[KS] to the moderators

[cra10 at columbia.edu]

Dear Koreanists,

I want to add my agreement to Vladimir and Ruediger about the Song
Du-yul case. Whatever we may think of Prof. Song, the North Korean
regime, or the connection between the two, this seems like an
egregious contravention of democracy on the part of the ROK
government. Dr. Song hardly constitutes a "threat" to the South
Korean people and government, even if he were a member of the KWP
politburo, which is highly doubtful. Clearly this was done as a
political sop to the South Korean right. Unfortunately, Ruediger is
probably wrong when he says that SK conservatives must know they are
helping to stabilize the NK regime by being tough on Song. I doubt
very much they are thinking this through to such an extent, rather
they are acting on outdated Cold War instincts. It really is time to
move from these mentalities and it is very short-sighted and
counter-productive to treat Dr. Song, who is a first-rate scholar
and  intellectual, in such a way. It would be good if the Korean
Studies community could express in a more collective way their
concern about this issue and the need for, as Ruediger says, abiding
by democratic rules and principles.

Charles

Quoting Ruediger Frank <rfrank at koreanstudies.de>:

> Dear Vladimir and all,
> 
> I think it is indeed important that we do not remain silent about
> this issue.
> 
> I know Prof. Song a bit, since he spent some time as a visiting
> professor at Humboldt University, back in the good old days when
> there
> was a Korea Institute there. What I know of him is that he is a
> typical
> intellectual, thinking and wracking his brain a lot, constantly
> challenging and questioning himself, with a strong affection for
> German
> and French philosophers I myself have a hard time to comprehend,
> and
> with a strong love for his country.  But we may not be in a
> position to
> question the correctness of the allegations made against him,
> since they
> might well be true in a technical sense. Who knows.
> 
> However, and this is the issue here, something must have gone
> wrong, again
> in a purely technical/legal sense. He was well aware of the
> difficulties
> awaiting him upon return to South Korea, which is why he did not
> do so
> right after Kim DJ took over in 1998, and why he stopped short of
> going to
> Korea last year. That he went to Seoul now leads me and others to
> believe
> that he was probably given assurances that are not kept. It also
> raises the
> big issue of how to deal with people who have been close to the
> regime in
> NK. The current procedure makes me shiver with regard to a
> unification. I
> am sure many members of the North Korean elite are watching his
> case with
> great interest; what has happened so far will not quite encourage
> them to
> follow Prof. Song's example. The conservatives in SK must
> understand that
> by being tough on Prof. Song, they in fact help stabilizing the
> regime in
> the North.
> 
> As a matter of fact, in a democracy, rules and laws have to be
> obeyed.
> Backdoor deals to circumvent these rules are the wrong way, and
> hence the
> harsh stand of SK government and prosecution has to be respected.
> However,
> the president in SK has a lot of powers - among them the right to
> grant an
> amnesty (just think of Chun DH and Roh TW). Trying and sentencing
> Prof.
> Song first and granting amnesty later to me looks like a betrayal
> of the
> public and will reduce trust in democratic legal institutions.
> 
> Courage and transparency, i.e. a well defined and formulated
> general
> amnesty to all those who have cooperated with NK or otherwise
> violated the
> National Security Law NOW, based on a public debate and including
> the
> considerations of all parties, seems to be a better way to deal
> with this
> issue. I think this is what we should suggest to our friends and
> colleagues
> in Korea, both in the name of justice, in the interest of
> Korea's
> reputation in the world, and for the sake of the future of
> inner-Korean
> relations.
> 
> Respectfully,
> 
> Ruediger Frank
> 
> ***********
> Dr. Ruediger Frank
> Visiting Professor
> University of Vienna
> East Asian Institute, Japan/Korea
> Spitalgasse 2-4
> A-1090 Vienna, Austria
> phone:	+43-1-4277 43822
> fax:		+43-1-4277 9438
> email:	rfrank at koreanstudies.de
> ************
> 
>