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President Roh Moo-hyun said yesterday that he had no intention of criticizing the findings of the Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths (PTCSD), on which he was being briefed. The PTCSD provoked controversy by crediting former North Korean spies and communist partisans as contributors to the democratization of Korea, and by employing as inspectors former prisoners charged with espionage. The president stated that the controversy was caused due to a provision that confines the commission¡¯s terms of reference to the victims of the democratization movement. The president stated that in principal it is important to investigate cases of government infringement of human rights, whether or not they took place in the process of the democratization. In a nutshell, the president supports the decision and activities of the PTCSD.
While one public question may be resolved, Koreans are beginning to feel anxious about the future of a Korea which has barely become a developed country, a Korea built on the sweat and hard work of its people since achieving independence from the Japanese in 1945 and reestablishing itself as a the nation in 1948, then overcoming the national crisis caused by Kim Il-sung and North Korea¡¯s invasion in 1950.
Contrary to findings of the PTCSD that former North Korean spies contributed to pro-democracy movements, The Commission for Democratization Movement Activists' Honor-Restoration and Compensation concluded that those who broke the constitution and threatened the national security of the Republic of Korea cannot be classified as democratic figures just because they demanded in prison that bad anti-democratic laws be abolished.
The president, however, who once vowed to uphold the constitution and defend the country, spoke in defense of the PTCSD saying, "It is important to investigate all cases of governmental infringement of human rights, whether or not they took place in the process of the democratization movement." If his remark is to be taken at face value, it could be an argument necessitating investigation of all incidents that happened during the Korean war and brutalities against communists partisans and North Korean spies after the war. Human rights must be valued and respected, but if the rights of those who sought to undermine the constitution, even overthrow the country are protected, what happens to the rights of those who fought to defend it?
President Roh also stated, "Since the dissolution of the Special Commission on Anti-Nationalistic Acts and the identification and correction of historical events has not been completed yet, the government needs to assess how best to deal with these controversial issues in a comprehensive, not a fragmented manner." If this drags out, the country may be waiting for quite some time to rewrite the history pages. Another worrying thing with Roh's remark is his implied sense of victimization at the opposition party's criticism of the PTCSD, which the PTCSD could use to attack him.
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