[imText1]On June 12, the eighth anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration was celebrated at the International Conference Hall of the 63 Building in Yeoido, Seoul. Toward the end of the ceremony, “A message to the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon,” which was co-authored by participants, was read out.
The message said, “There are still many parts of the world where people continue to suffer from the lack of democracy and violations of human rights because of war, conflict, dictatorship, and genocide. We hope the Secretary General Ban Ki Moon does his best to bring consolation and peace and democracy to these parts of the world.”
Specifically, the message called for the UN and the international community to replace the Zimbabwe regime with a democratic government and to end the military dictatorship in Burma and ethnic cleansing in Darfur.
As a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, former president Kim Dae Jung must have felt compelled to mention the problems of dictatorial countries in the world.
However, just like the June 15 Joint Declaration, the message did not mention the issue of human rights of North Korea.
Former President Kim Dae Jung won a Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula after he had successfully arranged an inter-Korean Summit for the first time after the division of Korea. Nonetheless, opinions vary among people in terms of the extent to which the former president has helped establish peace on the Korean Peninsula during the last eight years.
Proponents of the “Sunshine Policy,” believe that the expansion of inter-Korean cooperation helped deter war on the Korean peninsula. However, people who advocate the principle of reciprocity argue that thanks to South Korea’s unconditional aid policies, North Korea was able to develop nuclear programs and further strengthened its anti-South Korean policies operating under the so called military first politics.
Having said that, a question arises: who should be enjoying the fruits of peace building efforts on the Korean Peninsula? It should be the 70 million Korean people living in the Korean Peninsula.
In the last eight years, people living in the northern half of the Korean Peninsula have suffered from the worst kinds of pain imaginable. For years, North Korea has been labeled as the country with the worst record of religious and press freedom and human rights violations in the world. The human rights situation of North Korea is so bad that the word peace is not in its vocabulary.
Just as they did in eight years ago, the former president Kim Dae Joong and his followers failed to mention the pain of the North Korean people at the ceremony. It is hypocritical of those who ignore the suffering of the North Korean people to address the problems of Burma, Darfur and Zimbabwe in their message to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon
It is unclear who is really enjoying peace, which is purported to have been established after eight years of the “Sunshine Policy”?
The proponents of the sunshine policy also failed to listen to the cries of the families of abductees. On the same day, families of abductees sat on the ground in protest outside the international conference hall. Most were humble countrymen. In fact, they were too old to come out on the streets. Not knowing what slogans to shout, they appealed to a Daily NK reporter.
“We’re not saying South Korea should stop the tour of Mr. Geumgang and the operation of the Kaesong Complex. Well then, why wouldn’t anyone have ever confirmed the fate [of the abductees]? If they are dead, say “yes.” If not, “no.” Why is it that difficult? The government spent a lot of money on the summit and event sent unconverted long-term prisoners back to North Korea. However, what good has come out of that? What are they [participants of the ceremony] celebrating really?”
As long as the suffering of the North Korean people and families of abductees continues, former president Kim Dae Jung should not make a toast to peace on the Korean Peninsula. The success of his sunshine policy is yet to be determined.
