President’s June 10 statement causes controversy on the matter of democracy’s retreat

Posted on : 2009-06-11 12:20 KST Modified on : 2009-06-11 12:20 KST
Lee attributes hard-fought democracy’s erosion to group self-interest and violence, while civil society criticize Lee administration’s method of governance
 June 10.
June 10.

President Lee’s comments on the June 10 Democratic Uprising anniversary delivered on Wednesday criticized the rallies coordinated by opposition parties and civic groups in Seoul Plaza, saying that while South Korean democracy has established firm roots, ideologies that prioritize violence and group self-interest were perverting democracy. The comments ran counter to the criticism issued by civil society that his administration is forcing a retreat of democracy and blockading citizens’ rights to exercise the freedom to assembly in Seoul Plaza.

Public Administration and Security Minister Lee Dal-gon read a statement from President Lee at a morning ceremony at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts that said the June 10 Democratic Uprising had extended the spirit of the April 19 Revolution and the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. He added that the democracy of today, some 20 years past the June 10 Democratic Uprising, has set down such firm roots in South Korea that nobody can force its retreat.” He said, however, that incidences prioritizing ideology or group interest over pragmatism were taking place in the political arena opened by democracy, and the use of violence and breaking of laws were distorting the hard-fought democracy.

 

In turn, the opposition parties and civil society are countering that the administration is the group damaging core democratic values like the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of assembly and the freedom of the press. Lee Jun-han, a political Science professor of the University of Incheon, calls Lee’s address selfish and says that it was incorrect for Lee to refer to what his administration was doing as pragmatism and what everyone else is engaged in as ideologically-biased. Sin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University, said it is important for a president, who serves as a mediator of tension, to first listen with an open heart and open ears. Sin said that many people do not agree with the president’s opinion that democracy has set down roots.

 

Lawmakers have been critical, too. Democratic Party Spokesperson Kim Yu-jeong differed from President Lee in terms of identifying who in a short time, has been dragging down the democracy earned through the sacrifices of countless martyrs and citizens. He said it was the Lee administration that has placed democracy in crisis by destroying basic human rights and suppressing the people with police. A first-term Grand National Party lawmaker, who wished to remain nameless, concurred that ignoring democratic procedures in the name of pragmatism and violating the rights of citizens has become an almost everyday occurrence. He said the president is unable to sympathize with the majority of people who feel that democracy has been forced to retreat.

 

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

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