Comments on: Unwelcome truths, indeed

By: The Marmot

The Marmot — Fri, 31 Oct 2003 07:33:03 +0000

Very valid observations - the only thing I’d add, however, is that playing the “Northern Card” is an old and venerable tradition in South Korean politics, and it’s Lee Hoi-chang’s GNP (and its predecesors) that turned it into an art form - only when they used it, it was more along the lines of “if you vote for a softy like that big pinko Kim Dae-jung, the North Koreans will attack.”

By: Antti

Antti — Fri, 31 Oct 2003 03:08:50 +0000

I was thinking of Finlandization as a kind of a state of mind which follows from adjusting one’s actions to the real and imagined wishes and needs of another nation. In ROK there shouldn’t be no need for that, but to me it seems there is some, for example abstaining from voting in the DPRK human rights issue at the UN. And using the Northern card in the presidential elections last year: if Lee Hoi-chang is elected, the will be a war. Even if the geopolitical situation is different, I’m sort of sensing same kind of mentalities. (And a student movemement inclined towards a dictatorship rings a bell, too…)

By: Wedge

Wedge — Fri, 31 Oct 2003 02:38:39 +0000

The South suffers not from Finlandization, but the Stockholm Syndrome.

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 30 Oct 2003 09:28:08 +0000

You know, at this point, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Unification Minister actually was a Norkbot.

It’s absolutely infuriating to see the South Korean government act this way.

By: The Marmot

The Marmot — Thu, 30 Oct 2003 04:17:38 +0000

The odd thing is, Finlandization (isn’t it great to have an international relations term named after your country, Antii?) usually occurs in countries that are facing an overwhelming threat from a more powerful country without credible defense guarantees from another great power. Finland, for example, having chosen the wrong side in WWII [through no real fault of its own, really, given the circumstances], knew the West wouldn’t step up and defend a Nazi ally if the Soviets decided to occupy the country (a distinct possibility in 1945) - perhaps more importantly, Moscow knew this, too, and Finland adjusted its foreign policy accordingly (how this affected policy choices in neighboring Sweden is also fascinating). South Korea, on the other hand, is not only stronger than North Korea, but also party to a mutual defense pact with the world’s only superpower, a pact the latter still seems quite intent on honoring. What this means is that from an international relations perspective, there is absolutely NO reason for South Korea to Finlandize - in fact, if there’s a party that should be Finlandizing, it’s North Korea, being as it is bereft of superpower allies and looking at getting gangbanged by the US, South Korea, and Japan should it make the wrong foreign policy choices. This is what makes the situation so frustrating, because you’re right - the more the North Koreans talk about their missiles and their nukes, the more the South Koreans appear to adjust their foreign policy taking into account Pyongyang’s interests and desires. And there is simply no rational reason for them to do so.

BTW, you may be right, too, by saying that dealing with dictators is unhealthy for democracy - George Washington warned of it in his farewell address - and frankly, depite being a geopolitical realist, I sometimes worry about the possible effects on American democracy that might result from Washington’s daily intercourse with the gangsters and thugs of the world.

By: Antti

Antti — Thu, 30 Oct 2003 02:30:22 +0000

The unification minister is one of those progressives
who think that the most urgent human rights problem in
the NK is feeding the people.
From that we come to the conclusion that Park Chung Hee
was a great champion of human rights.

I’ve come to think that there is kind of Finlandization going
on in South Korea. (Finlandization used to mean going too far in
taking the Soviet sensibilities into account [?짠?????쨔흹 ??졙??짢??? ????쨔???쩌 ?쨀쨈?????짼?],
and using the real and imagined Soviet wishes to one’s own advantage in
domestic politics.)
Dealing closely with dictatorships is sometimes not good for democracy.