed under
surveillance and house arrest, arrested and
falsely accused of crimes without a trial, and
imprisoned for attempting to form new political
parties and economic movements.
President
Park granted himself a third term in 1969 by
illegally amending the constitution. The new
amendment gave him absolute power over the
legislative and judiciary branches and even
dissolved the National Assembly, which he had once
instituted. After declaring himself
president-for-life in 1975, Park declared
Emergency Measure No 9, which made it a crime to
criticize the new constitution. Thousands of South
Koreans resisted this new law and were kidnapped,
jailed or murdered. [3] Opposition to Park's
life-long presidency and illicit laws culminated
in 1979, when an economic crisis sparked another
massive anti-government protest.
Park
Chung-hee was eventually assassinated, but
regrettably another military coup ensued in 1980
led by Major-General Chun Doo-hwan. When a large
student movement tried to remove all military
vestiges from the government and challenged Chun's
leadership, he signed a decree banning all forms
of protests and strikes and outlawed all political
parties. During nine days of demonstrations and
rioting, opposition leaders were arrested and more
than 2,000 Koreans were killed. Chun's Third
Republic also fired thousands of teachers,
politicians, managers of businesses, editorialists
and journalists. [4]
After seven years of
dictatorial rule, once again workers, students and
farmers staged mass protests in Seoul. Chun
Doo-hwan countered the protesters by prohibiting
the discussion of any constitutional change and
jailing outspoken critics. Sporadic protests
continued and, in 1992, South Koreans forced their
government into holding more open and democratic
elections. Kim Dae-jung, a popular political
prisoner, was released in 1997 and was the first
freely elected president of South Korea. [5]
Finally, after 44 years, a semblance of democracy
had emerged in South Korea
Many of the
protests and mass movements were rooted in and
sustained by Christian-based and Buddhist-oriented
non-violent action campaigns. The Korean Christian
Church resisted the brutal reigns of Park
Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan by questioning and
boycotting the forced production methods brought
about by the capitalist system. The Mission of God
Debates by the National Council of Churches of
Korea (KNCC) called for activists and the church
to "humanize the inhumanity of the modernization
process under military-controlled
authoritarianism". [6] As a result of their
actions, thousands of religious leaders and church
members were beaten, imprisoned or killed.
In 1975, the KNCC countered Emergency
Decree No 9 by issuing a challenge to Park
Chung-hee called the Declaration for Democracy and
National Salvation. Ministers and religious
leaders preached popular resistance and encouraged
mass protests and strikes against "a one-man
dictatorship that tramples on human rights". [7]
During the 1987 nationwide protests,
non-violent tactics were also used and exposed how
the US-backed military regime was in effect
anti-Korean. (The writer can remember being deeply
affected by hundreds of thousands of Koreans
demonstrating in Seoul and a massive protest
funeral procession that was held for a student
victim of police torture.)
Once again, not
only is the Bush administration trying to spin the
war in Iraq by glossing over the Korean conflict
and its destructive impact, but it is also
spinning democracy by claiming that a
long-enduring presence of US troops will lead to
democracy. This cannot be further from the truth,
and only diminishes and demeans the courage and
sacrifice by hundreds of thousands of South
Koreans who were alone responsible for their own
democratic reforms and freedoms.
Ironically, just as with the brutal
occupation by Japan and the regimes of Syngman
Rhee, Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan, it is the
United States that is now standing in the way of
democracy and committing human-rights violations.
Thousands of South Korean farmers and unions are
on a hunger strike and protesting the expansion of
a US military base - Camp Humphreys, which is
about 64 kilometers from Seoul - and the proposed
free-trade agreement with the US. The
demonstrations have turned violent, and protesters
have been forced off their land and political
leaders have been beaten, arrested and jailed.
If Bush, Snow, and the American people
want to implement a Korean model in Iraq, this
writer suggests the one articulated by KNCC leader
Dr Kim Chae-jun. He wrote: "We do not tolerate the
silence against injustice, regardless of which
side and who is responsible for it. It is the
essence of our faith to establish justice in this
land." [8] Perhaps this is a model worth trying
not only in Iraq, but also in the world and even
here at home in the US.
(Author's
note: This article is dedicated to my Aunt
Bong, who is from Korea and married my uncle
during the Korean War. As a child she was the
first "foreigner" I ever met and taught me many
things about Korea, the United States, and
myself.)
Notes 1. Park
Jun-joo, "Republic of Korea", World Encyclopedia
of Political Systems and Parties. Facts on File:
New York, New York, 1999, p 623. 2. Ibid, p
623. 3. Ibid, p 624. 4. Ibid, p 624. 5.
Ibid, p 625. 6. Dong Won-mo, "Korea, Democratic
Struggle in the South", Protest, Power, and
Change. Garland Publishing, Inc: New York, New
York, 1997, p 293. 7. Ibid, p 294. 8. Ibid,
p 293.
Beverly Darling is a
WorldNews.com correspondent.
(Copyright 2007 WorldNews.com.)
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say. Please click hereif you are interested in
contributing.
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