Korea: "Freedom to speak is too broad"

[AmericanErrorist]

JhoongAng Daily Editoral:

Uri Party’s plans to revise the National Security Law are worrisome because they could trigger security instability in our country. Compared to the earlier plans for a revision, the new plans reflect efforts to ease concerns of conservatives by increasing the penalties for violating the law.
Uri Party drafted a plan seeking penalties for those who organize or join an organization aiming at threatening the safety of the state under the criminal code’s treason charges. It also clarified the ambiguous identification of North Korea as “an organization that
threatens South Korea’s constitution.” But the problem is that the revision allows all kinds of pro-North Korea activities unless they amount to an uprising. First, the revision removed all clauses concerning penalties for those who praise North Korea, so spreading
the North’s ideology and attending gatherings to honor Kim Il Sung cannot be punished unless violence is involved.
Charges of praising North Korea have been abused in the past. But
South Korean society has not yet matured to the state that it can tolerate pro-North Korea activities. It is necessary to strengthen the clauses. We suggest that organized activities praising North Korea in public areas should be made illegal.

http://www.iht.com/pdfs/jai/H200410141007000JAI.pdf (Acrobat required)

What the heck are they smoking?

[rpannier]

1. From someone living in Korea...

I agree with the Uri Party decision to revise the law. I wish they hadn't caved in at all to the conservatives. But, this is a society that is concerned (and rightfully so) over north korea. The north korean government exercises a policy of destabilization toward the South, and of starving dissidents (the definition of dissident in north korea is very broad) and arresting family members of "dissidents" for even the most minor transgressions of the law. The Law in north korea allows the government to arrest up to three generations of a persons family for crimes committed by an individual. This is something that the north doesn't bother to deny.
One must remember that there are only four countries that have a standing army of 1,000,000 people or more. China and North Korea are two of those countries.
north korea is also listed by most humanitarian groups, like Amnesty International, as either the worst or one of the three worst abusers of Human Rights in the world.

[teryang]

2. The issue isn't what goes on in N.Korea

The issue is whether S.Korea is strong enough to allow its citizens to speak in defense of N.Koreans when outside powers attempt to dictate what the relationship of S.Korea and N.Korea should be.

The goal is reunification and protection of the integrity of the entire Korean nation. The people in the north are related by culture, language and blood to the people of the south. It is one country. Regardless of the extreme despotism and hardships in the north, it is fantasy not to appreciate the historical circumstances and current manipulations from without that contribute to it. The division of the peninsula is the product of world powers carving up spheres of influence. Great power meddling in internal Korean affairs continues to date.

American and Japanese politicians glibly embrace scenarios which involve pre-emptive attacks and by implication the physical destruction of the north (and Seoul). While China, American and Japanese national security policies perpetuate the polarization of the peninsula for their own geo-political aims, the people and the government of S.Korea remain the legitimate spokespersons for the oppressed people of the north. Nobody here understands their situation better than S.Koreans. They should be free to debate N.Korean issues as they see fit. The notion that there are people in the south who favor the N.Korean regime is a totally misleading characterization. Nobody supports that government but what they do support is the notion that it is a Korean problem with Korean answers not pre-emptive and bellicose threats from Washington, Tokyo or anywhere else. It should not be lost on anyone that the Washington-Tokyo axis has at its heart the maintenance of the South as a client state. Unification will upset this apple cart.

One day Korea will be unified politically again. There are powerful interests who wish to keep this from happening. Gagging dissidents and demonstrators who wish to support sunshine, and unification policies and to protect the Korean nation as a whole from foreign meddlers could be an undesirable consequence of this legislation. There is no such thing as a Korean national security interest confined only to South Korea.

[Aidoneus]

3. An excellent post, thank you

At what, if any, level would you say China has an interest in unification, or are they in the exact same boat as U.S./Japan? Speaking of fifty years ago I would not ask that question, the answer being obviously so, but much is changed and there is quite a lot that I have little understanding of. The stalemate seems to be a harm to the horse they're backing, while the board being shaken up would at least be a bigger thumb in the eye of their more pressing rivals than the current situation is. Or would the tension & instability, 'new' of any sort, make that not worthwhile?

It seems most of the major players rather like the status quo, and that status quo itself kind of sucks. ...As do most of the major players now that I'm thinking about it. :shrug:

[teryang]

4. It is hard to characterize China's position

Culturally, the Chinese are closer to the Korean people than they are to the Japanese. The heavy Confucian overly is what makes them similar. Koreans tend to respect and defer to traditional Chinese culture. In terms of economic and social development they see much in each other. They do and will continue to have a mutually beneficial relationship. They are less similar to and respectful of Japanese for cultural reasons and the repeated invasions they have sustained from the islands.

The Chinese will gain a large relatively strong buffer between them and Japan. This is a plus for them. The instability of Kim Jong Ils regime with its attendant problems will be resolved. The article I posted from Asia Times on this board addresses the Chinese interests and points to one rough spot, the alleged Koguryo claims. I don't think China will view a unified Korea as a threat, if the American forces either stay where they are or get out. The rule of thumb will be same for those forces - stay south of the current DMZ. A unified Korea may want a token American presence and I emphasize the word token for "honest broker" purposes.

I think that China's downside and the real threat to peace in the region is the situation vis a vis Taiwan. They really feel that they should get Taiwan back. If Korea is unified peacefully and they do not get a timetable for the return of Taiwan, this is going to be another rough spot. If I were Chinese I would view it as a tacit quid pro quo, but the developments in Korea may cut off this possibility as Kim Jong Ils regime appears to be unstable and unification of Korea could take place suddenly. The US objective has been to topple this regime but paradoxically hard line threats play into Kims domestic policies of paranoia and police repression. Peaceful unification would leave the Chinese with less leverage on Taiwan, diplomatically.

Attempts to attack N. Korea by a US/Japan/S.Korean right wing alliance will probably result in Chinese assaults on Taiwan.

[bemildred]

5. Well said.

:thumbsup: