One might think I’d tire of bashing Minister of Unification Jeong Se-hyeon, and truth be told, I have, but the man simply will not quit in providing this blog material for derision. In this latest episode of the Jeong Se-hyeon Saga, the good minister contributed an essay to the journal “Unification Korea” (published by the MoU-affiliated Peace Research Center) in which he says, and I’m quoting Yonhap News here, “Despite North Korea’s changes, our vision and understanding of the the problem of unification remains biased and at times extreme.” As he explains, “This is because the discourse of unification, which for so long was so far away, is now right before our eyes, and there cannot help but be confusion and internal dissension.”
It gets better. Later, Jeong writes, “The dichotomy of ‘I’m right, and you’re wrong’ is not the desired attitude for preparing for the coming era of unification.” And, “In the era of genuine North-South reconciliation and cooperation, we need an open mind inclusive of faith and trust.”
More Jeong: “Rather than arguing whether the North’s changes are tactical or strategic, we must determine whether they are symbolic changes or meaningful changes, or if they are fundamental changes that cannot be reversed.” Continuing, “Because of the rigidity of the North Korean system and its fear of unification by absorption [by the South], the speed at which the North changes cannot help but be slow, but once the gates of change give way, the tendency is for [changes] to accelerate and institutionalize, and those changes will become fundamental.”
And explaining the successes of inter-Korean reconciliation, Jeong writes, “During the last 5 years and 8 months, there have been 104 inter-Korean meetings of various kinds [Marmot's note: I'm assuming he's not counting last year's West Sea naval exchange that lead to the death of 5 South Korean and an estimated 30 North Korean sailors], inter-Korean trade that totaled $18.72 million annually in 1989 has grown to $600 million annually, and around eight thousand separated family members were able to meet.”
Jeong didn’t mention how many North Koreans have died in the last 5 years in what are now, at least partially, South-Korean funded gulags, but I’d imagine the number is considerable.
UPDATE: For those who don’t trust my translations, the English version of the Chosun Ilbo has an article on Jeong’s essay here.
5 Comments
I guess you wouldn’t be surprise to know that just about no one here in America has any idea of the fantasies, illusions, delusions and general hysteria with which some South Koreans approach the idea of reunification with the North.
Americans generally think all South Koreans are appalled that North Korea lied about abandoning plans for nuclear weapons, and that South Koreans have no realistic hope of reunifying with the North until the North’s dictatorship is dissolved.
But things aren’t exactly like that, are they?
Frank
This is one government type that I gave up even trying to defend a long, long time ago.
Sounds like the “bubble of transformation” should be bursting over the Blue House, more than North Korea.
RE: Mortality rates in concentration camps
Anywhere between 1% and 3% per month, depending upon the ‘humaneness’ of the wardens.
If we assume 200,000 inmates in the NK gulag, the death rate is 2,000 to 6,000 per month or 24,000 to 72,000 per year.
Jeong is a sad victim of Stockholm Syndrome. Moreover, a Korean friend who knows him cited Jeong as the most egregious examle of the affirmative action programme for Cholla natives that Kim DJ ushered in: People whose main qualification for their post was their regional background. (I am not by any means defending Korea’s ingrained discrimination against southwesterners…)