DailyNK Makes Newsweek, Sort of

Newsweek’s latest article on South Korea’s “New Right” is a must-read (ht to the Marmot).

The New Right, in remarkable parallel to the rise of American neocons, has sprung up in reaction to these changes. They promote American-style capitalism, denounce the type of totalitarian socialism found in North Korea and–unlike traditional GNP conservatives–advocate a more open world view that transcends narrow nationalism.

“The New Right has gained public support because Korea has moved too rapidly to the left,” says Hong Sung Gul, a professor of public administration at Seoul’s Kookmin University. “They have the potential to change Korean society again politically and ideologically.”

Now mostly in their 40s, many of the movement’s leaders spent turbulent college years in the 1980s fighting against South Korea’s anti-communist dictators and dreaming of a socialist utopia. Han Ki Hong, 44, is a good example. When he was a junior at Yonsei University in Seoul in 1983, he railed against the Reagan administration and led student demonstrations against the United States and also Seoul’s military dictators. He served six months in jail.

That’s would be Han Ki Hong, the President of the Daily NK, with whom I had the pleasure of speaking only last Thursday, when I offered my apologies for not submitting anything to the the DailyNK for too long (I hope to rectify that soon). I wish B.J. Lee, the reporter, would have devoted a bit of attention to the DailyNK itself and its impact on the political situation in both North and South, but hey, nothing’s stopping me from doing that myself. It is indeed interesting that many of the leading lights of the “New Right,” including Young Howard of Open Radio for North Korea and Assemblyman Kim Moon Soo (Pt. 1, Pt. 2), who is hopefully on his way to election as governor of Kyonggi province (which surrounds Seoul) have done time for pro-democracy activities. Here rests our hope that the New Right will not be like the Old Right, which has irretrieveably lost the confidence of young Korean voters.

(I should mention here that the Daily NK’s coverage of NK Freedom Week events was more accurate than some, erm, other Korean newspapers; they also have the full text of President Bush’s comments when he met with Sakie Yokota, little Kim Han-Mi, and other North Korean defectors).

I ardently hope that it’s all true, of course: That there is an incipient backlash against mindless self-destructive nationalism, that the New Right is an emerging political force, that it will raise public consciousness of atrocities in North Korea, and that it’s ideologicallly unlike the Old Right, with its authoritarian instincts. I’m still not convinced, however, perhaps because caution ought to be hope’s companion, but also because I don’t see much evidence for it. Number one, I don’t see any leader of national standing pointing out the obvious: that South Korea’s good relations with Japan and the United States — and even with China — have improved its economy and security and ought not to be thrown away over guano, isolated traffic accidents, or long-dead ancient kingdoms. Number two, as the article points out, the New Right has no political organization of any significance that can influence or compete with existing political parties, although such things change rapidly during Korean election seasons. Number three, some of the rhetoric recently attributed to the New Right doesn’t always sound very different from that of the Old Right, and I’m not the only observer to note that the New Right must work to define itself. As for the positive polling numbers, they’re encouraging, but very preliminary, and they could reflect no more than the fact that Koreans despise both parties for their corruption, factionalism, rudderlessness, and incompetence. It may be support by default, by those who really don’t know what the New Right stands for.

In other words, South Korea desperately needs a movement like this one if it’s to preserve its prosperity and achieve reunification. I hope the New Right can match the great aspirations this article raises.
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