[Reporter’s notebook] Mixed assessments of Kim Jong-pil’s legacy cast doubts on his receiving civil honor

Posted on : 2018-06-27 16:18 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Ex-prime minister was a principal architect behind dark ages of South Korean democracy
Minister of the Interior and Safety Kim Boo-kyum pays his respects to late ex-Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil after posthumously awarding Kim with the Mugunghwa Order of Civil Merit
Minister of the Interior and Safety Kim Boo-kyum pays his respects to late ex-Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil after posthumously awarding Kim with the Mugunghwa Order of Civil Merit

Ex-Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil, who passed away on June 23, was posthumously honored by the South Korean government on June 25 with the Mugunghwa Order of Civil Merit, the highest honor a civilian can receive. The chief explanation given by Minister of the Interior and Safety Kim Boo-kyum was that the honor was meant as a “token of gratitude for the Prime Minister’s role in assuming responsibility for the government of the Republic of Korea.”

While Kim Jong-pil did indeed serve twice as Prime Minister over the course of his 92-year lifetime, it is impossible to assess his legacy without looking at the dark shadow he cast on South Korea’s contemporary history – especially when he has been honored with an award “bestowed by the state to commend the achievement of someone who has clearly contributed to the state or society.”

Article 1-1 of the Constitution states that the Republic of Korea is a “democratic republic.” Kim Jong-pil was one of the key figures behind the military coup d’état of May 16, 1961. In addition to grievously undermining South Korea’s identity as a democratic republic, he also established and served as inaugural director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), which and perpetrated political maneuvering and human rights suppressions. It would not be overstating things to say that the “dark ages” of South Korean democracy originated with Kim.

In assessments of Kim’s merits and demerits, his contributions to industrialization are typically listed among the chief entries in the merit column. In his book “Kim Jong-pil’s Eyewitness Account,” he wrote, “Democracy demands you eat bread and sleep before you drink blood.”

He is said to have been proud of his role in promoting South Korea’s industrialization with money received from Japan through the normalization of relations between the two sides, which he worked to negotiate. But the “Kim Jong-pil/Masayoshi Ohira memo” from 1962 has left behind a bitter legacy: 56 years later, South Korea has yet to receive a proper apology from Tokyo for its aggressions. The two sides’ dispute over ownership of the Dokdo islets, the forcible removal of cultural heritage items, the conscripting of laborers and troops by Japan, and the forced mobilization of “comfort women” to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese military all remain as unresolved issues. In Kim’s account, he wrote that liberty and democracy “are only possible when they are bolstered by the economic strength that allows you to enjoy them.”

Kim was also said to be proud of his role in the birth of a new administration with his so-called “DJP coalition” with Kim Dae-jung. It is true that he contributed to the first “horizontal” change in administrations in the history of South Korean constitutional government. But few would argue that he made his decision for the sake of South Korean democracy. It would closer to the truth to say that he leveraged regionalist sentiment in the Chungcheong area to prolong his political career as a “casting voter.”

And now the Moon Jae-in administration has awarded him a decoration. Decorations are given to people who “rendered distinguished services to the Republic of Korea” (Awards and Decorations Act, Article 2), while the Order of Civil Merit is given to someone who “who has rendered outstanding meritorious services in the area of politics, economy, society, education, art or science in the interest of improving citizens' welfare and promoting national development” (Article 12).

It’s not clear which of these areas – politics, economy, society, education, art, or science – the government saw Kim as having rendered meritorious services in. It’s also hard to find any explanation in the remarks made by current Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who said after his condolence call on June 23 that Kim had “long played a major role in contemporary history, and the government should not neglect its responsibility to honor him.”

No explanation given regarding Kim’s “meritorious services”

Not a single word has yet been written to explain Kim’s purported services. The administration made the decision to give him the decoration first, with a report of meritorious services to be drafted within the next month to be put before a review committee and the Cabinet before being finalized with the President’s approval. The administration has cited the “custom” of posthumously awarding Mugunghwa honors to four other ex-Prime Ministers – but that is only half true.

Of the 40 or so Prime Ministers that South Korea has had since its establishment, the number who received Mugunghwa honors reportedly stands at ten. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the custom has “existed since 2010,” but offered no explanation as to why that year was used as a standard.

Assessments of Kim’s legacy are mixed. As of June 26, some 3,500 people had visited to pay their respects. But the 200 or so petitions posted on the Blue House bulletin board to oppose his honors shows just how controversial a figure he was. Mourning the passing of a former Prime Minister and extending respectful treatment to him is a different matter from awarding him a medal. It is difficult to understand why the administration felt compelled to rush to bestow the honor during Kim’s funeral period, before a debate or appraisal had even taken place on his positive and negative legacies.

The slogan President Moon Jae-in adopted for his election pledges last year was “a proper country.” Shouldn’t we make sure the right procedures and appraisals take place so that we also award “proper medals”?

By Lee Jeong-hun, staff reporter

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