hankyoreh

By Ha Eo-young, staff reporter

“It’s not appropriate to politicize the military’s mandatory moral education.” (Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, Twitter, June 21)

Defense Minister Kim has responded to a report in the June 14 edition of the Hankyoreh that accused the military’s moral education of being politically biased, saying without explanation that “education about pro-North Korean forces is required moral education.”

With the presidential election just 100 days away, it appears the military’s political neutrality will once again become a matter of debate as the true nature of its extensive education program on pro-North Korean forces is revealed.

According to a document obtained by the Hankyoreh, despite June’s criticism of the military’s political neutrality, the level of political bias has increased. Also, the military’s education targets the political opposition by designating them pro-North Korean forces. At the end of the moral education course, all soldiers are required to take a test on what they have been taught.

The education about pro-North Korean forces is not only problematic in terms of political neutrality, it’s also difficult to find any introspection regarding objectivity or the facts. The program describes all Korea’s democracy movements, including the 1970’s struggle against the Yushin dictatorship, as opportunities for pro-North Korean forces to expand their power. It also calls the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) a pro-North Korean force.

Furthermore, “In the 2000s, pro-North Korean forces ensconced themselves in establishment politics, the media and arts and culture, where they spread their influence across the nation as they beautified pro-North Korean and pro-socialist activities as democratization and peace movements.”

Each of the program’s items describe pro-North Korea forces, their ideological base, how they are formed, their size, their connection with North Korea, and their recent activities.

The questions contain unconfirmed figures like, “Their are about 80 national pro-North Korea groups - their core membership is estimated at about 30,000, with about 300,000 - 500,000 North Korea sympathizers and a floating force of about 3 million.”

Claims made largely by North Korean defectors and right-wing groups have found their way into lectures on pro-North Korean forces. This means claims that have yet to be objectively verified are being used by the military as test questions.

There’s even a question directly related to the presidential election. A fill-in-the-blank question reads, “Kim Jong-un’s Order No. 1 Regarding the South of 2012 is ‘Actively intervene in ____.”

The answer is “the South Korean presidential election.” This creates the impression that pro-North groups based in the South will act on Pyongyang’s orders to play a role in December’s presidential election.

The test on pro-North Korean forces is distributed in the form of a question bank with 150 questions and answers in a variety of formats, such as multiple choice, short-answer, true-false and summaries. The results are submitted up the chain of command.

Soldiers in a wide range of locations must take the test. Units carrying out moral education focused on identifying pro-North Korean forces based on the official document obtained by the Hankyoreh include units stationed not only in front-line areas of Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces and the capital region, but also rear echelon units.

Moreover, in each region, this program is not carried out sequentially by unit, but all-at-once using audio-visual material.

Additionally, while in the past soldiers could skip the program due to personal circumstances, it is now mandatory. Officers who score less than 80, soldiers the rank of corporal or below who score less than 70, and sergeants who score under 80 will find it tougher to be promoted.

The military also gives out points for promotion and time off to officers and soldiers who perform well in military speech contests.

These speech contests are held especially intensively in front line units in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces such as the 1st Army, 2nd Army and 3rd Army.

One soldier on leave earned through an outstanding score in a recent speech contest said, “A fellow soldier who got first place got a week’s leave, while I got a weekend pass for coming in second. Since leaves are at stake, the soldiers participate more enthusiastically than they do in the test on pro-North Korean forces.”

About the test on pro-North Korean forces, the military said, “There were Defense Ministry guidelines calling for the tests to maintain political neutrality, but the level could differ unit-to-unit. There has been no change in the principle of neutrality.”

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