hankyoreh

A number of questionable developments have begun to take place in connection with the funeral of Hwang Jang-yop, the former secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). First, the government hurriedly awarded the deceased a Mugunghwa Medal of the Order of Civil Merit and made plans to inter his remains in a national cemetery, though the basis for this decision is not clear. In addition, some conservative newspapers have attacked the opposition on ideological grounds, dividing them into those factions that have paid their respects to Hwang and those that have not. This is something untenable if one subjects Hwang’s actions and achievements to objective assessment.
Hwang Jang-yop was a leading theorist for the North Korean regime who crafted the juche ideology. As such, it cannot be said that he bears no connection with the crisis currently facing North Korea or with the failures of its system. Even after he came to South Korea, he never openly acknowledged or apologized for his responsibility in this.
In the words of New Right National Union member Lee Ju-cheon, he “did not emphasize that juche ideology was misguided, but rather tried to develop juche ideology, to improve on it and propagate it in South Korea.”
For this reason, even some conservatives have objected to his burial in a national cemetery. Amid all of this, it is completely inappropriate for the government to hurriedly award him a medal without first carrying out sufficient discussions.
Minister of Public Administration and Security Maeng Hyung-kyu said that Hwang “dedicated himself to democratization and development, reforms and openness in North Korea.”
As the highest-ranking defector from North Korea, he certainly must have contributed in providing intelligence on internal trends within the North Korean government. In this regard, it was an obvious quid pro quo arrangement for intelligence organizations in South Korea to look after his safety and show him considerable concern.
However, it is questionable whether his so-called “democratization campaign” in North Korea actually contributed to democracy in that country and peace on the Korean Peninsula. If one’s goal is to promote democracy and human rights in North Korea, the most likely means would be to induce the insular nation to open its doors and come out of its own accord. This is a tried and true method that has been seen with other countries throughout history.
Hwang’s method of campaigning, which involved merely reiterating problems with the North Korean system, should be seen more as having led North Korea to shut its doors even tighter.
The government reportedly did not initially think the conditions had been met for Hwang’s interment in a national cemetery. It is said that it subsequently hit on the idea that he could be buried there if he had some kind of decoration, and went about the procedures for awarding him a medal. This kind of ad hoc mobilization of expediencies in defiance of established procedures and standards is not desirable. Indeed, it is unfortunate that the meaning of medals and burial in a national cemetery, already the subjects of such controversy, seems to have become even more tarnished with this latest development.
　　
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