hankyoreh

Suh Sung

“Since being released after 19 years in prison, I’ve been interested in the issues of abolishing torture and releasing political prisoners. I’ve had a lot of conversations while traveling around not only Japan but also the US, Canada, Europe and South America. But during my world travel and while looking at the situation in Northeast Asia, it occurred to me that human rights and unification advocacy, as important as they are, are not as important as preventing wars from occurring. I’ve dedicated myself to the cause of peace from my belief in the importance of keeping the peace,” said Suh Sung, 72, when asked about his peace activism.

In Nov. 2016, Suh, who is a peace and human rights activist and a visiting professor at Ritsumeikan University, published “The Fugazi of East Asia.” The book, a travelogue that delves into history and the humanities, is based on Suh’s visits to the scenes of state violence and human rights violations in East Asia. “Fugazi” is a word in the Okinawan language meaning a “big wind,” and this is the nickname that Suh was given by friends in Okinawa for his passionate work on behalf of peace and human rights. On May 21, a Hankyoreh reporter interviewed Suh, who since March has been a visiting professor at the Center for Jeju Islanders in Japan at Jeju National University.

Suh was imprisoned in Apr. 1971 as part of an alleged spy case involving ethnic Koreans from Japan, which was fabricated by the Yushin dictatorship under former president Park Chung-hee (1961-79), and was released in Feb. 1990, after 19 painful years. Since his release, he has dedicated himself to the cause of peace and human rights.

On May 12, Suh held a small book launch at Gak, a book caf? in Jeju City. This was inspired by his close ties with Jeju Island: while attending university in Japan, he heard about the Jeju Uprising, which began on April 3, 1948, and in 1998, he organized the second international symposium in Jeju on the theme of state terrorism and the Cold War in East Asia. For the past few years, he has also been visiting the site of opposition to the construction of the naval base in Seogwipo, Jeju, to give lectures.

“Since officially retiring six years ago and stepping down from ‘active duty’ under the name of ‘visiting professor,’ I‘ve felt a kind of mission to communicate the things I’ve experienced,” Suh said. During that time, he has led tours of East Asia with people from various countries, including South Korea, Japan and China. While visiting historical sites in Okinawa and other parts of Japan, Taiwan, Jeju Island, the Chinese city of Nanjing, and Northeast China, he has met local activists and had conversations with them.

The books that have emerged from this process are the two volumes of “The Fugazi of East Asia.” The first volume is a compilation of lectures about state violence, human rights and peace in Northeast Asia that he gave in South Korea, Taiwan and China; columns about peace and security in Northeast Asia; and articles about cultural and artistic activities.

“Unification and democratization need to be discussed on the foundation of peace. Peace demands not just words but also actions based on an understanding of peace in its practical and historical context, but there’s a lack of that sort of understanding,” Suh said.

Suh has long worked for peace and human rights in civic society, and he argues that the solidarity and efforts of civic groups are necessary for peace to become established in East Asia. “A truth and reconciliation commission needs to be set up in East Asia that will be organized on people of all those countries, just like the one in South Korea. This should be used to work on shared research and to create shared mindsets. It won’t be easy, but it can be done gradually,” he said. “The prerequisite for achieving peace is unprejudiced exchange. Peace building involves mutual exchange and mutual interests. The most important thing is trust. Trust must be established to make a relationship in which both sides can feel secure without being armed.”

Suh‘s view of peace is linked to the issue of Korean-Japanese who have the “Chosen-seki” nationality,“ a status held by ethnic Koreans in Japan who have neither Japanese nor South Korean nationality. ”Chosen-seki Koreans in Japan can’t come home even if they want to. They can’t enter South Korea because they’re Chosen-seki, and there are many people who aren’t able to visit the graves of their ancestors on Jeju Island. Isn’t that kind of inhumane treatment incredible? To build up trust, we need to tear down such barriers. I have high hopes for the Moon Jae-in administration,“ Suh said.

Suh also addressed the situation on Jeju Island, which has been swept by a wave of development over the past few years. ”Jeju Island was designated as the ‘island of peace’ in Jan. 2005, but if you take a closer look, there are signs of rampant developmentalism. The Jeju Naval Base also advocates peace. It presents itself as peaceful, but the fine print is filled with developmentalism, destruction of the environment and militarism,“ he said.

Suh also attended the candlelight rallies that were held on Jeju Island. ”The impression we got from the candlelight rallies is that this country belongs to us and that we‘re the decision makers,“ he said, explaining that the greatest achievement of the rallies was a proper understanding of popular sovereignty, which is the foundation of democracy.

By Huh Ho-joon, Jeju correspondent

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