Prof. Kim’s Remarks on Roh Stirs Dispute
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
A conservative university professor expressed concerns over the ``emotional’’ move to make former President Roh Moo-hyun a martyr and at the same time criticized the inability of President Lee Myung-bak.
In an article posted on his homepage, Kim Dong-gil, a professor emeritus at Yonsei University, said he realized another government exists through the public funeral, held last Friday.
He has been at the center of controversy because of a series of posts about Roh on his homepage. In one post, Kim said Roh should ``commit suicide or go to jail,’’ while the former president was under bribery investigation. When Roh died on May 23, Kim faced harsh criticism from netizens.
``I could feel that another government certainly exists, which is much more able and better organized than the government that we believe it is,’’ Kim said in the article.
He added that if an invisible government is much more capable than a visible government, then the 10 million people who supported President Lee Myung-bak are alienated. ``Why did you (Lee Myung-bak) become president and make us like this? I feel so helpless.’’
Kim also criticized the three main broadcasters for making Roh a martyr. ``It was a funeral of the century. The funeral ceremony for Mohandas Gandhi, a saint of India, was shabby compared with that of Roh. I guess funerals of China’s Mao Zedong and North Korea’s Kim Il-sung cannot surpass that of Roh,’’ he said.
``Some turned off the live broadcast of the funeral service, but I spent all of my afternoon time watching TV. A yellow wave filled Seoul Plaza and members of `Rohsamo’ (people who love Roh Moo-hyun) prepared the funeral rite perfectly,’’ he said.