A large outdoor mass by Catholic priests Monday brought fresh vigor to candlelight protests suffering from dwindling participants and strong crackdowns. Protestant pastors and Buddhist monks will soon follow and lend their hands to protesters, adding to the embarrassment of law enforcement officers.
Religious circles in the vanguard of anti-government protests is like a double-edged sword: it has restored a peaceful atmosphere to the increasingly violent demonstrations, while raising concerns among neutral citizens about the endless confrontation between the government and their critics by providing moral support for the latter.
One might also doubt whether the current situation, worrisome as it is, really warrants the massive demonstration by leaders of the nation's three major religions. However unsatisfactory the Lee Myung-bak administration may be, it should not be likened to a military dictatorship. Moreover, polls show up to 60 percent of Koreans think it's about time the candlelit vigilantes stop.
We beg to differ. The fact that the nation's religious circles are talking with one voice should be seen as a highly unusual development, reflecting a huge underlying current in our society.
Many people compare the current civil disobedience to the summer of 1987 when Koreans took democracy back from military dictators by winning a direct presidential election. What has been happening in downtown Seoul over the past two months reflects the people's aspiration for a new type of democracy ― ``participatory democracy" or ``life politics" or whatever other name they might call it.
They are no longer content with just casting a ballot every five years, but want a bigger say in politics, particularly in issues directly related with their living, such as food safety. So the target may not necessarily be the Lee Myung-bak administration or any other government, conservative or liberal. What they are protesting against is the one-sided decision-making process by elected officials, whom the voters commissioned their sovereignty for a while but are now tying to reign over the people who elected them.
As things stand now, President Lee, with his poll rating nearly rock bottom after just four months in office, is unlikely to govern this country effectively for the remainder of his tenure. The President may not face a political impeachment at the National Assembly, but he has already been impeached in terms of public opinion and policy failure.
So there seem to remain few other options but to come up with a compromise, in which the government guarantees the reflection of popular views in deciding important national issues without hurting the existing framework of the representative democracy. In short, an answer should be found as to how to ``institutionalize" people's voices as shown in the candlelight protests.
This is why we welcome the latest proposal by Culture, Sport and Tourism Minister Yoo In-chon to have direct dialogue with the organizers of the anti-government protests. It is not certain whether Yoo, also the government's spokesman, made this move on his own or on instruction ``from above."
Either way, this should be the start of putting an end to the protracted turmoil and finding a way of reflecting people's views on state administration.
The protest's organizers should accept the proposal without conditions, provided the government's offer is not a tactical gesture.