[KS] assessing historical meanings - Mr. Yoon
Frank Hoffmann
hoffmann at koreaweb.ws
Fri Sep 10 16:05:00 EDT 2010
Thank you Vladimir. Again a very interesting
read. What you explain now makes sense to me. I
just like to add this:
What is highly fascinating is that many of the
leftist activists (from colonial Korea and China)
were active well into the 1960s--turned down
somewhat, and oftentimes 45 degrees turned in
direction (e.g. as Social Democrats). But when
first looking at the political history of the ROK
after liberation to the 1960s I was quite amazed
to see this. It was unexpected to find all the
same names re-appearing again and again,
reshuffling their resources over and over and
building one new party after another. They all
only disappeared in the later 1960s, in most
cases for natural reasons, having become aged or
passing away, parallel to Pak Chung Hee's
tightening of the grip, it seems.
Many historians will probably agree with your
analysis and evaluation (in your last response)
of post-liberation South Korean creations of
heroic figures and all the overtones. What I
still question though is the role and judgement
of Communist leaders like Pak Hônyông: as you
mentioned, Moscow in 1932 was not exactly a place
for free and independent thinkers. That's put
very mildly! When you look through the published
memories or diaries or letters (of people like Yu
Rim and other leftist activists) you will find
that many engaged young Koreans who would
otherwise very likely have followed the Communist
cause were completely turned off by reading about
the circumstances of Stalin's takeover in 1924,
and other Bolshevik suppression strategies even
before that. Now, you can separate the Korean
Communists from Moscow--but then, you obviously
cannot when quoting Pak Hônyông who physically
sits in Moscow while making such a statement.
What I mean is that there were quite a number of
young engaged Koreans out there who, already in
the 1920s, saw the signs of the time, the signs
for an extremely brutal dictatorship--Stalin and
his Party murdering or putting into the Gulag 18
million people, as we know by today. Why would
the views of someone who just received the
blessings by such a brutal dictator in Moscow be
considered to have "well-measured" views of the
situation, where even today "there is little to
add to"? THAT is what I had some problems
with--in your first response. That seems
romaticizing the early Communist movement and
their leaders. While what you pointed out in your
last response about the construction of South
Korean heroic figures makes perfect sense,
establishing someone like Pak Hônyông and his
1932 views as a moral counterpart to that has a
taste of the grotesque to it, also if you
consider how the North of the country looks today.
Best wishes,
Frank
--
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Frank Hoffmann
http://koreaweb.ws
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