hankyoreh

The Lee Myung-bak administration has been making and distributing national security education videos contending that those who questioned the findings of the investigation in the sinking of the Cheonan were responsible for North Korea’s attack on Yeonpyeong Island. In addition to the patently absurd argument, the fact that the video stars film actor Lee Jun-ki, who is currently performing his mandatory military service, is adding to the controversy.
The 18-minute “Government-standard National Security Video for Young People” was produced by the Defense Media Agency and circulated to kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools around the country beginning on Mar. 7. The video introduces Lee while citing “dividing the South Korean people” as one of the reasons for the North Korean artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island. Wearing a black beret and introduced as “national security teacher for a day,” Lee opens by saying, “All South Koreans must properly understand the national security situation and respond with a single mind and a single will.”
A cartoon character with the voice of a young boy goes on to bring up the controversy surrounding the government's announcement of the Cheonan investigation findings. “People who do not even believe something brought to light through the participation of authorities from the different advanced nations caused divisions among the South Korean people,” the voice says. “If, instead of fighting in that way, our people had put their power together to prepare thoroughly, maybe we could have prevented the Yeonpyeong Island provocation.”
After this, Lee Jun-ki delivers the final remarks, with a skillful overlap between the controversial content and his image. This video betrays a one-sided understanding of the situation centering on the government’s position. The debate over the government’s Cheonan findings raged fiercely everywhere from the United Nations Security Council to the South Korean National Assembly. Nor can it be said that it has yet been resolved. Moreover, it is utterly baseless to make the leap of attributing North Korea’s attack on Yeonpyeong Island to the debate over the Cheonan’s sinking in South Korean society. Infusing this kind of information into young minds is not only not educational, but it contributes nothing to strengthening our national security posture either.
Also problematic is the fact that military authorities made free use of the image of an entertainer who has joined the military. One wonders about Lee Jun-ki’s own thoughts, under freer conditions, over the Cheonan debate that is pitting government and certain quarters of civil society against each other. He supported the candlelight vigil demonstrations in 2008, and he put up memorial posts on his mini-home page after the deaths of former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. Internet users have called him an “entertainer with a clue.”
If he was enlisted for a public relations video irrespective of his free will, this could be termed image exploitation that runs counter to human rights. No one has the right to take advantage of the weakness of a soldier unable to refuse orders and to force him to engage in PR activities that go against his image and convictions.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]