hankyoreh

Heo Se-uk, the man who set himself on fire in opposition to the free trade agreement with the United States, has died. "I have never abandoned myself" he is reported to have said, but after half a month on the verge of death, that is what has happened at the end of the difficult life he led.

In the course of the fight for democracy and against dictatorship, many put their lives on the line for the fight. Most have departed from popular memory, but their families and peers remain unable to send them on their way, because for them time has not erased the pain. There are thoughtful individuals who hope to see having people resist with their lives becomes something of the past. Not because they want to be free of the painful memories that rest with the living, but because they want to see that something has truly changed about the world because of their sacrifice, because they want to believe we live in a true democracy now, one in which problems are resolved thorough dialogue and compromise instead of resisting to the death.

Compared to the dark years of the past, much progress has been made in procedural democracy. Nowadays, no one denies the values held by democracy. We had the "Government of the People" under Kim Dae-jung, and are we not now living under the "Participatory Government" of Roh Moo-hyun. But still the tragedies continue. Even under the Participatory Government, Heo - who had been a neighbor to people who had been forcibly removed from their homes in the name of "development," a friend to farmers in Pyeongtaek being forced off their land to make way for a U.S. military base, and friend to the fellow worker - made self-immolation his final choice. He had once said that "radical struggle is not right," but his self-immolation speaks of the desperation of the masses, who have nowhere to stand.

At this point, one has to ask what it means to participate in a government that obsesses over pushing its publicity offensive about the FTA instead of humbly asking the people how they feel about it. You want to ask the president what democracy means, when even at a "workshop" attended by full and deputy cabinet ministers, he threatens people by asking, "Can we survive without opening our markets?" Meanwhile, everyone is so composed about the situation that they seem downright cold. Are they trying to write off Heo's death as the sudden wild action of one individual?

The government needs to examine its approach and change its attitude. Do there have to be more members of the masses who stand at the brink of the FTA and feel the same "fatal temptation"? Democracy will remain a distant ideal as long as people feel desperate and neglected. What is really being put in a state of crisis with the FTA, therefore, is not the Korean economy, but rather Korean democracy. The democracy of this land must be pulled from the crisis it is in in order for these kinds of self-sacrifices to end. It is still too early to be able to hope Heo rests in peace.



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