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As ever, this year¡¯s Liberation Day marking Korea¡¯s independence from Japanese colonial rule threatens to become a festival of the kind of anti-American slogans North Korea specializes in. Instead of any significant reflection, South Koreans find themselves bombarded with familiar propaganda from pro-North Korean groups such as the Korean Federation of University Student Councils (KFUSC), the Korean Teachers and Education Workers¡¯ Union and the Pan-Korean Young Students Alliance to Unify the Fatherland. The U.S. Forces Korea must pull out, South Korea must defend itself without the help of the U.S., and so forth. A new addition this year is the priority on protests against a planned Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, while opposition against a new USFK headquarters, in Pyeongtaek near Seoul will also remain on the agenda. The groups also make a point of putting a positive spin on North Korea¡¯s July 5 missile tests.
¡ß Missiles and Songun Ideology
KFUSC chairman Kim Dae-hyung in a statement Thursday did not mince words: ¡°A curse on U.S. imperialism!¡± he vituperated ahead of joint-Korean celebrations. ¡°Let us trust in the Korean people¡¯s own virtues.¡± Despite being outlawed by the nation¡¯s highest court in 2003, the KFUSC is playing the most active role in preparing for the celebrations.
Another new feature this year is hail and praise for the North¡¯s Songun or military-first ideology. South Korean websites are swamped with posts in praise of tits supposed achievements after North Korea¡¯s Senior Cabinet Counselor Kwon Ho-ung told a stunned South Korean delegation at inter-Korean ministerial talks in Busan on July 11 that the Songun policy ¡°ensures the security of South Korea.¡±
The KTEWU¡¯s Busan and Seoul chapters, meanwhile, have recommended posters and produced teaching materials on the Songun ideology. After Kwon¡¯s remarks, Songun praise has poured forth on the homepages of other pro-North Korean organizations like Solidarity for Unification, the Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification, the National Alliance for Democracy and Reunification of Korea and the KYSUF. ¡°Since Pyongyang¡¯s military first policy protects both North and South Korea, we should dispel blind anti-communist and anti-North Korean perceptions and take a fresh look at the policy, which promotes peace on the Korean Peninsula, one typical entry reads. Another goes further still: ¡°The Songun policy is the supreme law of the 21st century to advance Korean people around the world.¡±
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A North Korean poster promoting the communist country¡¯s Songun or military-first ideology the Seoul chapter of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers¡¯ Union recently advised members to put up in classrooms.
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¡ß Anti-American Sentiment
North Korea has canceled official Liberation Day celebrations in Pyongyang due to severe flood damage this year, but its fifth column seems determined to make up for it here. Unification ¡°advance teams¡± from the KYSUF, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions embarked on a 16-day campaign against the U.S. They aim to highlight issues liable to stoke anti-American sentiment here, headed by the FTA and the USFK headquarters relocation, much as they did with the deaths of two schoolgirls under the wheels of a U.S. Army vehicle.
¡ß Chilly Reception
But the groups seem to find themselves increasingly at odds with their audience. Solidarity for Reunification¡¯s homepage has a considerable number of posts slamming the campaign. ¡°There may be people with different opinions and ideologies here in South Korea, but I¡¯m very concerned that you still believe the false claims made by student activists in the 1990s,¡± says a typical reply. The advance teams have seen membership dwindle from some 1,000 to about 300. Je Seong-ho, a law professor at JoongAng University, says Liberation Day is too meaningful for the nation to be abused as a venue for the groups to promote Pyongyang¡¯s absurd ideologies.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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