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Following President Roh Moo-hyun¡¯s statement that a national project of dealing comprehensively with controversial historical problems was needed while he was receiving a report from Truth Commission, the Uri Party announced Sunday that the party would set up a "Truth and Reconciliation Committee.¡¯
Uri Party chairman Shin Ki-nam said at the press conference, ¡°We need to straighten our dark legacies from the periods of Japanese colonial period and past military rule. When democratic reformists were not the majority party, this could not be done. Although it¡¯s late, we should shake off those legacies.¡±
Shin did not cover the point that it was a rewriting Korea¡¯s modern and current history based on the ruling party¡¯s historical view. According to the logic of Uri Party, the work of liquidating the past was necessary for the future.
As long as the ruling party, which dominates both the executive and legislative branches, insists on "liquidating the past," however, the political sphere and nation as a whole will be caught up in controversy over the "past" that is modern Korean history.
In addition, the ruling party¡¯s double standard towards this matter is likely to make it more complicated. Its contrary positions towards the past inside and outside the party should be also pointed out.
During a press conference after the summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro in Jeju, President Roh said. ¡°It is true that there are many problems to be solved [concerning the history between Japan and Korea] but it is not helpful for the government to push officially.¡± The president also added that his administration would not officially raise these historical issues.
The attitude of the government and the ruling party towards dealing with the problem of Chinese distortions of Goguryo¡¯s history is also similar. So far, the government has responded to China through so-called "silent diplomacy."
The government¡¯s position was that rather than driving diplomatic disputes between Korea and China, the issue should be solved by both countries¡¯ private history institutes. As anger towards this matter grew nationwide, it switched over to "strong protests." Uri Party, too, has yet to deal with the matter of Chinese distortions of Koguryo history officially.
Lim Tae-hee, the spokesman of GNP denounced ¡°Regarding to the past actions, President Roh has shown servility towards the outside whereas domestically, he is pushing for investigations.¡±
(Park Doo-shik, dspark@chosun.com )
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