N. Korean defectors in 'weird land'

[unreal.livejournal.com]

Defectors wonder if South Koreans use the term democracy fighters properly as some employ it to refer to pro-North Korean activists

North Korean defectors confronted some South Koreans’ seemingly wrong extension of the term democracy fighters to refer to those who previously worked for the communist North here.

They alleged some high-profile South Korean politicians with previous records of communist activities are now portrayed as those who fought for democracy.


“The line between democracy fighters and those who did propaganda work for the communist regime is blurred, and this is nonsensical,” Cha Seok-ju, who defected from the North in 2005, told The Korea Times Wednesday.

“It’s hard to believe South Koreans are confused over the two groups of people. But they are. This is weird.”

In the National Assembly, there are several lawmakers, who organized or spearheaded anti-government protests during the authoritarian regime in the 1980s to help the nation achieve democracy.

These people are now called the “486 generation,” standing for those who are in their 40s, went to college in the 1980s and were born in the 1960s.

Their predecessors are those who had fought for democracy and human rights against the Park Chung-hee government in the 1970s.

Many of these early fighters or human rights activists, who had joined politics, retired or passed away.

But there are some who are still active in politics. Han Myeong-sook, the newly-elected leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), is considered as a towering figure representing the early fighters.

Cha, who earned his bachelor’s degree in oriental medicine from a university in the North, said South Koreans’ interpretation of those who were involved in the spy ring scandal in 1967 was a prime example illustrating their forgetfulness of the tragic past or too lenient attitude toward the enemy.

Spy scandal

In 1967, a spy case was uncovered by the South Korean authorities. Investigators found that Kim Jong-tae, a high-profile North Korean spy, was dispatched to the South years ago with the mission to stir up revolts to topple the South Korean government.

To make the operation work, the North Korean authorities gave Kim $70,000.

In the South, Kim posed as a truck driver and created a communist party, dubbed the Revolutionary Party for Unification.

More than 100 South Korean intellectuals, students and young people were affiliated with the party.

After their communist activities were spotted, North Korean spy Kim received a death sentence and was executed on July 10, 1969.

Park Seong-jun, husband of DUP leader Han, was one of the South Korean intellectuals having been involved in the spy scandal.

Park, now a university professor, spent 13 years in prison after the espionage scandal was highlighted. He was jailed six months after he and Han married.

Han also spent two years in a prison from 1979 as she was involved in another espionage case, dubbed the Christian Academy Scandal.

The couple was well-known for having exchanged numerous letters to make their marriage work during the tumultuous years.

Among liberals, Han is widely viewed as a democracy fighter who stood against the military dictatorship.

Confusion, or willful negligence?

North Korean defector Cha raised the question whether the term democracy activist is properly used in South Korea or not.

“When I was in the North, I had to attend a Saturday education course through which I came to know a bit of the spy scandal in the South,” he said. “Kim Jong-tae was treated as a hero in the North. The North Korean authorities prepared a variety of events to commemorate the late spy.”

In Pyongyang, there is a manufacturing company, dubbed Kim Jong-tae electric locomotive factory. It was named such in 1969 when Kim was sentenced to death.

“There is a road, dubbed Kim Jong-tae Boulevard near the factory. A teachers’ university in Haeju is also named after the North Korean spy after he was executed. All these happened because the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung was regretful of the loss of the spy,” Cha said.

The late spy was a dedicated North Korean “revolutionary warrior” who was committed to sacrificing himself for the best interests of the communist North, he said.

The defector was stunned at witnessing South Koreans, who were involved in spy scandals, being treated as democracy activists nearly four decades later.

“How come South Koreans who worked for North Korean spies to overturn the government and to build a communist country in the South can be called democracy fighters?” he asked.

Several North Korean defectors, including Hong Sun-kyong and Seo Jae-pyeong, shared the view with Cha.

Hong, chairman of the Committee for the Democratization of North Korea, said South Korea is “too democratic.”

“North Korean defectors, who were previously put behind bars in the South, jokingly said prisons here are a lot better than hotels in North Korea,” Hong said. “They said criminals are overly protected in prison.”

The former North Korean diplomat, who defected from the country in 2000, urged South Koreans not to forget the chilling security reality facing the South.

The two Koreas are divided and the South faces its enemy the communist North that is ready to attack the South at any time, Hong said.

Roots

Political scientists said student leaders using Marx-Leninism as a theoretical tool to train their fellow activists is probably responsible for some South Koreans’ alleged confusion of democracy fighters and pro-North Koreans.

In the 1980s, student activists, who took to the streets for anti-government protests, gathered in the office of students’ societies to catch up on elements of the doctrine.

It was a common scene on campus back then as protest leaders, usually senior students, became mentors of college freshmen to usher them to join the protests.

Choi Young-jin, a professor of political science at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, said college students back then looked to the communist theory as a theoretical tool to help them build their utopia in the South.

“They searched for a revolutionary way to overcome the troubled reality facing the country back then, and the communist theory appealed to the hearts and minds of the young activists,” he said.

Source: koreatimes

Comments

[lee-chikin.livejournal.com]

... ... ... What?
Well, ignorance is a plague that affects the whole world. But really, to confuse the NK activists for people who want democracy... >__>