North Korea became a member of the socialist bloc led by the former Soviet Union and South Korea became a member of democracy by the US. The division pitted the two Koreas against each other. As a result, there is a world of difference between South Korea and North Korea. North Korea has become a living hell, riddled with starvation, poverty and human rights violations while South Korea has enjoyed democracy.

The contrasting results of the two Koreas show the difference between the democratic form of government and anti-democratic governance. It provides a significant lesson not only for the Koreans but also the people all around the world, and for this reason, the Korean issues should be studied from an international point of view. The Korean peninsula makes an important contribution to the world because of its direct experiences with both totalitarianism and democracy at the same time.

After the Cold War, the victors gave up fighting against dictatorship

The World War II was won by the democratic allies. More significant in terms of human history, however, is the free world’s victory in the Cold War against the socialist bloc led by the former Soviet Union. Unlike the previous struggles between the democratic and the anti-democratic powers, the Cold War ended without precipitating a hot war. In other words, the fact that the Cold War was won without firing a shot makes it a great historical event.

However, there are signs of complacency and self-satisfaction brought on by the victory. We can see this phenomenon around the world as well as in South Korea, and the situation is reaching a dangerous level.

Internationally, politicians and intellectuals of the victorious countries including the U.S. have started to think that the free world of democratic system would prevail forever and have neglected the fight against dictatorships. They have underestimated the power of dictatorships and the anti-democratic forces, thinking that they can handle any problems with ease.

Such arrogance has precipitated complacency on the part of the international democratic alliance, leading them to believe that there were no opposing forces to fight and thus the alliance itself became meaningless. This international trend influenced South Korea, weakening its stance against the anti-democratic forces within the country.

The system competition between the two Koreas is not over yet

Despite the apparent deficiencies in the capitalistic democracy today, the democratic powers have not taken proper actions to overcome the historical limitation.

The problem is more serious in South Korea. In comparison to the great economic development in South Korea, the ideological culture is under-developed, and the lack of democratic culture and the lack of political maturity prevent them from seeing the reality of the situation. This is rather apparent now.

Economic development can be achieved relatively quickly through the introduction of capitals and advanced technology, but political maturity and democratic understanding require a certain amount of time, effort, and training to achieve. Political maturity only comes with the people's experience. South Korea has not had enough time for such maturity, and its ideological and political culture lag behind its economic culture.

Despite this condition, South Korean politicians and intellectuals have embarked on the sunshine policy (an embracement policy towards North Korea), mistakenly believing that the system competition was over in the Korean peninsula and that South Korea was already the victor.

Some ambitious, power-hungry politicians have pushed the sunshine policy to gain popular support and used the changing sentiment of the people as their political base. The unrelenting campaign by these politicians has rendered the South Koreans blind to the reality of the situation, that is, the confrontational condition that exists between the two systems in principle and in practice. The people are now confused as to whether North Korea is a friend or an enemy.

Many countries manipulate people and the media

I think that this mistake is caused by not only South Korea but also by the democratic alliances around the world. Democracy has not completed its mission yet.

In order to achieve the democratic era at this stage of human history, the world must continue its democratization process. It is necessary to fight against dictatorships and anti-democratic powers. It is a big mistake to consider that democratic era has been achieved already.

Nowadays, proponents of democracy in South Korea and other parts of the world have given up the fight against dictatorships. Instead, they use the media to stay in power. This kind of international trend has exacerbated the situation severely in South Korea, resulting in the pro-dictatorship policies while allowing the pro-North Korea and anti-US forces to prosper.

The relation between the two Koreas should be considered from the international point of view

In terms of the relations between the two Koreas, can we consider that North Korea has surrendered itself completely? That is not so. Some people say that North Korea is facing an imminent collapse, but militarily, North Korea is stronger than South Korea in spite of the North’s economic crisis.

In terms of economy, South Korea is superior to North Korea, but not militarily. If we take the allied forces into consideration, the balance of military power shifts a little. Provided that the South Korea-US alliance remains strong, we can say that South Korea is superior to North Korea militarily.

However, the current situation, that is, the weakening South Korea-US alliance and the embracement policies by the South Korean government give the advantage to North Korea.

This is so because the weakest point with North Korea is its economy, and the U.S. and South Korea could end up helping North Korea with its economy and diplomacy. Additionally, China?which shares its border with North Korea?is experiencing tremendous growth, and Russia is also recovering its power. This would lead to a stronger North Korea-China-Russia alliance while the South Korea-US alliance is experiencing a downward slide. South Korea-Japan relations is at a low point as well.

When we consider these circumstances, it is inevitable that the North Korean-Chinese influence would spread to South Korea. It is true that the pro-North and anti-US powers have increased rapidly because of the pro-North stance some politicians have taken. On the other hand, it is conceivable that the North Korea-China influence can reach South Korea on its own as well.

In spite of these alarming factors, many people are not looking at the Korean relations from an international point of view. The situation as it exists today is this: there is a state of conflict between the China-North Korea alliance and the South Korea-US alliance, which is much like an extension of the Cold War. However, this situation is being ignored. Certain politicians claim that the Cold War is over and say that "South Korea must go forward on its own and execute the embracement policy with North Korea."

They are mired in a false sense of victory, unable to assess the historical development. They are headed in the wrong direction in terms of ideology and politics not only in South Korea but also other advanced capitalist countries.

9/11 Terrorist Attack and Kim Jong Il’s Nuclear Weapons

Recently, history gave us a warning with two unusual events, both beyond our imagination. These events indicate a regressive flow of historical development.

The first is the 9/11 terrorist attack by Al Qaeda group. In fact, such an incident is truly unimaginable. The United States never provided a direct reason to be attacked in this fashion. We must understand that an incident of this magnitude has a deep historical root. There is a need for a serious study in terms of the historical root of this incident beyond temporal punishment. But such a study is not taking place.

The second is the fact that the Kim Jong Il regime?that has evolved from the Soviet style communism and is now about to collapse?is threatening the international society with nuclear weapons. South Korea (ROK), the land that has the most to lose from these threats from North Korea, is experiencing an upsurge of pro-North, anti-American sentiment. That is a fact. South Korea’s miraculous economic growth is founded on the strength of the US-ROK alliance. Therefore, it would be logical for South Korea to remain true to its alliance with the U.S. On the contrary, there has been a rapid increase of pro-North Korea / anti-US sentiment instead.

A similar trend is on the rise not only in South Korea but in many parts of the world. With regard to the Korean situation, some argue that South Korea’s embracement policy towards the North has effected changes in North Korea; but actually, I believe that South Korea has undergone more drastic changes. South Korea has taken a step backward in its pursuit of true democracy. We must carry out a serious study regarding the historical roots of this development and formulate a countermeasure.

Despite the grave situation, however, many intellectuals choose to view these difficulties as an inevitable process in way of democratic development. Their casual treatment of these irregular trend and events is indicative of their prevailing attitude: Ignorance is bliss.

If we were to follow their line of thought and let South Korea digress in its democratic pursuit, the overall Korean situation could develop into one of the major hurdles that mankind has faced throughout history. None of these hurdles have been easy to overcome, and we certainly don’t want to face hurdles like the World War II and the Cold War, for instance.

The important thing here is that we formulate workable plans to prevent unnecessary sacrifices when faced with difficulties. Intellectuals must not pretend that they are above these problems. They must do their due diligence and carry out studies in earnest to find solutions.

The Last Anti-Dictatorship Movement in the 21 Century

Dictatorships that were prevalent during the World War II era can be characterized as selfish nationalism or egocentric individualism masked by nationalism. Germany, Italy, and Japan believed in the superiority of their respective races and they sought to create the new world order by employing expansionist policies.

Then appeared the totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union, which argued that the working class was the most progressive class to represent the society and the mankind, and sought to spread communism around the world. Egoistic class system was at the root of this totalitarian power system. How does this brand of totalitarianism compare to the today’s dictatorships?

There are similarities and differences. History is an amalgamation of continuity and discontinuity. As such, today’s dictatorship has both similarities and differences with dictatorships of the past, plus some distinct and unique characteristics.

Today, the anti-democratic dictatorships are characterized by their adherence to the principles of inviolability (of their sovereignty), whereby they protect their totalitarian system. They oppose globalization of democracy and democratization. The anti-democratic totalitarian powers of today have melded their self-serving interests with the affairs of the state.

The fight against these totalitarian powers is the last obstacle to overcome on our way to achieve democracy. We must carry on this final fight to protect and serve the democratic cause for all human kind, and the developed nations of democracy must take the leading role.

The anti-dictatorship fight of today may well be the final fight for the mankind.

Global Democratization Must be Completed

Current globalization trend is unstoppable. The assignment for history now is to find a way to proceed with the globalization in a democratic way. Globalization process begins with our daily lives and extends its sphere of influence to the national level and worldwide. Given this situation, it is necessary to see beyond national centrism, surpass the self-serving interests, and engage in a fight for global democracy.

Generally speaking, under-developed nations that subscribe to sentiments such as national egoism, class egoism, and racism are susceptible to totalitarian regimes and they tend to harbor ill feelings towards developed nations, especially the only remaining superpower, the U.S. Al Qaeda terrorist group, hailing from a similar background, was given a tacit approval and encouragement in conducting terrorism against the U.S.

Today’s strategy against dictatorships cannot be the same as those of the anti-fascist movement during the World War II, or the anti-socialist movement during the Cold War. Today’s anti-dictatorship strategy must be formulated and carried out on behalf of all humans, on behalf of achieving complete democracy throughout the world.

International Democracy Alliance must be strengthened

To achieve this goal, leading developed nations must see themselves clear of their own selfish interests, namely, state centrism. To this end, domestic campaign alone is insufficient.

The anti-totalitarianism campaign needs to begin by strengthening the international alliance among the democratic nations. This effort will take a lot of time and energy, but they must rally together under a common flag against dictatorships and persevere to strengthen the international democracy alliance.

Especially, the U.S. must take the lead for global democracy, recognizing clearly that this movement would enhance its own prosperity. The U.S. must rise beyond its own selfish interests and give its first priority to strengthening the coalition among the democratic nations in pursuit of global democracy.

In today’s anti-dictatorship struggle, military force alone is ineffective. Rather, it is far more significant to build consensus among nations of people. For example, in the case of the North Korean nuclear issue, it is important to build wide support among the people throughout the world by addressing the human rights violations and the inhumane criminal activities by the dictatorship.

Toppling dictators, however, should not be the end of the mission. We must democratize the nations that suffer dictatorship. Following the removal of the dictatorship, work must continue until the democratization process is completed in way of economy, politics and culture.

In Iraq’s case, the democratization process must not end with the arrest of Hussein and maintenance of social order. Continued assistance is paramount until Iraq becomes a fully democratized.

Along the same line, we need to recognize that there is a new strategy in dealing with the North Korean problem. Notwithstanding the hostile conditions that exist in the Korean peninsula, the new strategy involves diplomatic means in reforming the people’s ideological views in North Korea. This new approach?democratization of North Korea?should be kept in mind as part of the solution to the North Korean problem.

North Korean democratization will Become the Global Democratization Model

The North Korean problem is at a turning point?whether we will achieve democratization through confrontational competition, or through cooperation. What happens here at this juncture will provide a significant model for solving the problems related to global democratization. Cooperation between the U.S. and China will be crucial for solving the North Korean problem as well as for the global democratization.

Furthermore, a cooperative structure consisting of the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia with South Korea as the mediator among the four nations will make for a powerful force for the global democratization.

In this sense, the democratization of North Korea will serve as an unprecedented model for the global democratization, and will provide a significant contribution to humanity.

27 of May, 2005

To All of You,

Hwang Jang Yop