Wednesday, August 18, 2004
The chairman of the ruling political party in Korea has stepped down, after admitting that his father was a collaborator with the Japanese during the occupation. I find his statement "I deeply apologize and seek forgiveness [of the Koreans who fought for independence]" amusing, because the Koreans who were resistance fighters during the occupation went on to set up the state of North Korea, where their children live (and starve) today. If he really wanted their forgiveness, then maybe he should talk less and try to arrange more food aid to be sent to the people his father wronged in the past.
Apologizing for the past means taking responsibility for the present, after all.
Mr. Shin's resignation is, of course, more a political move by his party than a genuine apology. The leader of the main opposition party, Park Gun Heh is the daughter of former president Park Jung Hee, a well-known collaborator with the Japanese during the occupation era and a brutal dictator after independence. During the occupation, Park senior served as an officer in the Japanese imperial army and participated in atrocities against both his own people as well as the Chinese. To a sane foreign observer, it may seem incredible that the daughter of such a traitor could rise to become the head of a major politcal party, but that is the political reality in South Korea. The current president is attempting to bring about social reform, which is not a bad thing, and Shin's resignation may be an attempt to whittle away at Park Gun Heh's credibility.
Thus, it seems to me that while Shin's resignation could be the beginning of a genuine (and much overdue) movement to bring more accountability to the Korean families that collaborated with Japanese imperialism, it seems that it was nevertheless done for cynical political motives. And of course, the victims of the collaborators are still uncompensated. Quite the opposite, in fact, in the North.
Apologizing for the past means taking responsibility for the present, after all.
Mr. Shin's resignation is, of course, more a political move by his party than a genuine apology. The leader of the main opposition party, Park Gun Heh is the daughter of former president Park Jung Hee, a well-known collaborator with the Japanese during the occupation era and a brutal dictator after independence. During the occupation, Park senior served as an officer in the Japanese imperial army and participated in atrocities against both his own people as well as the Chinese. To a sane foreign observer, it may seem incredible that the daughter of such a traitor could rise to become the head of a major politcal party, but that is the political reality in South Korea. The current president is attempting to bring about social reform, which is not a bad thing, and Shin's resignation may be an attempt to whittle away at Park Gun Heh's credibility.
Thus, it seems to me that while Shin's resignation could be the beginning of a genuine (and much overdue) movement to bring more accountability to the Korean families that collaborated with Japanese imperialism, it seems that it was nevertheless done for cynical political motives. And of course, the victims of the collaborators are still uncompensated. Quite the opposite, in fact, in the North.
