By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
Is the health of Korea's hard-won democracy really in jeopardy?
As the nation commemorated the 22nd anniversary of the landmark June 10 pro-democracy movement which eventually terminated the military dictatorship and institutionalized a direct vote for the president, some are wondering if the country has truly achieved a healthy and sustainable democracy.
This month has seen a series of protests from various sectors of society, especially academia, opposition politicians as well as civic and religious organizations, demanding the Lee Myung-bak administration set the country's democracy ``on the right track.''
They have issued a series of petitions and public declarations, claiming that the current administration has committed serious infringements on the basic elements of democratic rule, particularly through ``suppressing freedom of expression and the independence of the press,'' as well as the people's right to peaceful demonstration on pressing social and political issues.
The outbreak of the recent ideological and political division, particularly since the suicide of former President Roh Moo-hyun a month ago, has caught the attention of overseas scholars.
Last Saturday, a group of Europe-based scholars and researchers of Korean studies issued a joint statement, maintaining that the current administration's ``suppression of basic freedom'' may turn the clock back to before 1987 when Korea was denied the right to political self-expression.
Professor Vladimir Tikhonov, or Pak No-ja as he is known in Korea, of the University of Oslo, Norway, was one of the participants in the latest public display of dissent from scholars on what they call the ``unilateral rule'' of the Lee administration.
A host of Korean universities, including Seoul National University and Dongguk University, initiated similar efforts, prompting other sectors of society to follow suit.
While the 36-year-old scholar of Korean history believes that there is no such thing as a ``perfect democracy'' anywhere, he does think that Korea's recent management of certain social issues are causes for concern.
He said, ``Even before the Lee administration, democracy in South Korea was in many ways limited ― `conservative democracy,' as some scholars define it. But now, it is just in a shambles ― if the government could arrest a blogger who simply criticized its economic policy and accurately predicted its consequences, it means that free expression as such is no longer guaranteed.''
``Luckily, the court found the blogger innocent ― but the very fact that such an arrest could have been made, shows that government uses its administrative capacity to stifle any dissent,'' Park told The Korea Times in an interview.
The professor of Korean and East Asian studies is gravely concerned about the current confrontations over the ``rollback of democracy.'' Though Russian by birth, he is a naturalized Korean and a devoted writer and columnist on historical, political and social issues of the country he calls home.
He said, ``I participated in the protest petition by the Europe-based scholars, Korean and foreign, because I felt that if we do not stop this rollback on democracy today, we can wake up in a different Korea tomorrow.
``A Korea that would look more like China or Russia ― a country where bureaucrats and capitalists in one power bloc control civil society and effectively prevent it from making any serious challenges to their domination,'' Tikhonov said.
But the scholar thinks that the problem of limited democracy is not particular to the current administration. Previous administrations have been restrictive as well, he said.
``Previous administrations were hardly ideal when it came to the matters of democracy and freedoms. The arrest of German citizen, professor Song Du-yul, in 2003 for his illegal visit to North Korea (while such visits are fully legal in Germany and all other European countries), means that the Korean government was prepared to risk an international scandal in order to uphold the draconian norms which forcibly prevent any unauthorized contact with North Korea,'' he said.
The professor analyzed that what we are currently witnessing is ``a situation in which the government severely curtails the freedom of the public sphere, completely ignoring large liberal or progressive sectors of civil society and violently suppressing any expression of discontent.''
He said, ``Today, it is going much, much further than before. Many intended demonstrations in downtown Seoul are just prohibited outright, and suppression of illegal demonstrations resemble armed battles with police viciously beating up and injuring even the completely unrelated bystanders, including a Japanese tourist recently.
``Former President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide out of frustration over his corruption investigation. Intelligence agents telephoned economists to warn about their economic forecasts out of line with the government's policy direction,'' he said.
Aside from Lee's controversial governing style, some believe that the current outburst of anti-government sentiment is partly due to an ongoing ``ideological shift'' in political orientation.
Recent surveys indicate that more ``liberal-minded'' citizens are emerging from a nation with traditionally conservative political tendencies, indicating that fewer people would side with conservative governing styles of the incumbent administration.
According to a Korea Times-Hankook Ilbo survey, 28 percent of the respondents described themselves as liberals, up 3.1 percentage points from 2002, while 27.2 percent said they were conservatives, down by 7.2 percentage points. The survey also showed that many are discontent with the unilateral policy-making of the Lee administration.
Tikhonov said one way to rise above the present political confrontation is by adhering to the principle of ``consensual policy-making.''
``If you do not know what `consensual policy' is and simply ignore the opposition, then what do you expect from the opposition? Yes, the political culture in Korea is very confrontational, and the people in power tend to be extremely arrogant, which makes the functioning of the state machine much less effective than it could otherwise be,'' Tikhonov said.
Recent anti-government protesters have commonly called for a shift in the management of state affairs and long-term measures to eradicate the social and political divide across the nation.
Ultimately, their cause is to secure the health of Korean democracy and achieve a harmonized society.
Tikhonov suggested that the key to this immensely important task could be contained in Korea's concerted pursuit of a `liberal and welfare society ― including a larger element of state re-distribution, and not requiring as much competition and ``struggle for survival'' ― as society requires now.
``Our policy should be based on a vision of a gentler, more tolerant, proudly multi-ethnic society,'' he added.