hankyoreh

former spokesperson for the now defunct Democratic Labor Party

Something happened that should never have happened in Korea today.

On the evening of Dec. 10, Korean-American Shin Eun-mi and Hwang Seon, former spokesperson for the now defunct Democratic Labor Party, were giving a lecture at Shindong Cathedral in Iksan, North Jeolla Province. They were talking about a visit to Pyongyang, North Korea.

Pandemonium broke out at the lecture when a young man ignited a homemade explosive. If not for the prompt action of the security staff, the incident could very well have led to loss of life.

Reports say that the culprit, a third-year high school student, had been active on Ilbe (Daily Best Storehouse), a right-wing website. The incident is shocking as an example of political extremism online triggering a terrorist attack in real life.

The incident should not be overlooked, since it illustrates how the extreme anti-North Korean ideology in South Korea is connected to a hate crime. Shin Eun-mi, the target of the attack, had received an award from the Journalists Association of Korea in October for a series of articles she published in Oh My News titled “A Korean-American Woman Goes to North Korea.” After that, she had gone on a lecture tour.

However, certain far-right groups had branded Shin’s lectures as “pro-North Korea.” These groups had even filed a complaint with the police, accusing Shin of violating the National Security Law by referring to North Korea as “heaven on earth.”

The young man who committed the crime appears to have picked up an extreme form of Korean far-right ideology during the time he spent on Ilbe.

Just before the attack, he asked Shin if she had described North Korea as “heaven on earth.” Shin denied she had said this, but the man repeated his accusation and lit the explosive. We can infer that he was blind to all but his own obsessive thoughts when he committed the reckless act.

It was South Korean adults that had stopped up this young man’s ears and the behavior of the reactionary conservative press deserves particular censure. These newspapers produced a steady stream of articles criticizing Shin’s lectures. Their incessant accusations about sympathizing with North Korea are themselves a form of linguistic terrorism that can provoke actual terrorist attacks.

Liberal democracy is a tree that is planted in the spirit of freedom and tolerance exemplified by Voltaire’s famous observation that even if he disapproves of what someone says, he would defend to the death their right to say it.

Singling someone out for attack simply because they have voiced an opinion about the situation in North Korea that is different from certain extreme groups constitutes a rejection of liberal democracy.

Tolerance is the key value that demonstrates how liberal democracy is superior to a dictatorship, and terrorism is an attack on this fundamental value of our system.

If liberal democracy is to survive, we must staunchly combat the forces that label people as pro-North Korea and carry out physical attacks.

at Shindong Cathedral in Iksan

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