| U.S. angers Koreans as reunification
stalls
By DENNIS CODAY
Bangkok, Thailand
The problem of North Korea may have been shoved to the back burner
for much of the world because of the intense concentration on the impending war
in Iraq, but reunification clearly remains a burning issue for Koreans. Just as
clear is their frustration with the United States for what they see as its
hindering of the reunification of North and South.
The term “axis of evil” is more than an
attention-getting line in a speech in South Korea. Many there see it as the
label that undid the admittedly tentative rapprochement that had developed in
recent years between North and South.
Some of that frustration appeared evident last summer in the
statement written by Bishop Peter Kang U-il in the official message for the
Prayer Day for Reconciliation and Unity of Korean People (June 23): “As
the division of the nation was not our own fault, so too, reunification seems
unable to come about solely through our own will.”
The frustration also plays out against the backdrop of a change in
power in South Korea. President Kim Dae-jung left office Feb. 25 with many
unfulfilled promises. Kim, the first opposition figure elected in Korean
history, had been heralded as “the people’s president,” but his
last two years have been plagued by scandal and corruption, not unlike the
politics he pledged to do away with. Even two of his sons were convicted of
influence peddling. Many supporters were disillusioned.
When considering his legacy, however, history may overlook
Kim’s failings and remember him for one thing: He cracked the veneer in
North Korea’s isolation and took steps in reuniting a divided people
through engaging the North economically and socially. Kim called this his
“sunshine policy.”
In the fall 2002 newsletter of the Catholic Bishops’
Conference of Korea, Fr. John Kim Jong-su, then the secretary general of the
conference, wrote that Kim’s sunshine policy and the historic meeting in
Pyongyang between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il on June 15, 2000, “gave
much hope to Korean people for unity of their nation ... and [for the] healing
of interminable pains and scars of the division. People thought that the
unification work would move along actively even if unity might not come as
early as they expected.
“However, the reality did not turn out quite as we expected.
Some domestic problems interfered with the work. But the main reason was the
change in U.S. policy toward North Korea after the Sept. 11 terrorism
incident,” Fr. Kim wrote.
“The Bush administration defined North Korea as an ‘axis
of evil’ and one of the countries that supports terrorism. Under such
circumstances inter-Korean relations were badly affected. All follow-up
procedures of the June 15 Joint Declaration were interrupted including
inter-Korean dialogue and the reunion of separated families. The Korean
peninsula entered a severe cold winter again.”
Regina Pyon of the Korean Catholic Human Rights Committee told
NCR, “Now people know that always the U.S. stands in the way of the
North and South. When we are getting closer, they interfere. Especially the
remark of Bush, ‘axis of evil,’ made us very angry.”
“Think about the pains of our parents and grandparents,
separated from their families for more than 50 years. We are one people and one
family literally,” Pyon said. “Now people would like to communicate,
exchange and reconcile with the people in the North.
“I do hope U.S. Catholics could help Korean people by
pressuring their government not to make hostile policy and push hard toward
North Korea,” she said.
Other people and groups say the same thing, and add that the U.S.
presence is undermining stability on the peninsula, not supporting it. At the
prayer meeting kicking off the Catholic Priests’ Association’s
one-week fast near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in December, the priest protesters
asserted that Koreans have lost much due to the presence of the U.S. military
in South Korea.
“Contrary to the reason for their stationing, their pro-war
policy has blocked the peace and unity of our nation,” the priests
charged.
Paul Hwang Kyung-hoon of the lay-run Woori Theological Institute
in Seoul sees a change in attitude among people. Formerly, they saw all things
associated with North Korea as bad and dangerous. He said various South Korean
governments and allies found that reinforcing this attitude became the most
efficient method of controlling people. But he said things are changing.
“They [the people] have gotten over the ideology of Cold War
more and more,” he said. They don’t see North Korea as much of a
threat as before.
He cited a Gallup poll from Dec. 14 that said only 31 percent of
Koreans favor a withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea. “But an
activist to whom I called this afternoon pointed out that the percentage point
could be much higher if the question were given to them on the condition of
indicating specific time period like in five [or] 10 years,” Hwang
said.
Koreans seem to desire a change in the stalemate that has pitted
North and South against each other for more than 50 years. This was seen in the
presidential election held Dec. 19. Voters were given a choice between
conservative Lee Hoe-chang, who campaigned with the slogan “stability or
instability,” and liberal Roh Moo-hyun, who in the final days of the
campaign used the slogan “war or peace.” Roh won with heavy support
from voters in their 20s and 30s, social activists, the working class and the
disadvantaged.
Roh, much like Kim Dae-jung, is a believer in free markets and
wants Korea to continue to globalize its economy. So ultimately, Hwang points
out, the new government will need the United States as much as its predecessor
did.
Few doubt change is coming.
Commenting on the election, The Korea Herald, one of
the nation’s largest English language newspapers, editorialized:
“Little wonder President-elect Roh has placed the issue of establishing a
peace regime for the Korean Peninsula on top of his policy goals.”
The paper also noted that Roh has pledged to continue his
predecessor’s “sunshine policies,” but adds, “One of the
first jobs he will have to do when he takes office on Feb. 25 will be to help
put an end to the protracted face-off between Pyongyang and
Washington.”
This won’t be easy for Roh. The Bush administration has been
no fan of the sunshine policy, and Roh opposed Bush’s planned
“tailored containment” of North Korea.
Another reason cited for Roh’s potential friction with the
Bush administration is that he is determined to demand greater equality in
bilateral relations.
Long before the election, for the prayer day for reconciliation
and unity, Bishop Kang spoke of the change that the church wants to see.
“We all understand that the interest of big powers and
geopolitical relations exert great influence on our reunification efforts.
Nonetheless, what is important for the reunification of Korea is our own
volition and efforts to become one. Both South and North Korea understand that
reunification cannot be achieved by appealing to arms. ...
“Nobody can deny that peaceful reunification is the only
option open to Korean people. ... We need to continue dialogues and
negotiations based on patience and tolerance. For this purpose, the government,
the people and the church respectively have their roles to play.”
“For the last seven years, the church in Korea provided North
Korea with a considerable amount of food, agricultural equipment, fertilizer
and medicine. That was of great material help for North Koreans and contributed
to change their feeling toward South Korea as well.
“Our positive concern and support would move our North Korean
brethren’s minds from confrontation and distrust to amicability and unity,
and then the real meaning of unification of Korean people would begin. Our
prayer and action for reconciliation and unity of Korean people should
continue.”
Free-lance writer Dennis Coday lives in Bangkok,
Thailand.
National Catholic Reporter, February 28,
2003
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