Don’t turn a fool into a hero

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Michael Breen

Don’t turn a fool into a hero

Posted : 2010-06-17 17:33

Updated : 2010-06-17 17:33

By Michael Breen

The political activist who last weekend violated a travel ban to go to North Korea claimed that he ``risked his life" for the sake of peace and unification.

If the government applies the full force of the law against him on his return, he may be right. And that would be unfortunate because people who try to upstage the democratic South by embracing the Nazi North need to be seen for the ideological nincompoops that they are, not turned into nationalist heroes.

Han Sang-ryeol, a Protestant minister and reunification campaigner, arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday to participate in a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the 2000 North-South summit that the South's government was boycotting.

The Unification Ministry says Han went without the necessary permission.

It is believed to be the first challenge to a government ban on South Koreans visiting destinations in North Korea except the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and Mt. Geumgang resort, following the North's torpedo attack on the South's warship Cheonan on March 26.

When he comes home, the ministry says, Han faces investigation and possible punishment under the Law on Inter-Korean Relations and Cooperation, which calls for a maximum 10 million won ($8,000) fine and three years in jail. The government may also question him about his itinerary, who he met and what he said in Pyongyang to see if he is in violation of the even tougher National Security Law.

But the government has the option, as it applies the law, of treating Han either as a subversive or letting him off with a finger wagging.

The latter option is preferred because leniency underscores a simple truth that we need to abide by in South Korea. That is, that in a democracy, our strength lies in our willingness to defend the rights of our opponents. Our unity comes not from above but from within because I believe that your rights are mine, even if I think you are, to use an appropriate British term, a twat.

Now, some observers may think that a softly-softly approach will encourage others and make life easier for spies and agitators.

But, there is more to lose than gain by treating Han as a traitor. His most extreme known position is that he thinks American troops should leave Korea. Guess what? So do a lot of American soldiers. He also led protests against American beef imports when they resumed after the mad cow scare. This was a rather hypocritical posture with regard to food safety when you consider that Korean beef is far less safe, but so what? It was a zany moment and a lot of other people tried to hijack the protests into their anti-government agenda.

I would argue for doing the least possible against Han because his offense is not the trip North itself. In going there and being polite to his hosts, he is not doing anything that two former presidents, numerous officials, civic group leaders, religious workers, and business people have not done before him. He's just doing it at a time when the government that was in opposition when those two presidents were in power says you can't.

As a political activist, he clearly understands that courageous disobedience is the strategy for establishing his credentials. The best way to deny him is to be confidently dismissive. Let him instead be tried in the court of public opinion under laws banning beards, white hanbok, and grandiosity.

If he takes it, the leniency option gives President Lee Myung-bak an opportunity to deliver two important messages which the electorate signaled that it wanted to hear when it delivered a resounding anti-government vote in the recent local elections.

The first is that he values the rights of opponents. The arrest of the online pundit Minerva, the firing of the entertainer Kim Jae-dong who emceed a funeral event for the late President Roh Moo-hyun, and the barrage of defamation suits against newspapers are evidence that the clock has turned back on freedom of expression.

The second is that, despite the Cheonan attack, he will tread lightly with North Korea and avoid making a bad situation worse.

Given this, letting Han off makes the best sense all round.

Michael Breen is an author, former foreign correspondent and the chairman of Insight Communications, a public relations consulting company. He can be reached at mike.breen@insightcomms.com.