The Cultural Conflicts and Integration

Hong Seokjun (Faculty of History and Culture, Mokpo University)

(Translated by Lee Hyeon-ock)

I. Introduction

This is an introductory article to promote an understanding of the general

problems of cultural conflicts and integration in a certain socio-cultural context. This
article will first consider general arguments on culture, investigate the relation between
arguments on culture and cultural conflicts, and discuss the relation between cultural
conflicts and cultural integration. In its conclusion this article will instead propose a
question: how could cultural integration be made possible?
When interpreted in a broad sense, both academic and practical, culture has
been traditionally understood as a sort of life style. According to this view, a culture of
a specific region can be defined as a unique and original life style that reflects the
dynamics and complexity of a community in the region. A specific culture, however, is
formed through the specific historical experiences and the unique cultural context of a
community, whether formed spontaneously or formed by pressure from outside. Is it
then possible to combine the society and the culture of a region into one concept or
category? In order to answer this question, the differences and the similarities of
cultures should be considered first.
Different cultures around the world have characteristics that are both different
from and similar to each other. If one focuses on the life style of a people in a specific
region, many ruptures and differences can be seen to exist in their specific culture. A
culture, here, is an entity that has diverse and complex characteristics, shares certain
common elements with other cultures and changes itself in a flexible manner according
to the time and context.
Under the current rapidly changing political and economic situation, the
cultures around the world are expected to accelerate their globalization and localization.
Accordingly, there will be formed an environment where promoted intellectual efforts
are made to explain how the culture of a region is formed, transformed, and interpreted
based on the actual daily, specific reality. In this context, it can be said that we need to
come to a perspective with which we can understand the cultural peculiarities and
meanings embedded in the daily life of a cultural community, as well as to be equipped
with the theoretical and practical tools.
 II. A Critical Investigation of Cultural Theory and the Issue of the Cultural
Conflict.

Various arguments have been made concerning culture in general. It seems

now quite difficult or almost impossible to deal with culture itself as a general, fixed
entity, as it has been widely recognized that a culture always changes in relation with
complicated events and situations. Furthermore, there are certain qualitative differences
between normative, ethical messages and a strategic utterance at the practical level. If
one views culture as a fixed entity, or simplifies the cultural dynamics as “culture moves
from the center to the marginal,” through a dichotomy that puts one’s own culture at the
center and the other’s in the marginal, the clashes and tensions between cultures and the
dynamic interactions between cultures, such as cultural conflicts, can be easily
overlooked.
Examples can be seen in social situations of the moment in China, Japan, and
Korea. In the case of China, the Sinocentrism and the Han-Barbarians structure has
been set forth for the cultural integration in the process of its modernization, mainly
through economic development. Many Chinese films have been produced and
distributed with the subtle intention of strengthening the pride in the Chinese people of
their Chinese identity and culture. “Eat, Drink, Man and Woman 2” is a good example
of this kind of movie, where can be observed a symbolizing process of the nationalist
message, advocating that Hong Kong and Taiwan should be unified with China, despite
their geographical and cultural differences, through Chinese food. In this film is
implied the strong feeling of pride of Sinocentrism and that Chinese people, wherever
they live around the world, should not forget their cultural identity and that China
should be the center of the world.
Japan has been showing a consistent, passive attitude in that it has built
mutually cooperative relations with other countries following its strategy and goal of
modernization, “out of Asia, into Europe (脫亞入歐).” Japan’s tepidness toward the
establishment of an economic cooperative system among East Asian countries also
demonstrates that Japan holds a very one-directional and exclusive view on the matter,
concerned only with its own interest, but not with equal, cooperative relations with
other Asian countries.
Korea is also suspicious of its own nationalist inclination and a tendency that
emphasizes an exclusive competitive spirit for its national development, not a spirit of
cultural hybridity. Korea, indeed, is well-known as a country that puts its own interest
before everything in establishing cooperative relations with other countries. In this
context, serious consideration should be paid to a remark that says, “Korea is so
concerned and obsessed with its own problems, it does not show any interest in the
problems of the neighboring countries and cannot play a role in solving them” (Kim
Sangwoo, May 9, 2002).
We are now required to reflect on our own conduct, whether we have been
rather passive in understanding and respecting others’ cultures, and, at the same time,
have put forth an effort to apply directly-imported experiences to solve cultural
conflicts. We should also ask ourselves whether we are confronting a cultural reality
that stipulates that everyone is devoted to building and maintaining a strong wall to
protect each culture.
The existing perceptions and arguments on culture, in most cases, tended to be
based on ethnocentric linguistic dogmatism without a deep introspection into the
internal view of the specific historical experience and cultural environment of a specific
culture (Kim Gwangeok 1998; Han Kyeonggu 1997). These arguments divided the
world, according to a dichotomy, into the center and the marginal, the dominant and the
subordinate, the high and the low, or the superior and the inferior; categorized all
cultural elements through a binary equivalence; and, consequently, fossilized culture
itself, ignoring the internal diversity of a culture and its flexibility and variableness.
Moreover, many arguments were based on rather subjective interpretations and
assumptions without enough empirical verification, and thus led to unscientific and
illogical arguments on cultural values and worldviews, wanting the concrete contents of
a culture (refer to Kim Gwangeok 1998).
It is very dangerous to follow the simplified logic that divides the world
according to a binary structure. In numerous societies around the world, various
cultures are being practiced in either similar or different forms. Some of the similar
features that can be found in common in different nations and societies across the world
are the notions and practices of the following matters: courtesy to human beings, the
importance of family, respect for honor, the mixture of the normal and abnormal, the
definition and standard for being human, the world order, the movement of the universe,
and the destiny of human beings. What is required now is to identify the concrete
patterns and meanings of those notions and practices, or how those matters are
perceived and practiced in a specific social and cultural context.
In one word, the existing theories on culture can be evaluated as lacking
concreteness, as the substance of culture is ambiguous. A culture of a specific region is
a cultural entity that holds concrete notions on and practices of life, rather than a spatial
or geographical entity. We cannot define a culture simply by drawing lines on a map. It
is very important to recognize that a cultural substance is not grasped through the
combination of the spatial concept and some cultural terms, without a deep
introspection concerning the people and their cultural practices.
There has been an assumption that cultural integration in a region could be
achieved after long-term geographical unification. For a cultural integration, however,
the internal conflicts and tensions in a culture should be examined first. To argue that
there have been consistent positive contacts between two cultures in a geographically
unified region is likely to result in an over- simplified approach to characteristics and
meanings of culture. Through our historical experiences, we should be able to observe
that there have been many cases where the internal conflicts caused by cultural clashes
became obstacles to understanding each other’s culture and establishing cultural
integration. Empirical research on the causes and effects of cultural conflict should be
undertaken also in order to test this observation.
Cultural integration between heterogeneous cultures should be based on cultural
exchanges between them over a long period of time. It should also be noted that the
processes of cultural exchange varies according to each country or ethnic group’s
historical experience, both in cultural and social aspects. The differences in the
historical experiences and cultural environments of different nations or societies
indicate differences not only in their systems and institutions, but also in their customs
and their views on the world and the nation. We should be cautious of those attitudes
and arguments that hang on the “appellation” of a specific culture based on subjective
ideas and emotions without any concrete proof to explain the cultural differences.
We should be also careful not to fall into the error of cultural determinism. In
order to avoid unrefined cultural determinism, we need to focus on cultural
heterogeneity not cultural homogeneity, on the aspect of the cultural conflict not of the
cultural harmony and stability. Cultural integration can be made possible when the
cultural heterogeneity and conflicts are explained through our understanding of the
specific peculiarities and meanings of a culture in the social and cultural context. To
stick to the belief that the politics and economic development of a community is
determined by culture only implies a certain possibility of fallacy.
We should ask ourselves whether we have indulged in a sort of “culture-
making” as we discuss culture. We should raise the question of whether our diverse
cultural discourses are ignoring an aspect of the cultural conflict and hiding our
worldviews based on our strong faith in cultural homogeneity and different strategies.
Furthermore, the differences between the state and the nation should be addressed. In
some cultures, the state and the nation are considered as an identical category, while in
others the two are perceived as two strictly different categories. The state is perceived
as a political entity that was formed in modern times while, on the other hand, the
nation is understood as an “imagined community,” a collection of the common
fundamental elements such as language, custom, and religion (Anderson, 1991).
We sometimes tend to confuse culture as a matter of images or ideas through
which we perceive a specific culture and culture as a whole way of life. Those theories
and methodologies that regard the perceptual dimension in the same light with the
actual cultural dimension are given great importance in the field of cultural studies. It
seems, however, not appropriate to simply identify the perceptions or ideas themselves
as culture itself. The system of perceptions or thoughts is an important constituent
element of culture, though it is not the sole determinative element of culture. On that
account, cultural homogeneity and the community spirit are exposed as false discourses
due to their insistence on the original emotion or loyalty for the cultural community.
Thus, we should be concerned as to whether the inclination for the tradition or the
mutual intimacy amongst the members of a community would guarantee the
universality and the infinite expansion of the civil society.
When we discuss cultural conflicts or integration, the fundamental question to
be raised first is: what is “culture”? Culture has been defined in many ways: some
define culture as the field of art; others define it as religion, language and the system of
thought; it is also defined as customary institutions and the system of rules. Could each
of these concepts of culture be applied separately in explaining a cultural community?
Culture has its meanings only to those who practice it. Therefore, it is very dangerous
to assume a cultural homogeneity or a cultural community from the fact that some
elements or forms are found in common between different cultures (Hong Seokjun,
1998).
This is why it is very important to expose the subjects of and the force behind
the production of theories on culture. For whom and by whom are all the diverse
discourses on culture produced? The arguments and discourses on cultural conflict and
cultural integration usually imply a double consciousness of the subject’s fear of
alienation and the subject’s pride in the culture. The explanation of, the excuse for, or
the resistance against, democracy, political activities, human rights, democracy,
economic activities and social ethics mystify the concept of culture so that the others
can avoid evaluation through the Western concept, category, or norms of culture. To
achieve this aim, the specific historical processes and experiences of each ethnic or
cultural community should be accounted for.
To further a concrete discussion on the entity of a culture, we need to pay
attention to the various voices of the social movements such as grass-root movements
and other NGO movements that have been spreading widely around the world in recent
days (Appadurai 2000). It is necessary to examine what roles those voices from social
movements and practices take in specific societies, in which context, and what socio-
cultural implications they have. In other words, we should first acknowledge the
coexistence of different cultures in a society, and approach those problems involved in
the cultural conflicts and integration of other cultures as a part of a new social
movement that purports to restore the cultural rights of different groups of people. This
movement, that has aroused a new type of tribalism through establishing a network
between different tribes or ethnic groups around the world, can be recognized as a
revival of nationalism. What is remarkable here is that this sort of small-scaled social
movement can be taken as an alternative to confront the logic and the strategy of
globalization and as an attempt to change the center by the marginal.
With the recognition of cultural diversity, we should reflect upon whether we
have been obsessed with the “search for a cultural prototype” (Hong Seokjun 1998). A
culture can be defined differently according to the unique historical experience and the
cultural environment of a cultural community. The obsession with a cultural prototype
leads us to consider culture as an isolated static entity, to ignore the aspect of cultural
conflicts, and to overlook the aspect of the agency of the cultural subject. The agency
of the subjects that assume and perform certain identities according to their aims can be
explained only through cultural dynamics and practices, not through a certain, putative
prototype or innate nature of the subjects.
To deal with the issues of cultural conflict and integration, we should leave
behind the binary paradigm that divides the world into the center and the marginal. For
a more productive understanding of the dialogic relation between cultural conflict and
cultural integration, we need to overcome the binary system and train ourselves to view
the world in a more objective way. Intellectual reflections upon the internal conflicts of
a culture should be made which do not emphasize some “essential” or “truthful” culture
that can be found in common between different cultures, reflections that should
acknowledge that each culture has its unique peculiarities.
Theories of culture should be based on concrete and empirical observations of
culture, as well as homogeneity and heterogeneity in each culture. To suggest the belief
in a universal culture or cultural integration without considering the dimensions of
cultural conflict can raise the essentialist emotions of the subjects who enjoy a specific
culture and can obstruct the establishment of the sense of community or the cultural
integration (Geertz, 1998: refer to Chapter 10). A true cultural integration can only be
achieved by the group of “people” who are willing to share their diverse and
complicated cultures beyond the boundaries of the nation or ethnic groups.

III. In Conclusion: Is Cultural Integration Possible?

When dealing with the issue of cultural conflict and cultural integration in the
current situation where globalization is proceeding rapidly, we need to consider one
more thing. When we consider the cultural dimension of the globalization (Appadurai
1996; Beynon and Dunkeley 2000; Short 2001), we should acknowledge the
globalization of culture is not a process of assimilation as in the globalization of the
capital. The economic globalization makes use of a variety of means that can be
absorbed into different societies and assimilate the patterns of economic activities and
products. These means can be now substituted with different discourses on the
sovereignty of the nation, free enterprises, and fundamentalism that reduce the role of
the state (refer to Appadurai 1990, 1996). This argument can be applied in the same
way when dealing with the problems of cultural conflict and integration around the
world.
Thus, those elements that have influenced the formation of the cultural
environment and historical experience of each country, including the tension and
conflict between the state and the civil society, the expansion of markets, the
competition between countries, the state’s policy on companies, and the relation
between the traditional and the contemporary, can be examined further through concrete
and empirical research that also accounts for the socio-cultural context. The citizens of
each nation should share the recognition of the necessity of empirical research from a
comparative perspective as a part of the specific efforts to search for a paradigm with
which we can overcome simplistic optimism and the belief in ‘omnipotent’ culture.
Without inspection of the causes of cultural conflict and of the specific measures to
cope with conflict, the discussions concerning cultural integration and a cultural
community will find themselves unfounded.
Culture has come to occupy a core position in our contemporary “knowledge
society” or knowledge-based society. Without a good use of culture, a society will be
left behind in the sphere of knowledge and information. A thorough and careful
understanding of the causes and the contexts of each cultural conflict, along with
culture, should precede any discussion of the possibility of cultural integration,
especially when the world is experiencing a rapid globalization and, at the same time,
the localization of each society to obtain its cultural originality.
Culture does not exist as a united entity. It is the absence of a proper approach
to culture, as well as our superficial and ideative tendency in conceptualizing culture,
that has led us to understand culture as a united, universal entity.
If culture is understood, not as an integrated whole, but as a scene of
confrontations, clashes, and conflicts among very heterogeneous elements, studies of
culture are naturally led to focus on the theories and practices of the issue of cultural
conflict and integration. The cause and the context of the cultural conflict can be
grasped better when inspected not only from the internal cultural angle, but also from
the external political, economic and social perspectives. In other words, when the
unique and peculiar historical experience of a specific region are understood enough,
the cause and context of a cultural conflict can be better grasped. For example, a
comparative investigation of different experiences, such as the democratization of South
Korea, the democratization movement against the military authority in Myanmar, the
June Revolution against the dictatorship in the Philippines, and the People’s Power
movement that expelled the dictator in Indonesia, can open the possibility of a solidarity
between these societies based on their common experiences, and ultimately the
possibility of cultural integration.
To understand culture is not to understand the harmony and stability between
different cultures, but to understand the conflicts and confrontations between them as a
whole. In a word, understanding culture means understanding cultural conflict. A
culture can be grasped only through the conflicts, confrontations, and tensions among
the constituent elements in the culture. The possibility for cultural integration can be
expected only when cultural conflict is thoroughly understood, and when systematic and
concrete discussions are held on cultural integration. Without these, discussions on
cultural integration could well remain as an unfounded discourse.

Nepalese Laws Discriminating Women

Nepal is a country situated between two big countries India and China. The culture of
Nepal is highly dominated by males and male are given much priority in the social life.
The laws of Nepal also reflect the same tradition and culture. Nepal was never ruled by
any foreign invaders, but there was a family rule of Ranas for 104 years. After the
collapse of Rana regime, Nepali people could see democracy for 10 years form 1951 to
1961, then the king declared the multiparty system unsuitable to the country and banned
political parties and took all the powers in his own hand. Two years after, he introduced
party-less Panchayat System. This was a kind of direct rule by the king; however there
were council of Ministers to advise him. These systems never tried to reform the
situation of women in the country, neither they ever thought of empowering women and
give them equal status. Many of the laws still reflect the discriminatory provisions, after
the re-introduction of multiparty democracy in 1990.
The constitution of Nepal, 1990, which is considered to be the outshoot of the popular
movement of 1990, has guaranteed equal rights of men and women in Article 11. In 22
Apr 1991, Nepal ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of
Discrimination Against Women. The Supreme Court of Nepal has also ruled out many
of the discriminatory provisions of the laws. For example, women were not allowed to
ask for the partition of patriarchal property unless they reached the age of 35 and
remained unmarried. But the Supreme Court had ordered to change such discriminatory
laws to the government. The law was changed and the women are now provided with
the partition in patriarchal property if she is not properly cared of in the house at any
age. But, because of the deep rooted male dominated mentality, the change is not worth
welcoming. According to this, such women have to return the remaining property if she
gets married.1 But men should not return if they are married. . According to the
provision of the Chapter "of Partition" of the Country Code, a married daughter should
not be given the patriarchal property.2
Similarly, the law of inheritance (as mentioned in the Chapter "of Inheritance", in
Muluki the Country Code) has also put women in least priority. It has further
discriminated married and unmarried women. According to the inheritance law of
Nepal, the priority to receive the inherited property is as follows i) husband or wife ii)
son or widow of the son and unmarried daughter iv) son's son v) unmarried daughter of
son's son vi) married daughter of the deceased vii) married daughter's son or unmarried
daughter vii) other relatives.3 Not only that, if a women gets inherited property while
she was unmarried and if she gets married, she has to return the remaining property to
other legal heir, such as the deceased person's son's son etc.
Likewise, the provision regarding women's properties has not given full right to
property to a woman. According to section 2 of the Chapter "Women's Property", a
woma is not permitted to sell out or dispose of her whole property without the consent
of her parents if she is unmarried and of her matured son or unmarried daughter.
Similarly, this section of the Country Code hinders a woman to marry a person whom
1
Section 16 of Chapter "of Partition" of the Country Code (Muluki Ain).
2
Ibid, Section 1(a).
3
Section 2 of the Chapter "of Inheritance" of the Country Code
she has already given some fixed assets. If she marries such a person, she has to return
such property to her parents or other heir.
According to the law of Nepal, a female cannot accept a foreign employment unless she
gets permission of her parents and such parents should be attested by the local authority
such as Village Development Committee or Municipality.4
Thus we see that women are not provided with the proper property right by the laws of
Nepal resulting into making them dependent to the male counterparts. This has been the
great impediment to the development of the society.
The situation of discrimination against women does not exhaust here. The treatment in
everyday life in the villages is far discriminatory. A daughter in law is more likely to be
treated badly if she can not give birth to a son. In many cases people prefer son rather
than the daughter. Sons are given better education, clothing, food etc while daughter are
not taken much care to be provided with these fundamental rights.

Obstacles to achieve human rights in Asia5

Sanjeewa Liyanage, Asian Human Rights Commission – AHRC

Some human rights “snap shots”

Torture takes place almost every day, in almost every police station in Sri Lanka.
The police uses it as the main method of criminal investigation. Torture also takes
place routinely at other police stations across Asia, including those in countries
such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia etc.

It is estimated that over ten thousand people have been made to disappear in Nepal
in recent months, by both the military as well as the Maoists; and the
disappearances continue. There have been about 30,000 state-acknowledged
enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka, while the actual figure is estimated by NGOs
to be as high as 60,000. But only about 8 persons have been prosecuted for these
crimes against humanity so far. In 1965-6, it is estimated that about a million
4
Section 12 of Foreign Employment Act.
5
A background paper prepared for a presentation at the “Gwangju Human Rights Folk School 2005,”
organised by the May 18 Memorial Foundation, Gwangju, Republic of Korea, held at Chonnam National
University, Gwangju from 10 – 30 January 2005
 people were extra-judicially killed in Indonesia in the pretext of fighting
Communism. The Indonesian army has also caused disappearances in Aceh as well
as East Timor in more recent times.

In North Korea many people died of hunger during the famine in the late 1990s.
Due to famine, families were disintegrate and many people fled to China and lived a
subservient life such as those women who escaped but were forced to sell their
bodies for money. People who were caught as illegal immigrants in China were
sent back to DPRK and were tortured upon their return. Many people have faced
starvation in Burma (or Myanmar) due to the disruption of food production and the
dislocation of farmers off their lands by the military government. In the aftermath
of the Tsunami on 26 December 2004, many people have lost their lives, livelihood
and shelter. Many children have become orphans and have become vulnerable to
child-traffickers and paedophiles. Additionally, women have been raped by security
and law enforcement personnel.

Young girls from across Asia are trafficked into sex work or sexual slavery-like
conditions. Nepalese girls are trafficked into India. Mostly rural Thai girls are
trafficked into brothels in the cities and outside Thailand. Many young Chinese
girls are trafficked from mainland China (from rural to urban areas) as well as into
other Asian countries such as Hong Kong for sex work. Many of these girls do not
have any rights. Diseases such as AIDS are contracted easily among most of these
young girls, many of whom end up dying at incredibly young ages.

Dalits or so-called “untouchables” in India are living in sub-human conditions.

They continue to do filthy jobs such as the cleaning of toilets or other designated
degrading jobs in line with their caste. Many of these Dalits also become victims of
police custodial deaths, women are raped and children are denied education. There
are over 180 million such Dalits in India itself today. This is despite India
prohibiting untouchability in its 1947 Constitution.

The above demonstrates only a fraction of the human rights violations that occur in Asia
each and every day. Indeed, most people in Asia are victims of human rights violations
and do not enjoy the rights that should be afforded to them. This is despite the notion of
human rights being included in many national constitutions and laws. This is despite
these countries being party to international human rights treaties. This is despite the
establishment of national human rights institutions in these countries. This is despite
enormous numbers of reports written by many international and local NGOs on the
human rights situation in these countries. This is despite many “human rights NGOs”
directly working in these countries. Despite all this, human rights in many parts of Asia
remains an idea on paper only, having not reached the people that they are intended for.
This paper will attempt to examine why this is so.

Non-implementation of human rights at domestic levels

At the domestic level throughout Asia, human rights remain largely a notion with little
done to implement them or educate the public as to what they are about. Who then is
responsible for changing this situation? It should be the state and state institutions that
are responsible for such implementation. Yet if we look into the States, and their
relations to human rights, we often find that they are in fact the agents most responsible
for violations. How can we expect them to enforce human rights among their societies,
when they cannot even achieve this themselves? If we take Sri Lanka as an example,
we can see that despite torture being prohibited, its existence is endemic and in many
cases the police are the perpetrators of this crime. The police department is a state
institution. Its main function is to maintain peace and order and perform the role of
criminal investigation. Yet a common practice amongst many of Sri Lanka's police
force, is to use different forms of torture when carrying out criminal investigations.
Many police officers do not know any other method of investigation, and therefore
resort to torture and force suspects to confess to alleged crimes.

Wide use of such torture has been an accepted practice in the police force for many
years now. Yet despite this, the state has failed to respond properly to this situation and
a considerable level of impunity therefore safeguards police. According to the law,
police officers should be prosecuted if found guilty of committing torture. The Attorney
General's Department or Prosecutor's Department (or Public Prosecutor) must carry out
such prosecution. But in Sri Lanka, for example, until very recently, these prosecuting
departments did not prosecute responsible police officers who were alleged to have
committed torture. Thus we witness the reluctance, and indeed unwillingness, of the
prosecuting department to prosecute state officers responsible for human rights
violations. In the few cases where the prosecuting department has filed criminal cases
against the police officers for allegedly committing torture, those cases drag on for years
with little final result. Further, in such cases torture victims become state witnesses
(against the police), and often face harassment and threats by indicted police officers
and their agents. The State has no mechanism for witness protection under which such
victim-witnesses could be protected. The delay in taking up cases in the courts and the
prolonged proceedings that occur also increase the vulnerability of the victim-witnesses
in terms of their security. Due to such delays in the court system, judgements are
delayed for years. Thus many problems exist in the functioning of judicial institutions.

The above illustrates the three key-state institutions in terms of the implementation of
human rights. The implementation of rights includes prevention and protection work as
well as effective remedies for victims when those rights are violated. Often the
provision of effective remedies, judicial and otherwise, themselves become preventive
measures for crimes in the future. For example, when police officers or state officials
are successfully prosecuted, that in itself sends a direct message to other state officials.
Such action then would prevent other officers from committing similar crimes.

The case of Gerald Perera [Sri Lanka]6

Gerald was a cook working at the Harbour Authority in Colombo. He was a Catholic
and was married to a Buddhist. They had three children; a girl (8), and two boys (5 and
8 months).

Gerald arrested on mistaken identity and severely tortured

At 12.45 on 3 June 2002, Gerald Mervin Perera was arrested in the presence of his wife
by police officers from the Wattala Police Station. The police officers dragged Gerald
into their jeep saying, "you are the man we are looking for." Gerald was taken to Wattala
Police Station, where several policemen subjected him to torture. Gerald’s hands were
tied behind his back; he was blindfolded and hung from a beam before being severely
beaten with iron rods and wooden poles for about one hour. The officers then forced
him to the ground and began to burn him with lit matches. During the torture Gerald
was interrogated about a murder case concerning which he knew nothing about. He was
kept at the police station on the night of 3 June, before being released the following day.

6
Detailed information concerning the case of Mr. Gerald Perera, please go to the AHRC
website, where you can find all of the relevant urgent appeals, press releases,
statements and press cuttings collected together on one page. This can be found by
going to: http://www.ahrchk.net/gerald.
On the morning of his release, Gerald’s brother was informed by Sena Suraweera, the
Officer In Charge (O.I.C.) of the Wattala police station, that Gerald had been mistakenly
arrested and detained based on erroneous information. Gerald had therefore been
subjected to torture as a result of mistaken identity.

Gerald hospitalised due to the effects of torture – and falls into a coma

Following his release and due to the effects of the torture, Gerald was taken to the
Navaloka Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit in Colombo. On arrival he suffered kidney
failure and fell into a coma for two weeks. During this time, he was kept alive by a life
support system. In a report written by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of Colombo,
who had observed Gerald on 16 August, he concluded that Gerald had developed acute
renal failure, had lost sensation in a part of his spine, had complete loss of power of the
muscles around both shoulder joints and lacked the ability to move both arms. He
further noted that there was sensory loss around both elbow joints, that there were
blackish scars on the back of Gerald's right hand, rope scars around both wrist and
bruising to the left shin.

Friends and villagers rally around Gerald and against torture

Gerald’s friends from his workplace and from his village collected money for medical
expenses. They also held a number of protests against police brutality when Gerald was
in a coma.

A human rights petition is filed on behalf of Gerald

A petition was filed with the Supreme Court on 19 June 2002 by a human rights lawyer
working with the AHRC, W.R. Sanjeewa, concerning violations of Gerald Perera’s
rights that are guaranteed under of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The aim was for
Gerald Perera to receive adequate reparation for the suffering and injuries that he
endured, and for the Attorney General to be given the order to prosecute the perpetrators
under Act. No 22 of 1994 of Sri Lanka, which prescribes a minimum 7 years of
imprisonment for any act of torture. The perpetrators were accused of having violated
the following articles of the Constitution of Sri Lanka: Article 11, which guarantees
freedom from torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment; Article 13.1
which stipulates that a reason for an arrest must be given; and Article 13.2 which
guarantees the freedom from illegal detention.

On 26 June 2002, while Gerald was still unconscious, three Sri Lankan Supreme Court
judges heard submissions made on his behalf in a fundamental rights violation case
concerning his torture at the hands of the following policemen: Sena Suraweera, the
Officer In Charge (O.I.C.) of the police station; Sub Inspector (S.I.) Kosala Navaratne,
O.I.C. Crimes: S. I. Suresh Gunaratne: S.I. Weerasinghe: S.I. Renuka; Police Constable
(P.C.) Nalin Jayasinghe and P.C. Perera.

The Supreme Court awards compensation to Gerald

On 4 April 2003, the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgement concerning Gerald
Perera’s case and awarded him a record-breaking 800,000 Rupees (about 9,000 US$)
cash as well as full medical costs in damages. Mr Perera's medical costs exceed the
amount awarded in cash and the total amount was about 15,000 US$.

Gerald becomes an activist

Gerald soon learnt of what had happened during his coma and of the support he had
been given. He felt very grateful to those who had helped him. He also learned about
his own rights, including those regarding torture. As he gained more and more
knowledge on this, he began to participate in torture victims’ meetings and attended a
regional human rights workshop held in November 2003 in Sri Lanka. He narrated his
experience and declared his commitment to fight torture.

Continuing threats to Gerald’s life from the Police

Meanwhile, the police officers that were facing criminal charges for Gerald's torture,
approached Gerald many times. They first asked him to accept money to the value of
USD$50,000 and to then withdraw his witness statement from the criminal trial. They
also threatened him that if he went ahead with the trial, his life would be in danger.
Gerald ignored these threats. He also refused any money saying, “there are many
people behind me and if I accept this money I will be betraying them and the cause they
are fighting for.”
The perpetrators (relevant police officers) of the torture that Gerald was subjected to
had to face criminal prosecution. The criminal case under Act. No 22 of 1994 against
the aforementioned alleged perpetrators was scheduled to be heard before the Negombo
High Court on 2 December 2004.

Gerald shot, critically injured

At around 11:15am on 21 November 2004, Gerald Perera was shot by an unknown

assailant at close range, while traveling on a bus. Gerald’s killer walked to where Gerald
was sitting in the back row and shot him several times. The bus driver drove directly to
Ragama General Hospital, and after some treatment Gerald was dispatched to the
Colombo main hospital for emergency treatment. The shooting took place only a matter
of days before Gerald was to appear as the victim and key witness in the criminal case
before the Negombo High Court. The AHRC is convinced that the killing was carried
out on orders of those facing trial. The police officers facing criminal charges still
maintain their positions without any suspension of duty pending the outcome of the
trial.

Gerald succumbs to his gun shot wounds

On 24 November 2004, Gerald Perera passed away at around 1pm local time, at the
Colombo General Hospital.

International lobbying

AHRC has continuously lobbied for the case of Gerald since the time he was subjected
to torture by the police. There have been a number of appeals sent on behalf of him to
the international community and as a result, UN authorities have intervened into
Gerald's case on a number of occasions. In the aftermath of the shooting of Gerald,
AHRC intensified its international campaign for the case of Gerald. As a result, local
and international media covered the case of Gerald intensively. Many of our partner
organizations approached Sri Lankan embassies in their own countries to protest against
the murder of Gerald. In Korea, there was a signature campaign that collected over
1,400 signatures urging the police to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
AHRC also contacted higher police authorities, the National Police Commission and the
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka directly to urge them to expedite the arrest of
suspects and bring them to justice.

Immediate effects of Gerald’s death

Gerald’s family became terrified after the death of Gerald. They lived in fear and did
not even attempt to recover Gerald’s body. AHRC immediately sent two colleagues,
Eugene Soh from Kwangju, Korea and Bijo Francis from AHRC office to Sri Lanka.
They played a crucial role in helping Gerald's family recover his body and provided
necessary emotional and moral support. Local groups working against torture in Sri
Lanka met and decided to carry on with their fight against torture while taking greater
precautions. A mass funeral was arranged for Gerald on the 26 of November 2004.
Thousands attended the funeral and national television covered the event. Hundreds
staged a protest on the funeral day against the police who are suspected of being behind
the murder of Gerald. A senior policeman spoke to the public during the protest
promising prompt action. Threats to activists and victims continue.

The AHRC called for a witness protection programme to protect other victims of torture
who have become witnesses in criminal cases field by the state against police officers.
Eventually, police protection was provided to the houses of one victim and an activist.
The police suspended the service of 7 police officers related to the case of Gerald
Perera. The Officer In Charge of Wattala Police station has been transferred. One
month after the murder of Gerald the police arrested two persons, including one police
officer, as suspects for the murder of Gerald.

Basil Fernando wrote the following in the aftermath of Gerald’s death:

“When he regained consciousness two weeks later, he began to fathom the

magnitude of what had happened to him. He was from Hendela - my hometown.
Knowing the people of his neighbourhood, I could feel the strength of his
indignation at being treated in such a manner. These are a fiercely proud people,
whose natural reaction would be to resist such inhuman treatment.

Gerald insisted on seeking justice. One of the expressions he used so often was,
'What I want is not money compensation but actual justice.' … I met him directly
for the first time only in court, when the case came to be argued before … judges. I
 found Gerald to be a very warm and large-hearted individual. On that very first day
he told me that until this incident had happened, he had not known anything about
human rights. He said, 'But when I was unconscious, people had come. A lawyer
had come from the human rights groups, and thereafter I was strongly supported by
them. Only now do I understand this type of work. I want to be part of such work.'
".

….

“After the judgement, of his own volition, Gerald visited human rights organizations
and when there were meetings he would come and speak. No encouragement was
needed for this, as he was convinced that it was his duty to participate in this way.

“The last time he volunteered to come and speak was on the United Nations Torture
Prevention Day, June 26th 2004, at a meeting held at the Sri Lanka Foundation
Institute. This speech is available on video. His style of speaking was very soft and
gentle but he conveyed deep convictions and determination.

“… His sense of self-respect made him refuse to bow down to these pressures. He
did not take the efforts to deter him as seriously as many other victims do. His wife
recalls that she had told him to take her with him when he attended inquiries
concerning his torture. However, he had said that there was nothing much to worry
about. That was very much in keeping with his character. Even as I write this, I can
recall his smile, the very affectionate expression on his face and the firmness of his
voice.

That such a gentle person could have been treated so brutally twice, the first time by
way of extreme torture and the second by a well-planned murder, is a clear
indication of the extent to which the basic institutions of justice have collapsed in
the country. It is not so much the depravity of the perpetrators that is responsible for
this tragedy, but what contributed most of all was the institutional collapse of the
policing system in the country. That is what made this killing possible.” 7

7
Fernando, Basil, “Gerald Perera whom I knew”, Asian Human Rights Commission, 2004
The killing of a torture victim speaks to how the rule of law in Sri Lanka has totally
collapsed, and how discipline in the police force has degenerated to the extent that some
officers have become nothing better than the planners and instigators of homicide. Over
the last ten years, the AHRC has repeatedly voiced concerns over the exceptional
collapse of the rule of law in Sri Lanka. It is now a place where ordinary citizens lack
even the most rudimentary security. Today the whole government apparatus stands as an
accused party to this murder by reason of its failure to provide Gerald Perera with
adequate protection.

Outdated models of human rights work

Human rights NGOs are partly to share the blame for the lack of progress of human
rights at the local level. Many human rights NGOs conveniently adopted human rights
working models from developed countries. Many NGO activists got their training in
the West. Many big international NGOs have “trained” local human rights activists in
developing countries to carry out “human rights work.” Many NGOs have regarded the
United Nations as the centre of all of what they do. The information and documentation
of many NGOs has been directed towards UN systems and big international NGOs only.

By conducting their work in such a way, local NGOs ignored the disparity between
justice systems in developed countries and those that exist in Asian countries. Many
human rights models developed by large NGOs and western groups have been based on
the assumption that there is a basic functional justice system in all the countries where
these models are to be applied. However, the reality is rather different. In Asia, most
countries do not have genuinely democratic governments. Further, justice systems, such
as policing, prosecution and judiciary, are deteriorating or have collapsed. In the West,
such systems have been established and functioning reasonably well for a long time.
There is a historical legal tradition developed in the West to uphold justice and human
rights. Functioning anti-corruption mechanisms have been established in the many
Western countries. However in Asia, only Hong Kong and Singapore can be mentioned
as having established effective anti-corruption mechanisms. In most Asian countries,
very little emphasis has been given to the improvement of justice systems. Justice
system institutions are either very corrupt or heavily politicised or both.
Further, human rights work should attempt to include ordinary people who have become
victims of human rights themselves. Often, NGOs focus on political prisoners and high
profile persons who have become victims of human rights. This is not adequate. This
will create a misconception among the public that human rights groups are working on
limited number of privileged groups or persons.

One should not be confuse the above analysis as a criticism of the West or international
standards. Rather it is a self-criticism of ourselves. Established rule of law traditions in
the West are examples to follow. In fact we need to learn how such traditions have been
established. Human rights are universal. However, these standards need to be enforced
within the context of a system of rule of law. If that system of rule of law is absent, our
efforts to enforce human rights are fruitless.

Further, human rights actions needed to be persistent and repeated if necessary. Regular
repetition of actions helps create public conceptions, debate and support.

Incomplete models of human rights education

Another emphasis of many human rights groups in Asia including many national human
rights institutions has been “human rights education.” However, often human rights
education has been limited to explaining international human rights standards, the UN
human rights system and how NGOs could participate in them. There is a serious flaw
in this model of human rights education. Human rights education should focus on the
implementation of human rights at the local level. Such implementation could always
abide by international standards but with a local focus. When you discuss problems
with regard to implementation, you encounter various problems with regards to
institutions that should be guaranteeing human rights to people. Once again, we are
back to the justice system here. Human rights education needs to seriously focus on
problems with regard to local justice systems and institutions and how the local groups
could lobby to improve these systems. Such lobbying needs to be done locally as well
as internationally.

Outdated communication system mindset

Many NGOs also live and work on the old system-mindset meaning we disregard the
changes in the world in terms of information technology. We are living in the
information age where the sharing of information to a large number of persons can be
done through the press of a button. Fifteen years ago, many NGOs were used to a
certain styles of work. We produced publications and mailed them to a limited number
of NGOs and close contacts. Thus our outreach was limited. We had meetings after
meetings – regional and international – but often the same people attended these
meetings and there was no continuity. Contacting each other took weeks if not months.

Today this has changed dramatically. With the Internet, e-mail and mobile phones, we
are in constant touch. We can disseminate information to an unlimited number of
persons in seeking solidarity and support. We can do this little or no cost. All that we
need is someone to type this information into a computer, and a list of e-mail addresses
that we can send the information to. This improvement in communication could be
regarded as the biggest change in the way of life for all people in the world in the 20th
Century. People have become closer to each other – information wise. E-mail and use
of the Internet by NGOs is no longer an option or a privilege. It has become a necessity.
But the potential of such communication has not been fully realised or explored. Today
we can go beyond our NGO circles and reach out to hundreds of thousands of persons
who can become supporters of our local causes. But if we remain in the old
information-mindset, we will fail and no doubt regret this later. Today the greatest
resources are the young who are more acquainted with information technology than
older generations. Given the opportunity, these young people could become an
indispensable asset to our work.

Further, innovative models of education need to be used to educate the public at large.
This means human rights education needs to go beyond the human rights activists and
lawyers. The use of mass media for local campaigns can not only educate the public on
human rights issues, but can help create public opinion and support for human rights
causes.

Alternative models of human rights work – Analysis

When you look at the case of Gerald Perera, you could make few remarks.
Gerald was an ordinary citizen who was tortured. Human rights organisations and a
lawyer intervened on behalf of him. When his case was publicised, the public at large
could identify themselves with him, as there are many other innocent citizens who are
routinely subjected to torture by the police. Public anger and dissatisfaction of the
police surfaced and was debated. Thus the institutional problem became a public debate
and public consensus was built that police are too ruthless and torture by the police is
unacceptable.

Gerald also became an activist. He became a member of the victims’ group that was
initiated with the local human rights NGOs by Eugene Soh from Kwangju. The victims
met each other and began to talk about their own problems and experiences. This
became a forum of supporting each other as well as a forum to rally a campaign against
torture with greater involvement of victims. Victims became strengthened to speak out.
Human rights education programmes invited these victims to talk and share their
experiences instead of listening to human rights lectures by scholars from universities.
Human rights workers at training programmes became patient listeners. Their education
model has been changed. After listening to these victims, the workers began to discuss
what would have prevented these victims from these violations – thus justice system
problems relating to implantation of human rights at the local level as well as effective
remedies for human rights violations at the local level. Human rights groups also
brought victims to international and UN forums to directly recount their experiences.
Thus the top-down educational model was changed to become a bottom-up one.
Further, a number of local media sources were used to advertise and highlight the
demand on Government institutions to end torture in Sri Lanka

When Gerald was murdered, it was a crucial point of time for the victims and activists
in Sri Lanka who were campaigning against torture. However, with the help of
inspirational models like Kwangju Uprising, this moment was transformed into a
opportunity to take a further step. It was a moment to respect Gerald for what he stood
for and draw inspiration from his life. Many activities intensified to covert this moment
into one of transformation and progression. This is exactly what happened in Kwangju.
On the 26 of May 1980, when a group students decided to sacrifice their life in the
name of democracy. It is very important what happened after that. The family
members of the victims supported by activists and civic leaders continued to
commemorate the Kwangju uprising year after year, risking arrests and harassment by
the military government. This continued and persistent commemorations were
instrumental to keep the spirit of Kwangju Uprising alive. Persistent actions by the
family members and activists later prompted the successful prosecution of two former
presidents of south Korea – Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo - who were sent to jail;
one to life and the other for 21 years. Thus the Kwangju Uprising changed Korea for
good by ending military rule permanently and eventually creating an environment for
real democracy in south Korea.

Regional human rights groups like the AHRC used modern communications systems
effectively to spread information relating to Gerald to a large international audience. As
a result, thousands of people all around the world wrote letters and faxes to the Sri
Lankan government and related institutions. Many also wrote letters to relevant
authorities in the UN. The use of communication technology created a large
international lobby.

Cultural and religious differences and conflicts

When you look into various cultural and religions differences and conflicts throughout
Asia, one common perspective appears — one group, often the dominant religious,
ethnic, linguistic or cultural group has denied rights of another group. Often minority
groups become the victims. Prolonged practise of discrimination, and rights violation
of these minority groups has prompted some members of these groups to initiate arms
struggles to achieve their rights or in some cases self-determination in the land they live.
Once again, the institutions that should guarantee rule of law and justice have often
failed in such environments. If the courts guaranteed the rights of minorities,
differences between groups could be narrowed. I do not say that this is the only way to
achieve common ground when there are differences. However, I do wish to stress that
independent and impartial justice systems could make a big contribution to ease
differences through delivering justice. Often, groups tend to take up arms and resort to
conflicts when all other avenues available, including the avenues to seek justice, are
closed to them.

Conclusion

Human rights are universal. However, to achieve this, human rights must be realised at
a local level, which is not always done. Obstacles to achieve human rights are
predominantly local. As discussed in this paper, the obstacles span from outdated
methods used by the NGOs, narrow perceptions of human rights work, outdated
communications mindset to educational models. But the most fundamental obstacle
seems to be the absence of a functioning justice system to prevent human rights
violations as well as to provide effective remedies when violations occur. When justice
systems are corrupt and politicised, they lose their independence and professional
character, resulting in inefficient services. Thus such systems become nominal without
much effect. Such systems also create conducive environments for human rights
violations. Often the rich or the affluent become beneficiaries of such systems. The
poor and the non-affluent become victims. Thus absence of a proper justice system
which does not uphold rule of law can be the biggest obstacle to achieving human
rights. Not only human rights NGOs, but also other institutions such as national human
rights institutions, international NGOs and UN agencies, must take a greater
responsibility to make a concerted effort to build independent and corrupt-free justice
systems, which abide by international human rights standards. Such systems will not
only prevent human rights violations, but also sustain human rights.

About the author: Sanjeewa Liyanage, a Sri Lankan, was involved in the student
movement from about 1984. In 1988 he became the Asian coordinator of International
Young Christian Students (IYCS) an international Catholic student body and worked in
about 14 Asian countries. In 1995 he joined the Asian Human Rights Commission
(AHRC) and helped establish its electronic communications network involving
thousands in Asia and other countries. He has assisted human rights training programs
for different groups including students, activists, lawyers and judges from the Asia-
Pacific region. He first visited Kwangju in May 1996 and played a key role in the
process leading to the creation and declaration of Asian Human Rights Charter – A
people’s Charter including drafting of the final document. He represented Asian Legal
Resource Centre (ALRC), the sister organization of the AHRC, at UN forums including
Commission on Human Rights in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 and preparatory meetings
leading to World Conference Against Racism. Mr. Liyanage is presently the East Asian
focal point for the NGO Coalition for International Criminal Court (CICC) in New York
and a member of the Assembly of Delegates of the World Organization Against Torture
(OMCT) in Geneva. He is a member of the editorial board of Human Rights
SOLIDARITY and article 2, published by the AHRC and ALRC. He has undergone
human rights training at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague and Danish
Centre for Human Rights (DCHR) in Copenhagen. He obtained his Masters of Law
(LLM) from the University of Hong Kong in 2004. Sanjeewa Liyanage is presently the
Programme Coordinator – Communications – of the AHRC and ALRC.
The Cultural Conflicts and Integration

Hong Seokjun (Faculty of History and Culture, Mokpo University)

(Translated by Lee Hyeon-ock)

IV. Introduction

This is an introductory article to help the understanding of the general problems

of the cultural conflicts and integration in a certain socio-cultural context. The article
will first consider the general arguments on culture, and investigate the relation between
the arguments on culture and the cultural conflicts, and the relation between the cultural
conflicts and the cultural integration. For its conclusion, this article will propose a
question, instead, how the cultural integration would be made possible.
When interpreted in a broad sense, both academic and practical, culture has
been traditionally understood as a sort of life style. According to this view, a culture of
a specific region can be defined as the unique and original life style that reflects the
dynamics and complexity of the community in the region. A specific culture, however,
is formed through the specific historical experiences and the unique cultural context of a
community, whether formed spontaneously or formed by pressure from its outside. Is it
then possible to combine the society and the culture of a region into one concept or
category? In order to answer this question, the differences and the similarities of
cultures should be considered first.
Different cultures around the world have characteristics that are both different
from and similar to each other. If to focus on the life style of the people in a specific
region, many ruptures and differences do exist in their specific culture. A culture, here,
is an entity that has diverse and complex characteristics, shares certain common
elements with other cultures and changes itself flexibly according to the time and
context.
Under the current rapidly changing political and economic situation, the
cultures around the world are expected to accelerate their globalization and localization.
Accordingly, there will be formed an environment where are promoted intellectual
efforts to explain how the culture of a region is formed, transformed and interpreted
based on the actual daily, specific reality. In this context, it can be said that we need to
attain a view through which we can understand the cultural peculiarities and meanings
embedded in the daily life of a cultural community, as well as to be equipped with the
theoretical and practical tools.

V. A Critical Investigation of the Cultural Theory and the Issue of the Cultural
Conflict.

Various arguments have been made on culture, in general. It seems now quite
difficult or almost impossible to deal with culture itself as a general, fixed entity, as it
has been widely recognized that a culture always changes in relation with complicate
events and situations. Besides, there are certain qualitative differences between
normative, ethical messages and a strategic utterance in the practical level. If one views
culture as a fixed entity, or simplifies the cultural dynamics as “culture moves from the
center to the marginal,” through a dichotomy that puts one’s own culture at the center
and the other’s in the marginal, the clashes and tensions between cultures, the dynamic
interactions between cultures such as cultural conflicts can be overlooked.
Examples can be taken from the social situations of the moment in China,
Japan, and Korea. In the case of China, the Sinocentrism and the Han-Barbarians
structure has been set forth for the cultural integration in the process of its
modernization through, mainly, economic development. Many of the Chinese films
have been produced and distributed with the subtle intention to uplift the pride in the
Chinese people of their Chinese identity and culture. “Eat, Drink, Man and Woman 2”
is a good example of this kind of movies, where can be observed a symbolizing process
of the nationalist message, which advocates that Hong Kong and Taiwan should be
unified with China despite their geographical and cultural differences, through the
Chinese food. In this film is implied the strong pride of the Sinocentrism that the
Chinese people, wherever they live around the world, should not forget their cultural
identity and China should be the center of the world.
Japan has been showing a consistent, passive attitude in that it has built mutual
cooperative relations with other countries following the strategy and goal of its
modernization, “out of Asia, into Europe (脫亞入歐).” Japan’s tepidness toward the
establishment of the economic cooperative system among the East Asian countries also
demonstrates that Japan holds a very one-directional and exclusive view on the matter,
concerned only with its own interest, but not with equal cooperative relations with other
Asian countries.
Korea is also suspicious of its nationalist inclination and the tendency that
emphasizes the exclusive competitive spirit for its national development, not the
cultural hybridity. Korea, indeed, is well-known as a country that puts its interest before
everything in establishing a cooperative relation with other countries. In this context, a
serious consideration should be paid to a remark that says, “Korea is so concerned and
obsessed with its own problems, it does not show any interest in the problems of the
neighboring countries and cannot play its role in solving them” (Kim Sangwoo, May 9,
2002).
We are now required to reflect on our own conducts, whether we have been
rather passive in understanding and respecting others’ cultures, and, at the same time,
have put forth our efforts to apply the directly imported experiences to solve the cultural
conflicts. We should also ask ourselves whether we are confronting a cultural reality
that everybody is devoted to building and maintaining a strong wall to protect each
culture.
The existing perceptions and argements on culture, in most cases, tended to be
based on the ethnocentric linguistic dogmatism without a deep introspection into the
internal view on the specific historical experience and cultural environment of a specific
culture (Kim Gwangeok 1998; Han Kyeonggu 1997). These arguments divided the
world according to the dichotomy into the center and the marginal, the dominant and the
subordinate, the high and the low, or the superior and the inferior; categorized all the
cultural elements through the binary equivalence; and, consequently, fossilized culture
itself, ignoring the internal diversity of a culture and its flexibility and variableness.
Moreover, many arguments were based on rather subjective interpretations and
assumptions without enough empirical verification, thus led an unscientific and illogical
arguments on cultural values and world views, wanting the concrete contents of a
culture (refer to Kim Gwangeok 1998).
It is very dangerous to follow the simplified logic that divides the world
according to the binary structure. In the numerous societies around the world, various
cultures are being practiced in either similar or different forms. Some of the similar
features that can be found in common in different nations and societies across the world
are the notions and practices on the following matters: the courtesy to human beings, the
importance of family, the respect for honor, the mixture of the normality and
abnormality, the definition and standard for being human, the world order, the
movement of the universe, and the destiny of human being. What is required now is a
work to identify the concrete patterns and meanings of those notions and practices, or
how those matters are perceived and practiced in a specific social and cultural context.
In one word, the existing theories on culture can be evaluated as lacking the
concreteness, as the substance of culture is ambiguous. A culture of a specific region is
a cultural entity that holds the concrete notions on and practices of life, rather than a
spatial or geographical entity. We cannot define a culture simply by drawing lines on a
map. It is very important to recognize that a cultural substance is not grasped through
the combination of the spatial concept and some cultural terms, without a deep
introspection on the people and their cultural practices.
There has been the assumption that a cultural integration in a region could be
achieved after a long-term geographical unification. For a cultural integration, however,
the internal conflicts and tensions in a culture should be examined first. To argue that
there have been consistent positive contacts between two cultures in a geographically
unified region is likely to result in a too simplified approach to characteristics and
meanings of culture. Through our historical experiences, we should be able to observe
that there have been many cases where the internal conflicts caused by the cultural
clashes became obstacles in understanding each other’s culture and establishing a
cultural integration. An empirical research on the causes and effects of a cultural
conflict should be preceded also in order to test this observation.
A cultural integration between heterogeneous cultures should be based on
cultural exchanges between them for a long period. It should also be noted that the
processes of cultural exchanges vary according to each country or ethnic group’s
historical experience both in the cultural and social aspects. The differences in the
historical experiences and cultural environments of different nations or societies
indicate differences not only in their systems and institutions, but also in their customs
and their views on the world and the nation. We should be cautious of those attitudes
and arguments that are bent on the “appellation” of a specific culture based on
subjective ideas and emotions without any concrete proofs to explain the cultural
differences.
We should be also careful not to fall into the error of the cultural determinism.
In order to avoid the unrefined cultural determinism, we need to focus on the cultural
heterogeneity not the cultural homogeneity, on the aspect of the cultural conflict not of
the cultural harmony and stability. The cultural integration can be made possible when
the cultural heterogeneity and conflicts are explained through our understanding of the
specific peculiarities and meanings of a culture in the social and cultural context. To
stick to the belief that the politics and the economic development of a community is
determined by culture only does imply certain possibility of fallacy.
 We should ask ourselves whether we are indulged in a sort of “culture-making”
as we discuss culture. We should raise a question on whether our diverse cultural
discourses are ignoring the aspect of the cultural conflict and hiding our world views
based on our strong faith in the cultural homogeneity and different strategies.
Furthermore, the differences between the state and the nation should be concerned. In
some cultures, the state and the nation are considered as an identical category, while, in
others, the two are perceived as two strictly different categories. The state is perceived
as a political entity that was formed in modern times; on the other hand, the nation is
understood as an “imagined community,” a collection of the common fundamental
elements such as language, custom, and religion (Anderson, 1991).
We sometimes tend to confuse culture as a matter of images or ideas through
which we perceive a specific culture and culture as a whole way of life. Those theories
and methodologies that regard the perceptual dimension in the same light with the
actual cultural dimension are given great importance in the field of cultural studies. It
seems, however, not appropriate to simply identify the perceptions or ideas themselves
as culture itself. The system of perceptions or thoughts is an important constituent
element of culture, though, it is not a solely determinative element of culture. On that
account, the cultural homogeneity and the community spirit are exposed as false
discourses due to their insistence on the original emotion or loyalty for the cultural
community. Thus, we should concern whether the inclination for the tradition or the
mutual intimacy amongst the members of a community would guarantee the
universality and the infinite expansion of the civil society.
When we discuss the cultural conflict or integration, the fundamental question
to be raised first is what “culture” is. Culture has been defined in many ways: some
define culture as the field of art; others define it as religion, language and the system of
thoughts; it is also defined as a customary institutions and the system of rules. Could
each of these concepts of culture be applied separately in explaining a cultural
community? Culture has its meanings only to those who practice it. Therefore, it is
very dangerous to assume a cultural homogeneity or a cultural community from the fact
that some elements or forms are found in common between different cultures (Hong
Seokjun, 1998).
This is why it is very important to expose the subjects of and the force behind
the production of the theories on culture. For whom and by whom all the diverse
discourses on culture are produced? The arguments and discourses on the cultural
conflict and the cultural integration usually imply double consciousness of the subject’s
fear for the alienation and the subject’s pride in the culture. The concepts of culture as
the explanation on, the excuse for, or as the resistance against the political activities,
human rights, democracy, economic activities and social ethics were introduced to avoid
the evaluation through the Western concept, category, or norms of culture. To achieve
this aim, the specific historical processes and experiences of each ethnic or cultural
community should be accounted.
To further a concrete discussion on the entity of a culture, we need to pay
attention to the various voices of the social movements such as the grass-root
movements and other NGO movements that have been spread widely around the world
in recent days (Appadurai 2000). It is necessary to examine what roles those voices
from the social movements and practices take in a specific society, in which context,
and what socio-cultural implications they have. In other words, we should first
acknowledge the coexistence of different cultures in a society, and approach those
problems involved in the cultural conflict and integration of other cultures as a part of
the new social movement that purports to restore the cultural rights of different groups
of people. This movement that has aroused a new type of tribalism through establishing
a network between different tribes or ethnic groups around the world can be recognized
as a revival of the nationalism. What is remarkable here is that this sort of small-scaled
social movement can be taken as an alternative to confront the logic and the strategy of
the globalization, as an attempt to change the center by the marginal.
With the recognition of the cultural diversity, we should reflect whether we
have been obsessed with the “search for a cultural prototype” (Hong Seokjun 1998). A
culture can be defined differently according to the unique historical experience and the
cultural environment of a cultural community. The obsession with a cultural prototype
leads us to consider culture as an isolated static entity, to ignore the aspect of cultural
conflicts, and to overlook the aspect of the agency of the cultural subject. The agency
of the subjects that assume and perform certain identities according to their aims can be
explained only through the cultural dynamics and practices, not through a certain,
putative prototype or innate nature of the subjects.
To deal with the issues of the cultural conflict and integration, we should get
over the binary paradigm that divides the world into the center and the marginal. For a
more productive understanding of the dialogic relation between the cultural conflict and
the cultural integration, we need to overcome the binary system and train to view the
world in a more objective way. Intellectual introspections on the internal conflicts of a
culture should be made which do not emphasize “essential” and “truthful” culture that
can be found in common between different cultures and acknowledge that each culture
has its unique peculiarities.
 The theories on culture should be based on concrete and empirical observation
on culture, and homogeneity and heterogeneity in each culture. To suggest to promote a
common culture or the cultural integration without considering the dimension of
cultural conflict can raise the essentialist emotions of the subjects that enjoy a specific
culture and obstruct the establishment of the sense of community or the cultural
integration (Geertz, 1998: refer to Chapter 10). A true cultural integration can be
achieved by the group of “people” who are willing to share their diverse and complicate
cultures beyond the boundaries of the nation or ethnic groups.

VI. In Conclusion: Is the Cultural Integration Possible?

When dealing with the issue of the cultural conflict and the cultural integration
in the current situation where the globalization is proceeding rapidly, we need to
consider one more thing. The globalization of culture takes a different shape from it of
the capital. While the economic globalization make use of a variety of means that can
be absorbed into different societies and assimilate (refer to Appadurai 1990, 1996). This
argument can be applied in the same way when dealing with the problems of the
cultural conflict and integration around the world.
Thus, those elements that have influenced in the formation of the cultural
environment and historical experience of each country, including the tension and
conflict between the state and the civil society, the expansion of market, the competition
between countries, the state’s policy on companies, and the relation between the
traditional and the contemporary, can be examined further through a concrete and
empirical research that also accounts for the socio-cultural context. The citizens of each
nation should share the recognition of the necessity of the empirical research from the
comparative perspective as a part of the specific efforts to search for the paradigm with
which we can overcome the simplistic optimism and 문화만능주의. Without
inspection on the causes of the cultural conflict and on the specific measures to cope
with the conflict, the discussions for the cultural integration and a cultural community
will find themselves unfounded.
Culture has come to occupy the core position in our contemporary knowledge
society or knowledge-based society. Without a good use of culture, a society will be left
behind in the sphere of knowledge and information. A thorough and careful
understanding on the causes and the contexts of each cultural conflict, along with
culture, should be preceded to the discussion on the possibility of the cultural
integration, especially when the world is experiencing a rapid globalization and, at the
same time, the localization of each society to obtain the cultural originality.
Culture does not exist as a united entity. It is the absence of a proper approach
to culture, as well as our superficial and ideative tendency in conceptualizing culture,
that have led us to understand culture as a united, universal entity.
If culture is understood not as an integrated whole, but as a scene of
confrontations, clashes, and conflicts among very heterogeneous elements, studies on
culture are naturally led to focus on the theories and practices on the issue of the
cultural conflict and integration. The cause and the context of the cultural conflict can
be grasped better when inspected not only from the internal cultural angle, but also from
the external political, economic and social perspectives. In other words, when the
unique and peculiar historical experience of a specific region is accounted enough, the
cause and context of a cultural conflict can be grasped better. For example, a
comparative investigation on different experiences such as the democratization of South
Korea, the democratization movement against the military authority in Myanmar, the
June Revolution against the dictatorship in the Philippines, and the people’s power
movement that expelled the dictator in Indonesia, can open the possibility of the
solidarity between these societies based on their common experiences, and ultimately
the possibility of the cultural integration.
To understand culture is not to understand the harmony and stability between
different cultures, but to understand the conflicts and confrontations between them as a
whole. In a word, understanding culture means understanding the cultural conflict. A
culture can be grasped only through the conflicts, confrontations, and tensions among
the constituent elements in the culture. The possibility for the cultural integration can
be expected only when the cultural conflict is thoroughly understood, and systematic
and concrete discussions are made on the cultural integration. Without these,
discussions on the cultural integration could well remain as an unfounded discourse.

The June Uprising and the Democratization in South Korea

Shichun Yu
(Writer, Former member of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea)
(Translated by Hyeon-ock Lee)

1. Before the May Uprising in 1987

 After its liberation from the Imperialist Japan in 1945, South Korea adopted the
American political system and culture without much mediation. In 1948, the new
Republic of Korea organized the Constitutional Assembly and promulgated its
constitution. The constitution is the supreme law of a nation that regulates the
organization and management of the state, and the basic rights and freedom of the
people, which cannot be infringed with any of its subordinate laws and regulations.
As the Cold War system was built in the middle of the 20th century, the Korean
peninsula was divided into two states in the North and the South and witnessed a hostile
and exhausting war between them. During the Korean War, about 1 million citizens
were killed in South Korea.
The pro-American, anti-communist dictatorship of Lee Seungman was brought
down by the student movement in 1960; a year later, however, the legitimate
government was overthrown by the far-right military coup that took an anti-communist
line. The Park Jeonghee military regime, despite its economic achievement, is
evaluated to have solidified the fascist system for his life-long seizure of power. The
democratization movement against Park Jeonghee’s dictatorship was carried out only by
the students and some intellectuals of the time. Any critical thoughts and writings
against the military dictatorship were enough to imprison the students and intellectuals
for a long time. The Park Jeonghee regime, however, collapsed not because of the
exterior attack but because of the interior disruption. Park Jeonghee was shot to death
by one of his inferiors in October, 1979.
In 1980, the South Korean people had what they called “the spring of Seoul”
and expected the democratization of the political system. The people’s wish, however,
was overridden as some of the Park Jeonghee’s inferiors seized the political power again
through a military mutiny. It was in this context that the people’s uprising took place in
Gwangju, Jeollanam-do Province. The city of 700,000 people was totally cut off from
the rest of the country, and carried out its sublime uprising against the martial army.
The uprising, however, was put down in ten days, leaving great number of victims.
At the cost of Gwangju citizens’ life, the military regime succeeded to seize the
political power. It, however, had to put up with the resistance of the students and the
people who required the truth of the Gwangju Uprising. Their struggle against the Jeon
Duhwan regime also cost a great number of life. More than 10,000 students were
imprisoned, but they continued their struggle through extreme actions such as burning
themselves. Students could not organize student unions, and those laborers who tried to
organize labor unions were fired by their companies or imprisoned. The Jeon Duhwan
regime suppressed them with cruel torture and violence. Many became the victims of
suspicious deaths or torture resulting in death. The general public, however, did not
heard of these cases, as most of the media and the press, which cooperated with the
military regime for the enlargement of their companies, kept their silence.
In January, 1987, a university student died while being investigated and
tortured. This case was exposed through the media luckily, and there were proofs to
demonstrate his death resulted from torture. The police tried to cover up the fact and
this made the people even angrier. The religious figures of the society such as Catholic
and Christian priests, ministers and Buddhist monks held prayer meetings and instigated
the public rage. The general public in South Korea finally recognized the violence of
the military regime. Besides, as the military regime professed to transmit the political
power amongst the military figures, the resistance of the public grew even bigger.
The constitution of the Republic of Korea originally adopted the direct
democracy according to which the people elect the president directly. The military
authority, however, changed this system and elected the president by themselves in a
gymnasium. The public and the opposition parties led by figures such as Kim Daejung
and Kim Yeongsam started to carry out the movement to restore the constitution to the
original state. As the opposition parties had won the 13th general election in 1985, they
were assured of the support from the people. The opposition parties, the
democratization movement activists, and the university students around the country
shared the recognition that the military regime could be withdrawn through their
collective struggle.

2. The Birth of the National Movement Headquarters for Democratization, the

Leadership of the June Uprising

All the democratization movement organizations and the opposition parties got
together and established a large-scaled joint organization against the military regime in
May, 1987. Each had slightly different notions and lines, but shared the goal to restore
the constitution to its original state.
It was an unprecedented scene that members of different fields including the
religious society, the working class, the cultural sector, the juridical society, the medical
society, and the women’s movement field, from the senior members of the opposition
parties, such as Kim Daejung, to the student representatives, gathered together to form a
joint organization. This gathering has the historical significance as “the largest
solidarity for the smallest goal.” The constitutional amendment to restore the direct
election system is a rather small goal from the viewpoint of the entire history of the
Korean reformative movements; for this goal, however, gathered the largest group of
people. It is also significant in that the joint organization formed its leadership before
launching on their struggle around the nation, unlike the former movements.
The National Movement Headquarters took the spirit of the March 1 Movement
in 1919 with which the entire nation resisted against the Imperialist Japan. Through the
demonstrations across the country led by the National Movement Headquarters, the
Korean people made their rage over the university student’s death resulted from torture
known to the world. They also clearly delivered their will to have a direct presidential
election.
More than 30 cities with universities and colleges turned into huge
demonstration sites. The people attacked the press companies, the servants of the
power, as well as the local police stations, and burned the police cars. Despite the
severe suppression with tear bombs, the guerilla demonstrations were continued. When
the defense line of the police was brought down, the military regime seriously
considered to proclaim martial law, as they had always done to cope with the
demonstrations against the dictatorship.

The Environmental Problems and Movements in South Korea

Im Nakpyeong, Chairperson of the Executive Committee

Gwangju Federation of Environmental Movements

1. Introduction

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2004 was awarded to Ms. Wangari Maathai, a
Kenyan environmental movement activist. This was an exceptional case, as the Nobel
Peace Prize has normally been awarded to those who have stood out in the fields of
movements for the promotion of human rights and democracy or for the eradication of
war and other conflicts. Ms. Maathai’s winning of the prize can be interpreted as a
message that environmental issues are now recognized as being as important as other
issues, such as human rights and democracy, and they are now problems that need to be
solved for the peace and welfare of the whole world.
 Are environmental problems truly being solved? Despite the Declaration of the
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, in 1972, and the
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in 1992, the environmental crisis of
the world still continues. As the climate changes, global warming continues to proceed
and the glaciers on the polar areas continue to melt; the rain forests, or the so-called
“lungs of the earth,” are decreasing; the diversity of animal species is also diminishing.
Freshwater sources are severely contaminated and many people around the world suffer
from water shortages, while at the same time the amount of toxic waste is increasing.
The developed countries, in particular, are abusing natural resources and energy through
their socio-economic system of mass production and conspicuous consumption. The
development policies of the 20th century are, in fact, still in operation.

South Korea has some of the worst environmental and ecological conditions in
the world. Since the early 1960s the country has focused on policies for
industrialization, urbanization, rapid growth, and exports, and has achieved a
remarkable economic growth. Behind the scenes of this rapid economic growth,
however, the destruction of the environment and damage to the ecology of the country
has also proceeded at a rapid rate. Korea has experienced an unprecedented rapid
development and growth which was accompanied by an equally rapid environmental
destruction. Even with the appearance of the Roh Muhyeon Administration, the old
paradigm of growth and development still prevails. The Roh Administration supports
economic growth as one of the most important elements for national competitiveness in
this time of globalization and neo-liberalism (new freedom).

Environmental movement organizations in Korea have carried out an active struggle

against the Roh Administration’s development-oriented economic policies that do not
show any concern for the environment. Korean environmental organizations define the
current situation as an “environmental emergency” and are uniting in their efforts to
change the Roh Administration’s policies. It is not yet quite clear how the government
will respond to the recent activities and demands of these environmental organizations.

The history of the environmental movement in Korea is not long. It can be said to have
started in the late 1980s and major environmental organizations, formed spontaneously
in the early 1990s, are still in operation. Before the 1990s, the Korean society
concentrated all its efforts to change the authoritative military dictatorships and
establish democracy. Finally, social movements throughout the 1990s came to fruition
in realizing democracy in South Korea. The environmental movement in Korea started
to take root slowly in this social context.

2. The Environmental Problems in South Korea

South Korea is a country of 100.00㎢, 65% of which consists of mountains. It has a

population of 47 million, four distinct seasons, and rainfall of 1400~1500mm per year.
The country has the world’s fourth highest density of population. Owing to high
manpower and consistent economic development, the country has become the eleventh
largest economic power with a GNP of more than US$10,000 per person. The imports
and exports of South Korea have increased considerably: the country imports the fifth
largest amount of petroleum in the world; its car manufacturing industry and pelagic
fishery also rank the fifth in the world. South Korea ranks the seventh in the world in
terms of the number of nuclear plants, having 20 of them. As a result of this
industrialization, more than 85% of the population in South Korea is living in cities. In
the early 1960s, the country was a poor, agriculture-oriented country, with a GNP of
US$ 200 per person. The amount of exports was less than 100 million US dollars.
There were only about 30,000 automobiles in the country, and around 85% of the
population was living in farming and fishing communities. It has, however, achieved an
economic growth at the rate of 5% per year, and has transformed itself into an urbanized
industrial country.

Due to this economic growth, the country was able to overcome poverty and is
now enjoying a certain wealth and convenience. Housing is provided to more than 90%
of the urban households and more than 13 million cars are on the roads (1 car per 3.6
persons). Korean companies have advanced into more than 170 countries across the
world, and the number of South Koreans who travel abroad has also consistently
increased.

In order to understand the environmental problems in Korea, one should first

understand the economic growth and the development policies of the country. In the
past, the growth-oriented policies of the country were not concerned with the
importance of the environment or the ecology. Their only interest was growth and
development. The dictatorships, which ruled the country for 30 years after the 1960s,
truly suited their nickname, ‘development dictatorship.’ Those dictatorial authorities
took any questions about the environment as challenges to their system and suppressed
them. The governmental policies, which could not last long, made indiscreet
developments prevalent. Without thinking, the general public followed these
governmental policies as development offered them chances of employment and were
thus a way to escape their poverty.

As a result of these development-oriented policies, the following environmental

and ecological problems have arisen in South Korea:

First, the injudicious land development was carried out consistently through
projects to build cities, industrial parks, resorts with golf links, various roads and
harbors. This abusive development and further exploitation of the land has resulted in
fundamental transformations in the ecological environment of the country. A
considerable portion of the land was exploited to meet the goals of development and
growth, and, consequently, the ecosystems of the forests and the foreshores have
suffered major damage.

Second, mass production and mass consumption have become a part of daily
life in South Korea. The development and growth-oriented policies changed the South
Korean production-consumption structure in one stroke. In other words, the successful
economic growth was made possible at the cost of different natural resources, water
resources and energy resources. For instance, in the case of petroleum, South Korea is
the fifth largest importing country in the world, and comes in as ninth in terms of the
total emission of greenhouse gases. In the case of wood, South Korea is the second
largest importing country in the world, following Japan. This process of mass
production and mass consumption has brought about diverse and complex ecological
and environmental problems.

Third, due to the consistent urbanization and industrialization, every city has
certain problems of environmental pollution. The overgrowth of the country’s capital
area has become a serious problem that now confronts South Korea. South Korea might
well be the only country in the world where approximately 47% of the entire population
is concentrated in the capital area, as well as all the structures and functions of the
political, economic, social, cultural, and educational fields. It follows that all the cities
in the capital area are suffering from traffic-related pollutions such as air pollution, the
lack of green spaces, the difficulties of securing safe drinking water and an
overburdened hygienic refuse disposal system. The industrial parks in South Korea are
also confronted with serious problems of air pollution, toxic wastewater and other toxic
waste matters.

Fourth, although it is one of the biggest energy-consuming countries in the

world, South Korea has not put enough effort into preventing climate change. Korea
emits the ninth largest amount of greenhouse gases in the world and this over-
consumption of fossil energy means an extreme and dense emission of air pollutants
such as greenhouse gases. Despite these figures, the country does not seem to pay
enough attention to considering any viable alternatives.

Finally, South Korea has 20 nuclear plants and is the second country in Asia to
put into practice an electric energy policy concentrated on nuclear energy. These
nuclear plants have been producing a huge amount of radioactive waste, even though
the country has yet to secure a permanent disposal site. Despite this, the South Korean
government is building even more nuclear plants. The nuclear energy issue, especially
concerning the problems of radioactive waste disposal sites, has been one of the biggest
environmental issues in South Korea for the last 20 years.

Having been exposed to large-scale environmental pollution caused by abusive

land development, as well as to a mass production and mass consumption structure, and
to rapid urbanization and industrialization, the people of South Korea are now
increasingly demanding safe drinking water, pollution-free food, and clean air in order
to have healthy lives.

The South Korea government, however, has stated its determination to revive
the South Korean economy and is enforcing large-scaled development projects such as
the following: the Saemangeum reclamation project, which destroys the foreshore mud-
field; the construction of radioactive waste disposal sites which are combined with
further construction of nuclear plants; the construction of roads which destroys the
forest ecosystem; and the construction of large-scale dams to secure more water for
private and industrial consumption. The government also plans to accelerate the
development of the Capital area, the construction of hundreds of new golf links which
will damage the forest ecosystem, and the construction of dozens of tourist and resort
towns.

Both the central government and the local self-governing bodies have special
sectors concerning environmental problems and allocate them a considerable portion of
their budget. The government seems to emphasize with a certain harmony among its
citizens and a safe environment, as well as development, and says that it will carry out
policies for ‘sustainable development’ as adopted at the UN conference; its actual
policies, however, still focus on economic growth and development. The South Korean
government is carrying out a so-called “end of pipe” administration, i.e., the ex post
facto measures, instead of planning preventive measures in advance. The
environmental policies of the government cannot control huge development projects. It
is, thus, very likely that the environmental problems that our generation is experiencing
now will continue in the future as these development-oriented policies will have grave
consequences for the environment and the ecosystem. For all these above reasons,
South Korean environmental organizations feel compelled to carry out this struggle for
a better environment.

3. The South Korean Environment Movement Against the Development

Dictatorship

Since last November, the environmental organizations in South Korea have

been carrying out their struggle against the development-oriented policies of the
government through certain extreme measures such as a sit-down strike in the middle of
the streets of Seoul and a hunger strike. Major environmental organizations, both from
the Capital area and the local areas, are putting forth a collective effort to achieve their
goals.

The major demand of the environmental movement organizations is the

withdrawal of the large-scale development plans that will certainly destroy the
environment. They claim that the government should stop the above-mentioned
projects: the Saemangeum reclamation project, an energy policy that is dependent on
nuclear energy, the construction of roads, golf links, and leisure towns that will further
degrade the environmental. The environmental movement organizations are demanding
that the government reinforce regulations and restrictions to preserve the environment,
and abandon their development-oriented policies.

The history of the environment movement in South Korea is not a long one. It
was only in the early 1960s that the country started its full-out development and the
environment movement came to the front only in the late 1980s. During the military
dictatorships the authoritative system did not allow any questioning, let alone
opposition to the government’s policies for economic growth and development. With its
massive power behind it, the dictatorship pushed forward its development policy. This
was the so-called “development dictatorship”—a one-directional development,
development propelled through power and authority.

The major task of the Korean society at the time was to expel the dictatorial
authority and realize democracy in the country. Environmental issues could not attract
enough attention as major social issues. The environmental organizations started to
form themselves only when the political society became democratized in the late 1980s.
The general public also started to claim environmental rights as part of their basic
rights. This was because they were faced with severe environmental problems such as
when, before and after 1990, several cases of large-scaled water contamination were
reported one by one. The mass media headlined the cases and drew the general public’s
attention to the environmental problems.

By the time of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in 1992,

environmental issues had drawn much attention from the international community.
Korea was not unaware of these issues and its nongovernmental organizations sought
international solidarity to deal with environmental problems at the global level. With
the vision of the “Environmentally Sound and Sustainable Development,” which was
agreed upon at the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development Conference,
the organizations started to put on the brakes on the government’s development-oriented
policies.

At the moment, more than 500 environmental organizations are at work in

every corner of the country, forming a nationwide network. The organizations have
expanded at a rapid rate since the early 1990s, when there were only mere dozens of
these organizations. In the case of the organization that I belong to, it started with 1
central unit and 7 local units in the early 1990s, but now has 53 local units. Through
this case can be observed a phase of the environmental movements in Korea. Each
environmental movement organization has members and is run with the members’
financial support. They have been coping with diverse environmental and ecological
problems, and different organizations have gotten together and carried out collective
activities. The following are some of the major examples of the environment
movements and campaigns in South Korea:

First, the struggle against the construction of nuclear plants and radioactive
waste disposal sites, i.e. the struggle against nuclear energy in general, can be
mentioned here. Since the late 1980s, the environment movement organizations have
been demanding that the government change its energy policy, one which is very
dependent on nuclear power. They have also opposed the construction of radioactive
waste disposal sites which are contingent upon the further construction of nuclear
plants. In spite of this, including the first nuclear plant built in 1978, altogether 20
nuclear plants are in operation at the moment, producing a tremendous amount of
nuclear waste every year. Because of the organizations’ struggle against the
construction of radioactive waste disposal sites, the government has not been able to
select a waste disposal site yet. The issue of nuclear plants and radioactive waste
disposal sites is and will be one of the biggest environmental issues.

Second, the save-the-energy campaign and the movement to introduce

renewable energy have continued. South Korea is the 5th largest petroleum-importing
country, and it emits the 9th largest amount of greenhouse gases in the world. Diverse
actions have been taken to change this ‘environment-destructive energy policy’ into a
‘sustainable energy policy’. Movements to introduce renewable energy sources such as
solar energy, wind power, use of the earth’s heat, and hydrogen energy have kept up
pressure on the government. Faced with the crisis that fossil fuel energy will be
exhausted at the end of the 21st century, the world needs to search for an alternative
energy that can substitute for fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

Third, there have been consistent efforts to protect and preserve the mud flats
on the foreshore. The Saemangum preservation movement, carried out since the late
1990s, is a good example of the struggle against the one-sided development policy of
the government. The western and southern coastlines of South Korea constitute one of
the four major mud flats in the world. The mud flats, however, have been considerably
reduced due to the reclamation projects of the government since the 1960s. Most of the
reclaimed lands have been turned into farmlands, industrial lands, or cities. As the
environmental and ecological values and importance of mud flats became recognized,
the environment movement organizations in South Korea started to prevent any more
reclamation. Mud flats are rarely found in the world and they provide us with habitats
for a variety of bird and other animal species, provide various marine resources, and
work as a purifying system for the ecological region.

Fourth, the environmental organizations have also carried out campaigns

against dam constructions and river-reviving campaigns. Due to different development
projects such as building cities, constructing industrial parks and creating farmland, the
amount of water being consumed has increased rapidly. To ensure the supply for daily
water consumption, water for industrial use and water for agricultural purposes, the
government has built dams along rivers. Consequently, the amount of wastewater has
increased, and the construction of these dams resulted not only in water contamination
but also in the destruction of the ecosystem of rivers. Indeed, several cases of
contaminated tap water and polluted rivers have drawn much attention from the society.
Recognizing the environmental crises caused by dam construction, the environment
organizations have been organized campaigns against dam construction, and fought for
the preservation of the ecosystem of rivers.

Outside the above-mentioned movements and campaigns, the environment

organizations have been coping with environmental problems through campaigns to
reduce and recycle wastes, to encourage Green Consumption and Green Transport, and
to build green cities or ecological polis. These organizations have been carrying out
diverse publicity activities and educational programs. There have also been very active
international solidarity activities in the field of the environmental movement.

4. For the ‘Sustainable’ Future

The 21st century is said to be “The Century of Environment”. In this expression

is implied that the 20th century was a century of environmental destruction, and that the
21st century should be a century to overcome this environmental destruction. It is also
implied that we human beings will have a future only when we overcome the
environmental crisis.
Many environmentalists have been warning us that if the environmental
destruction continues at the current rate the future of the world will be quite dark. This
can be easily seen in the global warming phenomenon. If global warming continues,
unusual changes in the climate will also continue and the damages from drought, flood,
and typhoons will accelerate. The glaciers on the polar areas will melt, causing the sea
level to rise alarmingly. This, in the end, will have a direct influence on worldwide
agricultural activities.

We need to overcome the environmental crisis. Then, how should we cope with
it? This is a very difficult task. The UN is recommending that every country aim to
build an environmentally sound and sustainable society, as the destructive development
policies of the 20th century should not be continued. Nonetheless, most developed
countries, including South Korea, are still carrying out ‘unsustainable’ development
policies which give priority to the accumulation of national wealth. In the case of South
Korea, the ‘unsustainable’ development policies can be observed in its land use, its
energy policy, and its policy of economic growth. South Korea, in a word, will continue
to sacrifice its environment and ecosystem for its economy. This will be the same for
the countries of the Third World.

The environment organizations, however, are making sure that they will
continue to carry out their campaigns to overcome the environmental crisis and to build
the ‘sustainable’ future. One of their major efforts is to continue the struggle against the
South Korean government. The government’s ‘unsustainable’ development policy, if
continued, will further the environmental destruction, and eventually put an end to life
on earth. Environmental destruction is life destruction and it results in the deprivation of
our basic rights. To secure safe and peaceful lives for our generation and the next
generation, i.e. to secure ‘our sustainable future’, the environment movement needs to
be carried on.

The NGOs as Global Actor: Myth or Reality?

Prof. Hae-Young Lee (Hanshin University)

I. Introduction

One of the peculiar trends in the nineties in the international political arena is
doubtlessly the NGOs. With the 1989/90 collapse of the so-called real existent socialism
was boastfully proclaimed the New World Order. The World-Capitalism has
successfully proved its viability once again. As a result, the 'Age of Extremes' (E.J.
Hobsbawm) seems to expire now and forever without knowing its successor. After ten
years of anxious hope are many people now conscious that the "Age of Extremes" is
ended irreversibly but the next century also has nothing to do with the "brave new
world". On the contrary the U.S. as a sole empire on the globe is continuing the
"imperial overstretch" (P. Kennedy). Only the "neo-feudal" international system has
substituted its antecedent. One imperial state assisted by the "knight" states such as G7
dominates the most countries. One used to say that after "September 11" everything has
changed utterly. However, the hard core of the age, in my view, has not changed at all.

Amidst fin de siecle pessimism had J. Habermas 1984 diagnosed our times as
follows :

The future is negatively cathected ; we see outlined on the threshold of the twenty-
first century the horrifying panorama of a worldwide threat to universal life
interests: the spiral of the arms race, the uncontrolled spread of nuclear weapons,
the structural impoverishment of developing countries, problems of environmental
overload, and the nearly catastrophic operations of high technology are the
catchwords that have penetrated public consciousness by way of the mass media.
... The situation may be objectively obscure. Obscurity is nonetheless also a
function of a society's assessment of its own readiness to take action. What is at
stake is Western culture's confidence in itself.8

On the one hand, the aftermath of "September 11" has reactivated the pessimism of
"new obscurity." On the other hand it may imply no other than a warning signal which
urges us to take measures. The "optimism of will" (A. Gramsci) could be justified above
all by the fact that in the nineties the NGOs have increased their capacities at the
international as well as at the national level so dramatically that the national
8
) J. Habermas (1989), The New Conservatism, MIT Press; Cambridge, pp.50-51.
governments can hardly hold the countervailing power of NGOs under control. The
international institutions such as WB, IMF, WTO must react to them by any means.
Moreover, they are often considered as a recognized actor of world politics and people
demand them to hold even more accountability and morals than the politicians. In the
national politics many assign them to take the role of the "fifth pillar" next to
legislature, executive, jurisdiction and media. One often says, "taking NGOs seriously."
The NGO-activists' catchphrase may be: "Together, we are superpower."

Despite success stories of NGOs in the nineties, there may be still many
unanswered questions for closer examination. For some critics, "NGOs are the most
overestimated actor of the nineties." 29 However, others forecast the "shift of power"
from states to NGOs.310 There are good reasons for the critical review of previous global
activity of NGOs: as many contradictions and divergences as harmonies and
convergences exist between
- NGOs from the North and South
- "Moderate" and "radical" NGOs
- Lobbying-oriented and movement-oriented NGOs
- Rich and poor NGOs
- Large and small NGOs
- National and international NGOs
- "Occidental" and "oriental" NGOs
etc.

The list could last endlessly. Nevertheless, central in my paper is the next
problem: Could NGOs be a political alternative in the future? In other words, are they
politically capable enough to articulate a vision of global governance that re-regulates
the "disembedded" economy into world-society without world-government? If such
expectation seems to be unrealistic for the moment, then, is NGOs' future confined to
play a role of "checks and balances" in world politics, namely, the "junior-partner" of
senior players like states and international organizations? Is their role simply a moral
counterpart of corporate- or state-led international system in order to bridge the gap
between the people and international organizations? Is herein an alternative project to
the present international order included? This essay wants to contribute to such a
9
P. Wahl (1998), “NGO Transnationals, McGreenpeace and the Network Guerrilla”,
(www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/issues/wahl.htm)
10
) Jessica Mathews, the head of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote that "the steady
concentration of power in the hands of states that began in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia, is over, at least for
a while." See Economist, December 11-17, 1999.
discussion.

II. Globalization and the rise of NGOs in the nineties

Although NGOs have existed for a long time in history (in the early 1800s, the
British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society played an important role in abolishing the
slavery system), they have not established themselves as an independent international
factor until the 1990s. The NGOs in the new age are one of unintended consequences of
neo-liberal globalization.

Most imposing is above all their increase in number. The Yearbook of

International Organizations has counted on the rather conservative basis - that is, groups
with operations in more than one country - the number of international NGOs at more
than 26,000 today, up from 6,000 in 1990. 411 In addition, the U.N. now lists more than
3,000 NGOs. The World Watch Institute suggested that in the U.S. alone there are about
2 million NGOs, 70% of which are less than 30 years old. In Eastern Europe sprang up
between 1988 - 1995 more than 100,000 NGOs. The big international NGOs are
concentrated mostly in three main areas: human rights, development and the
environment. Also remarkable is the membership growth in these areas; for instance, the
Worldwide Fund for Nature now has around 5 million members, up from 570,000 in
1985, which doesn't need to be shy to compare to the population of small countries.

All this is a historically unprecedented phenomenon. In form, the "NGO

swarm" is amorphous, linked each other "online", organized highly decentralized and
acts "molecularly". The NGOs as a whole are, in short, not an organization in classical
sense, but a "net" itself.

As mentioned, the dramatic proliferation of NGOs was a reaction against the

neo-liberal globalization realized at the outset as an anti-crisis strategy in the advanced
capitalist countries since the 1970s. It is first of all the globalization of the economy.
The Transnational Corporations are one of its most enthusiastic protagonists. The neo-
liberal offensive enforced the reorganization of traditional nation-states as the
'transmission belt' of world market. With the transition of such nation-states into the
neo-liberal "competition-states", as J. Hirsch conceptualized, was every realm of life
11
) Ibid.
threatened to subordinate into the logic of market. The hegemony of "Neo-liberal
International" (P. Anderson) accelerated, for instance, the shifts of the alliance between
the labor and the industry capital, which characterize the "Golden Age" of postwar
capitalism, to that of industry and financial capital against the labor. But the key
problem lies no other than in the fatal unbalance between the globalized economy and
the nationally structured politics. As a consequence, it is inevitable to reactivate the
critical potentials installed in the civil society and to mobilize its resources to block the
neo-liberal offensive from inside as well as from outside.

The list of achievements by the NGOs over the past decade is quiet
encouraging:

- Promoting agreements on controlling greenhouse gases 1992

- "Fifty Years is Enough" campaign 1994
- Campaign to outlaw anti-personal land mines 1997
- Establish an international criminal court
- Numerous concerted actions to improve labor conditions in the South against
individual corporations such as Nike and to control the genetically modified
organisms (GMOs)
etc.

The protest movement against such international institutions as WTO, World

Bank, IMF and the temporarily failed MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment)
belongs to the latest and most spectacular events in the nineties organized by
international NGOs. If the 1992 UN earth summit in Rio was the first turning-point in
the history of modern NGOs, where for the first time NGOs participated in the global
decision-making process not as protester, the anti-MAI campaign could be estimated as
an epoch-making second turning-point. In this campaign the NGOs as "global player"
experimented new methods of movement, which is "possibly turning out to be an
alternative to the transnationalization of large NGOs that is quite problematic from a
democratic point of view"512. From now on, the NGO movement gains another
dimension. The global political terrain changed radically: Seattle (November 1999),
Washington (April 2000) , Prague (September 2000), Quebec(April 2001),
Gothenburg(June 2001), Barcelona (June 2001), Genoa (July 2001), Washington
(September 2001) and now Qatar (November 2001). As C. Fred Bergsten commented
12
) See Wahl (1998), op.cit
April 1999, "the anti-globalization forces are now in the ascendancy."

Of course, it is not true to say that the failure of MAI-negotiations 613 was
exclusively due to the NGO protest. P. Wahl highlights three characteristics of anti-
MAI-campaign. First, this campaign has confronted initially not with the so-called "soft
issues" on the international agenda - like as environmental or development issues - but
with the "hard" economic issues. Secondly, the - limited - success of NGOs was "not
achieved by large, transnational NGOs, but by a lose network of both, i.e., small NGOs
together with some large, transnational NGOs." Lastly, "the campaign did not aim at
improving a project promoted by the government, but classified the agreement as part of
the globalization process and rejected it completely."

Furthermore, the experience of MAI campaign could be very useful as a

strategic framework for the future of NGOs:

"- With the issues of neo-liberalism and globalization, NGOs have picked out a
fundamental social problem as a central campaign issue and have overcome their
traditional single-issue projects.
- Refusing the MAI instead of "improving" it did not harm the image of the
campaign in the media.
- NGOs are politically successful when their issues move and mobilize the public.
- Loose networks turned out to be efficient; centralized and hierarchical structures
were not necessary, and would have possibly been counterproductive.
- Small and flexible NGOs played an important role." 714

With the anti-MAI campaign begins the trends to change. The "hard" issues
were imported into the international NGO community. The NGOs turn to the "high
politics" and the core international institutions. As results, there took place a process of
differentiation from inside. The anti-globalization movement has become an
indispensable component of international NGOs.

III. The Strategic Framework for NGOs in Relation to Globalization

With the ongoing differentiation in the international NGO community, inherent

13
) For the detailed description and critique, see M. Barlow/ T. Clarke (1998), MAI: The Threat to
American Freedom, New York: Stoddart.
14
) See Wahl (1998), op. cit.
differences and disparities among various NGOs are confirmed inevitably. One of
decisive diverging points may be related to the problem of how to deal with the
economic globalization. In another words, - as W. Bello said - "should we seek to
transform or to disable the main institutions of corporate-led globalization?"815: in short,
"Reform or Disempowerment" of international institutions.

Tendency Main Argument Key Institutions

Global Against globalization of social/labor movements;

Justice capital(not people), environment advocacy groups;
Movements for "people-centered radical activist networks; regional
development" and national coalitions; leftwing
think-tanks; academic settings

Third World Join the system Self-selecting third world nation-

Nationalism but on much fairer States
terms
Post-Washington Reform "imperfect Most United Nations agencies;
Consensus markets" & "sustainable governments of France and Japan
development"

Washington Slightly adjust the status U.S. agencies (Treasury, Federal

Consensus quo (transparency,
supervision & regulation
Resurgent Restore U.S. isolationism;
Rightwing Punish bank's mistakes
Reserve, USAID); Bretton Woods
Institutions; WTO, centrist
Washington think-tanks; British and
German governments
Populist & libertarian wings of
Republican party; American Enterprise
Institute, Cato Institute, Manhattan
Institute, Heritage Institute

<Table1: Five Reactions to the Global Crisis>

Especially, P. Bond has devoted his attention to this problem in recent years. He
categorizes five reactions to the globalization since the international financial crisis

15
) W. Bello (2001), “Toward a New System of Global Economic Governance”, manuscript presented at
a seminar organized by Munwha Ilbo, PSPD, Suh Sangdon Committee in Seoul, February 22.2001
around mid-1997 916(See the Table 1). Amongst the above five tendencies, this essay is
of course interested mainly in - following Bond's terminology - the "Global Justice
Movements", that is, international NGO movements. However, except the so-called
"Co-opted NGOs (CoNGOs)", which receive fund from the neo-liberal agency and seek
usually the "dialogue and compromise", there are also each other conflicting and
competing subcurrents within the NGO camp. With regard to the NGOs' global strategy
can there be logically two main axes: Pro-Globalist or Anti-Globalist. But the empirical
reality must not be so simplistic. There also can be minute sub-categories. For example,
one could be against the globalization of capital, but in favor of the "democratic"
globalization of people or "from below". To which camp, then, does this tendency
belong? While someone criticizes the present form of globalization, can he or she
imagine or accept at the same time alternative ways to globalization? Therefore, all
strategic models of NGOs must take into consideration such a case.

Ideal-typically, three kinds of approaches to the problem appear, for the

moment, according to the main line of argument and attitude to globalization: 1)
"international reformism" 2) "globalization from below" 3) "delinking."

1) "International reformist" approach:

This view is a global version of social partnership or corporatism at the national

level, which has backed up the 'Golden Age of capitalism" in Western society. It refers
basically to the thesis of "democratic deficit" of international institutions and regimes
that can be covered only by the cooperation with international civil society. The
interests of NGOs as "stakeholder" could be accommodated with the business. The
political legitimacy grounded on the support from the NGOs as junior-partner is a
necessary condition for the viability of global capitalism. Therefore, it aims the
capitalism with "human face".

John Clark, a former leading Bank critic at Oxfam, issued an email memo now
as chief NGO liaison officer at the World Bank:

"[H]ow to respond to the demo organizers' request to all NGOs to boycott all
meetings with the Bank and Fund ... For some the compromise was to take part in

16
) Patrick Bond (2001), “Strategy and Self-Activity in the Global Justice Movements”, FPIF Discussion
Paper #5, August 2001.
 meetings with Bank staff off the premises (some said this was because they didn't
want to be seen and identified by demonstrators and be accused of cooption); but
others - notably Jubilee 2000 [U.S.] - were quite open that they intended to ignore
the request."1017

The aim of "international reformist" lies not in the abolition of international

institutions but in their improvement. From this viewpoint, it is not marvelous to find to
some extent the logical homogeneity with the so-called "Post-Washington Consensus"
of which World Bank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz takes the initiative. Aimed at the
correcting capitalist system's "imperfect markets", he tried to introduce a "new
paradigm" into the neo-liberal economy. J. Stiglitz writes: "The policies advanced by
the Washington Consensus are hardly complete and sometimes misguided. ... The focus
on freeing up markets, in the case of financial market liberalization, may actually have
had a perverse effect, contributing to macro-instability through weakening of the
financial sector."1118 This results in an elite fight between IMF and World Bank. The
World Bank shows, in comparison with its sister organization, the IMF, a relatively high
sensitivity to the activity of NGOs, which is well reflected in its document:
"Consultation with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs): General Guidelines for the
World Bank Staff.” Some of lines in the document say: “The primary objective of
consultations is to improve the quality of decisions by: capturing the experience of
specialized non-governmental agencies, tapping the knowledge of CSOs that work at
the community level, giving voice to the poor ..., and giving sustainability for proposed
reforms beyond any one government administration."1219 The World Bank's co-optation
strategy may express its changed approach to the integrationist fraction in the
international neo-liberal blocks.

In recent years, the partnership between business and NGOs increased

variously. The Financial Times reported:

"For companies, the desire to work with NGOs stemmed from a recognition that
environmental and social issues can provide business benefits, ranging from
differentiating products to cutting costs. "In the world of business, environmental

17
) Cited from Bond (2001). op. cit.
18
) Cited from P. Bond (1999), “Global and National Financial Reforms”, Proceeding at International
Conference on Neo-liberalism, Global Capitalism and Civil Alternatives, October 5, 1999,
Sungkonghoe University, Seoul Korea.
19
) See World Bank's homepage http://wbln0018.worldbank.org.
 performance is increasingly seen as a competitive and strategic issue for
companies," says SustainAbility. In several instances NGOs have been willing to
endorse products. In 1992 Greenpeace helped launch a hydrocarbon called
"Greenfreeze" that could replace an ozone-damaging coolant in refrigerators. Its
efforts resulted in 70,000 orders."1320

The "symbiosis" between business and NGOs follows, as such, the business
logic: an equivalent exchange between profitability of business and fund-raising of
NGOs:

"The problem with partnerships lies not so much in the nature of the relationship as
in objectives. Despite the grand rhetoric, when it comes to negotiating the terms of
the partnerships, there is a tendency to revert to fundamental organizational aims:
reputation enhancement at the local and international level for the business and
access to financial resources for the NGO. Hence, most NGOs give the
responsibility for corporate partnerships to the fund-raising department, rather than
to their advocacy department."1421

But even such a partnership is inaccessible to the NGOs of the South, due mainly to the
"power differentials":

"The idea of partnership between a multi-billion dollar global corporation and a

poor, marginalized local community group in the South is at odds with the
enormous power differentials and divergent interests inherent in such a
relationship. On the other hand, when larger NGOs establish new collaborative
relationships with business, there appears to be greater scope for shared power and
control. Such NGOs increasingly need to work with business in order to realize
their organizational goals in a globalized economy. Their business partners need
credible independent guidance in order to respond appropriately to concerns about
the social and environmental impacts of their products and production processes."
1522

20
) V. Houlder (2001), “Campaigners Learn Lesson of Business Advantage”, Financial Times, July 24,
2001.
21
) Kelly Currah (2000), “How Corporations Absolve Their Sins”, Guardian, August 28, 2000
22
David F. Murphy (1998), “Business and NGOs in the Global Partnership Process”,
(http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/unctad16.htm)
 As mentioned above, the relationship between two "non-state actors" is recently
interwoven, to a great extent, because not of mutual understandings but rather of mutual
interests. Even though it is for now not proper to judge about it ultimately, one thing is
however not deniable that such an invisible connection could jeopardize all the
achievements of NGO movement. For instance, at the local level, the NGO's
intervention encouraged by many donors of the North, that is also NGOs, was accused
of misleading the outcome:

"By their action and their line of work, NGOs have a strong tendency to take in
charge some tasks or services that are normally of the State' s responsibility. This
attitude often leads peasants to consider the NGOs as being the State or its
legitimate substitute. It also represents a form of justification of the State's
passivity concerning rural development, or even a means of taking away from it its
responsibilities. The extension and generalization of such an attitude can also open
the way for the existence of two parallel States or of a State in the State..."

2) "Globalization from below" approach:

W. Bello, Director of Focus on the Global South, represents one of the typical
positions with regards to the anti-globalization campaign in the NGO community.
According to him, "a classic crisis of legitimacy has struck the multilateral institutions
that serve as key elements of the system of global economic governance: The WTO,
IMF and the World Bank." Therefore, "the focus of our efforts these days is not to try to
reform the multilateral agencies but to deepen the crisis of legitimacy of the whole
system. ... We are talking about disabling not just the WTO, the IMF and the World
Bank but the transnational corporations itself. And we are not talking about a process of
"re-regulation" of the TNCs but of eventually disabling or dismantling them as
fundamental hazards to people, society, the environment, to everything we hold dear."

So, the strategic orientation focused not on the "re-regulation" but on the
disempowerment of TNCs. Bello seeks the alternative to globalization in the "de-
globalization":

"We are not talking about withdrawing from the international economy.
We are speaking about reorienting our economies from production for export to
production for the local market;
 ...
We are talking, essentially, about an approach that consciously subordinates the
logic of the market, the pursuit of cost efficiency to the values of security, equity
and social solidarity. Following Karl Polanyi, we are speaking, about reembedding
the economy in society, rather than having society driven by the economy."1623

Rejecting capitalist globalization radically, Michael Albert also recently

elaborates the alternative strategy to the globalization. The anti-globalization activists
now want to replace the core three institutions of capitalist globalization, such as the
IMF, the World Bank and the WTO, with dramatically new and different structures:

"The WTO trumps governments and populations on behalf of corporate profits.

The full story about these three centrally important global institutions is longer, of
course, but improvements are not hard to conceive. First, why not have, instead of
the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade
Organization, an International Asset Agency, a Global Investment Assistance
Agency, and a World Trade Agency. These three new (not merely reformed)
institutions would work to attain equity, solidarity, diversity, self-management, and
ecological balance in international financial exchange, investment and
development, trade, and cultural exchange."1724

M. Albert advocates, furthermore, a "bottom-up" method as the organizational principle

of the new institutions:

"And second, ... anti-globalization activists also advocate a recognition that

international relations should not derive from centralized but rather from bottom-
up institutions. The new overarching structures mentioned above should therefore
gain their credibility and power from an array of arrangements, structures, and ties
enacted at the level of citizens, neighborhoods, states, nations and groups of
nations, on which they rest. And these more grass-roots structures, alliances, and
bodies defining debate and setting agendas should, like the three earlier described
one, also be transparent, participatory and democratic, and guided by a mandate
that prioritizes equity, solidarity, diversity, self-management, and ecological
sustainability and balance."1825
23
) See Bello (2001), op. cit.
24
) See Michael Albert (2001), “What Are We For?”, ZNet, September 6, 2001.
25
) Ibid.
 3) "Delinking" approach:

Yash Tandon, a former chair of CIVIUS: World Alliance for Citizen

Participation, also presents a grassroots-oriented alternative from the perspective of the
South: "What are the alternatives? Stepping outside of the global economy is hardly a
realistic option. However, the South can do at least two things in relation to the process
of globalization. One: it can slow down the process of its further integration into the
global process. And two: it can strengthen its local- community based systems of
production and marketing, and begin to control local resources away from the hands of
multinational corporations."1926 For him, the governments in the South are not capable
any more of defending against the encroachment of their sovereignty accompanied by
globalization. Furthermore, most of the Southern NGOs are funded by the Northern
counterparts and consequently tend to be either "welfarist or single-issue oriented."
Hence, "by and large it is unrealistic to expect the NGOs (excepting a few) to take the
lead to raise broader issues of development and the effects of capital-led
globalization."2027 Instead, rather how the "ordinary people on the ground who are the
direct recipients of the damage that modernization, and now the globalization" will
become a force for change is a crucial issue for the South. "When they rise", "the NGOs
could become good allies for them, just as when the street kids of townships in South
Africa rose up to single-handedly take on the might of the apartheid state the middle
class intellectual cadre of NGOs became a strong support base of them."2128

In the tradition of Dependency Theory, S. Amin continued to radicalize the

strategy of "delinking" - "not autarky, but the subordination of outside relations to the
logic of internal development and not the reverse".2229 Then he reviewed the most
radical reform proposals against the "Bretton Woods institutions", which are very
similar to the M. Albert's ideas sketched above: 1) the transformation of the IMF into a
genuine world central bank; 2) the transformation of the World Bank into a fund that
would collect surpluses and lend them to the Third World; 3) the creation of a genuine
international trade organization, etc. Although these are as such a very fine project for

26
) Yash Tandon (1997), “Globalization and the South: the Logic of Exploitation”, Internationale Politik
und Gesellschaft, 4/1997, p. 397.
27
) Ibid., p. 398.
28
) Ibid.
29
) S. Amin (1997), Capitalism in the Age of Globalization, London & New Jersey: Zed Books, p. 40.
the reform of world economic and political system, they have the blind spots, too. For
instance, too much "value judgments" are included in the analyses; the transformation
of the IMF or World Bank into new ones ought not to be the objective for the immediate
future in the long transition to world socialism. Consequently, he is afraid that "by
setting the bar too high we are condemning ourselves to failure"; because "the status of
globalization has not always been clearly defined (is it a determining objective force, or
one tendency among others?) certain elements of the reform project ... strike me as
doubtful.2330

For him, capitalist globalization is not in itself a way of resolving the crisis. A
simple "rejection" of globalization could not constitute an adequate solution, for it
become, at last, integrated into this globalization and are made use of it. The "delinking
is not to be found in these illusory and negative rejections but on the contrary by an
active insertion capable of modifying the conditions of globalization."2431 It means no
other than the "substituting the unilateral adjustment of the weak to the strong with a
structural adjustment that is truly bilateral" by means of "another type of globalization".
Most important is the problem for the "national and popular democratic alliance". It is
so impossible to bypass the "stage of popular national construction, of regionalization,
of delinking and the building of a polycentric world".2532

IV. Toward the Global Governance of People

Every political process presupposes normally three dimensions: polity, politics

and policy. The same applies also to the international political arena. It can’t be denied
that in the nineties NGOs act as global player like multinational corporations
successfully as well as unsuccessfully. They contract occasionally the strategic alliances
with each other and form a united front against the "tyranny of market". All these were
obviously political actions or at least "politically-oriented" actions. Like usual political
parties, they put pressure upon the government at the national level and contributed
immensely to the further democratization of society. In the public sphere they were
approved as a quasi-political party and gained a considerable "power of influence",
namely the "indirect" power compared to that of the administration. With regard to the
environmental and social issues, their positions nowadays are respected and adopted on
30
) Ibid., p. 43 passim.
31
) Ibid., p. 75.
32
) Ibid., p.78-9.
a case-by-case basis. If one takes all these processes seriously, she/he may conclude that
NGOs become global political actors. However, still one thing lacks in the NGOs
exactly as the TNCs do. That is democratic legitimacy. They were never elected but
only selected by the people on the basis of beliefs that they are morally superior to the
politicians by profession. If so, they have at best the virtual or ad hoc legitimacy, which
would be fulfilled only through their post-factum activity. In essence, people’s
acknowledgement of the NGOs is a kind of social contract that could be broken
anytime. As far as NGOs have never constituted themselves in the "body politic", the
legitimacy problem of NGOs remains unresolved.

Paradoxically the globalization made a favorable condition to create some type

of global polity. The globalized economy leads to the selective globalization of society.
Against this background, NGOs were rapidly internationalized. R. Falk and A. Strauss
proposed in Foreign Affairs a formation of "Global Parliament": "As with the early
European parliament, a relatively weak assembly initially equipped with largely
advisory powers could begin to address concerns about the democratic deficit while
posing only a long-term threat to the realities of state power."2633 According to them,
there are two ways to reach it. First, "civil society, aided by receptive states, could
create the assembly without resorting to a formal treaty process. Under this approach,
the assembly would not be formally sanctioned by states, so governments would
probably contest its legitimacy at the outset. But this opposition could be neutralized to
some extent by widespread grassroots and media endorsement." Second approach
"rel[ies] on a treaty, using what is often called the 'single negotiating text method'. After
consultation with sympathetic parties from civil society, business, and nation-states, an
organizing committee could generate the text of a proposed treaty establishing an
assembly."2734

Of course, it may be a too defeatist to reject this proposal only because it

sounds utopian. But it is also problematic to insist that the possibilities exist without
probing in detail the concrete conditions of it. Unacceptable is moreover that the idea of
"Global Parliament" is de-linked with any abolition or at least radical reform of neo-
liberal institutions.

Although it is true that the formation of a political unit on a global scale is in

33
) Richard Falk / Andrew Strauss (2001), “Bridging the Globalization Gap: Toward Global Parliament”,
Foreign Affairs, January-February 2001.
34
) Ibid.
the last instance one of the ultimate solution of legitimation problem, it matters,
however, in the first instance if its political contents are well planned and the political
driving forces are sufficiently organized. For instance, the ideological factor plays here
a significant role. To tell the truth, the ideological terrain within the NGO community is
to a great extent confusing and divergent. Especially those at the core of anti-
globalization understand themselves as "anarchist". Following B. Epstein, their
intellectual and philosophical perspectives might be better described as an "anarchist
sensibility than as anarchism per se." In this sense "it is a form of politics that revolves
around the exposure of the truth rather than strategy."2835 The ideological-political
backgrounds of anti-globalization movements vary from Marxism, Trotskyism, to the
Islam. A certain form of movement such as "network guerilla," on which the "anarchist"
mind-set is dominant, could be advantageous to access to the people. Neither the
movement could however vagabondize from here to there perpetually, nor works the
internet always.

The NGOs per se is an expression of a specific phase of history, wherein the

classical labor movement is politically inactive and the "new" social movement
somewhat suffers from tiredness. A. Gramsci proposed once a perspective of
"reabsorption of state into the civil society". This standpoint could be valid at the
national level. However, in the international arena there is no central authority as world-
state. It seems to be also not plausible that in the near future the world-state becomes a
reality. The "governance without government" is seemingly the only feasible alternative
in the world politics for the present. For the global "civil society" - whatsoever it may
be -this constellation might be a chance, for the international NGOs could try to
constitute themselves politically without relatively less backlash of states. In my view,
the future of NGOs depends considerably on whether they will reorganize themselves
anew as political body. Neither NGO-fetishism nor NGO-nihilism helps this project at
all. Anyhow, so true is the following: "There is no alternatives."

Orientalism

Prof. Hong-gyu Park

Faculty of Law, Youngnam Unviersity

35
) Barbara Epstein (2001), “Anarchism and the Anti-Globalization Movement”, Monthly Review,
September 2001.
Bush and Orientalism

Upon Bush’s reelection as the president of the US, there seems to be much
discussion going on, but hardly any discussion concerning the reinforcement of
Orientalism due to his reelection. As for myself, I feel anxious that Bush and his
Orientalist associates may reinforce Orientalism in America, and in the world.
Those who would translate the term, “Orientalism” literally into “Orient-ism”
or “Orient-centrism” might argue that, if Bush takes this notion of “Orientalism,” it is
not a situation to worry about, but one to celebrate. Those, however, who are aware of
how the term is truly used, will understand the actual meaning of the term is the
opposite, i.e., “Orient-contempt-ism” or “Orient-discrimination-ism.”
Arguing that this Orientalism has driven America to disdain and discriminate
against the non-Occident (i.e., the Orient), and eventually to invade Afghanistan and
Iraq as well as arousing certain public opinion against North Korea, may be criticized
for its ignorance or exaggeration, especially when the world has observed the events of
9.11 and the North Korean nuclear weapon issue.
Is it, however, really an exaggerated groundless apprehension to question
whether Orientalism is embedded in the United States’ view of Iraq and the Korean
peninsula? There have been numerous cases of misrepresentation of Korea by the US:
they described the 4.19 Student Uprising by saying, “a rose bloomed in a trash bin”;
General John Wickham, the United States commander of the joint US-South Korea
military command, called the Korean people “rats”; an American press recently reported
that there are millions of prostitutes in South Korea. As for the representations of North
Korea, Kim Jong-il of North Korea has been regarded as the equivalent of Sadam
Hussein of Iraq, and the “North Korean nuclear weapon” as the equivalent of the
unaccounted-for “Weapons of Mass Destruction” in Iraq. My suspicion of the
American Orientalist view on Korea is based on these misrepresentations.
Wouldn’t there be any relation between the United States’ claims on the issues
of the still unexplained North Korean nuclear weapon, on South Korea’s uranium
enrichment test, and on the unclear Iraqi WMD? How far is the lopsided relationship
between South Korea and the US from the unequal treaty between Korea and Japan at
the time of the “opening of the port”, when the US announces unilaterally a reduction of
US forces in South Korea and maintains the unequal SOFA (Status of Forces
Agreement) which leaves military command in wartime to the United State?
Those who are keen on the international politics might argue that this unequal
relationship is a matter-of-course for lesser nations, and, thus, they should become
greater powers. Amongst the approximately 200 nations around the world, however, the
chances for lesser nations to become as powerful as the US are almost nonexistant.
Some patriots might get angry now if I say that South Korea cannot become a nation as
mighty as the United States; however, we should acknowledge our reality.
What matters more here is not power in real politics. Orientalism is the term
that signifies the existent contempt and discrimination at the bottom of the political,
economic, social and cultural discourses that were created to justify the imperialist
West’s invasion of and domination over the non-West. In other words, Orientalism was
brought out as a matter of historical judgment.
In the case of Orientalism, “ism” does not mean a certain political, economic,
social, or cultural system, but it carries a negative implication as in “alcoholism.” This
is not to say that Orientalism means “addiction to the Orient,” but to say that it implies
the negative attitude, i.e., discrimination and contempt, toward the Orient.

The Falsehood of the Essentialist Distinction

The distinction between the West (the Occident) and the East (the Orient)
presumes certain essential differences between the two. We can easily differentiate
them with simplistic features. This sort of distinction, however, is often based upon
unreliable reasons.
What is important here is that this kind of distinction between the West and the
East based on false reasons first started in the West, especially by Western imperialists.
One of the most prevalent discourses of this distinction can be the comparison between
the “civilized” West and the “barbaric” East. From the Western point of view, this
comparison might have had certain reasons; however, the very reasons were fabricated
in the West, and what is worse is that we, in the East, have also believed them to be true.
The same can be observed in historical views on Korean history and the
theories of Korean nationality fabricated by imperialist Japan. The West had to justify
their invasion of the East, and the imperialist Japan learned this strategy from the West,
as has been proven by many studies on the colonial policies in the early Japanese
colonial period.
The problem is that this Orientalism is still present, long after the imperialist
invasions. Bush’s policies are the evidence for the existence of Orientalism. The Bush
administration invaded Iraq claiming that Iraq had WMD and that Sadam Hussein was
an unforgivable dictator. As the supposed WMD have not yet been found and as
Hussein was the representative of Iraq, chosen by its people, it is natural that the Iraqi
people pronounce an anathema against Bush.
Bush’s military force cannot occupy Iraq forever, I believe. Though the Bush
administration has announced that the US military force will be withdrawn upon the
establishment of a democratic government in Iraq, the US will probably still try to
dominate Iraq in one way or another as long as they have an oil interest in Iraq. Their
dominance, however, will not last for long, and the US army cannot help but leave Iraq.
This is just a matter of time.
I do not ignore the anger that Bush and the people in America, or people in the
world, felt over 9.11. Nobody can deny that 9.11 was an atrocity that aroused anger
around the world. The world, however, is aware that the broad antagonism of the Bush
administration against the Arab world was one of the main causes of 9.11, and that the
terrorist Bin Laden himself was, in the pas,t nurtured by the US to fight against the
USSR. In other words, 9.11 was a trap set by the US themselves; then, as the US was
attacked by the terrorists, it reared up for its own national interest.
This is, however, should not allow for such an act as 9.11. In the context of
Orientalism, Bush and Bin Laden can be regarded as Orientalists of the same kind.
Bush brought up Bin Laden as his perpetrator to dominate the Arab world, but Bin
Laden became an Arab nationalist to resist against the US. Rising against the
Orientalism of the Bush administration, Bin Laden has become a fundamentalist or
essentialist who adheres to Arab-absolutism or Orient-centrism.
This kind of variety of Orientalism is often observed in fundamentalist
nationalists during or after the period of liberation from the colonial powers or during
independence struggles. There are also numerous varieties of Orientalism that are
cultural and ideological. The East-West distinction theories in South Korea are also, at
the end, essentialist categorizations.

Orientalism
At the beginning, Orientalism meant the artistic and academic trend that can be
translated as “an Orient-adoring inclination” in the West. This meaning has been often
adopted in the translation of the term and in certain West-related publications. The
term, Orientalism, however, gained another meaning as Edward Said appropriated the
term in Orientalism taking it for the Western way of perception of the East that is
fabricated as a means of domination over the East. It was in 1991 that I translated
Said’s book into Korean, and since then it seems that the term has been understood with
Said’s meaning in South Korea. In this article, I also use the term, Orientalism, in
Said’s way.
In Orientalism, Said focused on Western Orientalism vis-a-vis the Middle East,
but I am not here to introduce Said’s observation on the topic. Middle East Studies are
not fully developed in South Korea for various reasons. Nor has my translation of the
book encouraged Middle East Studies in South Korea, unlike in certain countries where
the publication opened active discussions concerning Said’s book and the Middle East.
As the Korean translator of Orientalism, I felt a certain responsibility to introduce these
discussions, but no one seemed to be interested in them. This did not, however,
discourage me as I translated the book because I wanted to introduce its paradigm
which we can use to ponder our own problems, not because I was interested in Middle
East Studies. Nonetheless, I have yet to see publications that deal with our own
problems of Orientlaism seriously, except for a very few works.
I expected foreign literary studies, including English literature, to open genuine
discussions concerning Orientalism, such as so-called “postcolonial” discussions. I
have read a couple of related articles, and observed that our foreign literary studies are
still very submissive to the powerful. In English literature, the Saidian critical approach
has been totally ignored or disregarded. The case of English literature is still better than
the cases of French or German literary studies where there is no single publication that
concerns the matter. Said criticized French literature because of its Orientalism, as
much as he did with English literature. Camus’ works, especially, have been translated
into Korean many times and are now published in a complete edition.
The Orientalist elements can be observed not only in so-called “canonical”
works, but also in our contemporary works. Orientalism is prevalent in most works of
English and French literature. At the moment, however, those literary works imbued
with imperialism and colonialism are considered as the Canon and as masterpieces.
This is quite a deplorable reality. The same criticism can be made not only of literary
works, but also of scientific work in other areas of studies in the humanities and social
sciences, from Marx to Weber and on to Huntington, to mention just a few; yet, no one
has called them into question.

Robinson Crusoe
Probably everybody has heard of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. The scene I
remember most is where the native islander, who was saved by Crusoe, knelt down in
front of him and swore to serve him as a slave until his death. This native man was
named after the day, Friday, that he was saved by Crusoe, learned English and Christian
principles from his “master”, Crusoe, and went back to England with him. Whether it
was an island in Asia or in Africa, for the British, or for the Western, it would have been
the same story. In other words, if Crusoe had drifted to Jeju-do Island or Dok-do Island,
the written story might have been the same. If our ancestor had sworn to be a slave to
Crusoe and changed his/her name to “Friday,” would we have appreciated the book as
much as we do now?
Is Robinson Crusoe the only case of Orientalism? How about Tarzan, who we
have seen so many times in the form of novels, films and TV dramas? How about those
films about American Indians? How about The Jungle Book? Who is 007 that fights
the “Eastern” villains who want to destroy the world? What does the friendship
between Livingstone and Stanley, introduced with the title, “The Explorer of the ‘Dark’
Continent,” in a Korean middle school textbook, tell us about? Who is Schweitzer, “the
Saint in the jungle,” for us now? Many more examples can be taken.
Robinson Crusoe is read, in general, as an adventure novel, or so-called
“survival story”; however, the book is more than that. Crusoe was a slave-trafficking
merchant, a sugar and tobacco plantation manager, and an adventurous trader who
crosses the Eurasian continent. In a word, he was a typical imperialist who formed a
domination network through production and trade based on the Western Europe and its
colonies.
Crusoe came to the uninhabited island because of a shipwreck while sailing
from northern Brazil to the northwestern coastline of Africa, called Guinea in those
days, for slave trafficking. The island, however, was not an island in the distant sea, but
one at the mouth of the second-largest river in South America, in sight of land. The sea
connected to the river was the Caribbean Sea, and the native islanders were those whom
we call the Carib nowadays. As the island was no great distance from the shore, the
Carib could visit the island easily by canoe.
In the novel, the Carib are described as a cannibal race and the reason for their
visit to the island is to have a cannibalistic party on it. Friday is often mistaken as a
Negro, but he was in fact a member of the Carib. It was first claimed by Jesuits, who
came to the area in the 17th century when Crusoe drifted to the island, that the Carib
were a cannibal race; this theory, however, was discounted by the Jesuits of the 18th
century.
This change was due to the history of colonization. In the 17th and the 18th
centuries, most of the Caribbean area was colonized and the Carib were in danger of
extinction. The number of native Carib decreased sharply from about 40,000 at the end
of the 16th century to about 4,000 a century later. In other words, the cannibalism
theory disappeared along with the native Carib.
The cannibal Friday learned to eat cooked goat meat and bread, to wear clothes
and to speak English. He also learns how to use a gun, the symbol of European
civilization, and to kill his own cannibal race with the gun. In less than three years,
Friday became a “good” Christian, even better than Crusoe.
This was the basic Western perspective of the non-West, and has been the
motive for the reproduction of “Robinson Crusoe literature” for the last two centuries.
The remarkable vital force of this perspective came from its connection to one of the
fundamental fabrications that supported imperialism and colonialism: to switch the
positions of the invaders and the native. This was the basic structure for the creation
mythology of colonialism. In other words, the western invaders claimed to be the
natives by building their artificial paradise and then excluding the original natives as
invaders of that paradise.

Orientalism in Us
I have, above, mentioned Robinson Crusoe as an example of Orientlaism, and
now will go back to discuss our own reality. South Korea was experiencing different
submissive and colonial fevers of English education, overseas studies, overseas
traveling, and preference to foreign goods under the name of “internationalization” and
“globalization,” when the so-called “IMF crisis” struck the country. Under the
surveillance of the IMF, South Korea had to open its market to foreign capital, which
some regarded as “the second national humiliation,” a new “trusteeship” or a
“viceroyship.” These humiliated emotions are now forgotten, and those fevers from the
past are returning.
The 21st century began with a series of events that caused serious damage to
humanity: the 9.11 terrorist attack caused more than 3,000 casualties in New York; the
US military’s act of retaliation caused an even larger number of casualties. Under the
name of anti-terrorism, the US is carrying out a large-scale military operation in Iraq.
This series of tragic events implies not only a deprivation of human lives, but also of
humanity.
No one can deny that the developed countries, such as the US, are taking
military and economic actions based on calculations around issues of oil interest and the
Israel-Palestine conflict. Since the Cold War came to an end near the end of the 20 th
century, the world has shifted its power structure from a US-USSR polar system to a
singular US formation. As the risk of coming into conflict with the USSR has
disappeared, it has become much easier for the US to take military action. As its
military expenses decreased, the US economy also prospered. Consequently, people
started to believe that American ideology was the only justice in the world.
“Globalization,” the IMF system, and the war in Iraq are the outcomes of this American
ideology.
This American ideology is deeply rooted in Orientalism. According to Said,
Orientalism is a system of cultural hegemony that expresses and represents the East
(which constitutes substantial parts of Western civilization and culture) through cultural
and ideological discourses as an entity that is sustained by certain systems, knowledge,
figures, and beliefs, as well as the colonial bureaucracy and the colonial mode of life.
In other words, Orientalism has been the means for the West to exploit and dominate the
non-West and its culture.
According to Said, for the West, “the East” indicates the Other distinguished
from the West itself. To justify the West’s invasion of and domination over the East, the
West had to make an ontological and epistemological distinction between the East and
the West, claiming that there were essential differences between the two. The East,
thus, is fabricated by the West. Invasion and domination promote mystification, along
with contempt. Likewise, the West endowed the East with political dictatorship, social
authoritarianism, and cultural mysticism as its unique characteristics. This was the
West’s scheme to further their domination over the East.
This Western view of the East has its origin in the Greek and Roman era when
the West started to dominate the East, and is still prevalent. It is dominating us not only
at the political, economical, social and cultural level, but also at the level of our own
minds and bodies. Orientalism in Korea is based on the belief that culture is completed
with the American capitalist system, the American presidential system, American
individualism, and American Ph.Ds. Is there be any other country in the world that has
been Americanized as much as South Korea? Despite this reality, the so-called “elite”
intellectuals of the society insist on further Americanization under the name of
“globalization”.
Said’s Orientalism indicates first, the studies on the East; second, the paradigm
based on the presumed ontological and epistemological distinction between the East and
the West that can be found in literature or journalism about the East; third, the inter-
related system or network of knowledge that produces the narrations about the East and
endows them with authority, for the Western domination over the East.
The East represented through Orientalism does not necessarily correspond to
the “real” East. The East here is a representation through the discourse of Orientalism,
and this representation of the East appears to be the subject=subordination of the
Western view. Furthermore, to position the East opposed to the West is also an
Orientalist statement. Said, however, was not to claim that a Westerner can never
know the “real” East or that only a citizen of the East can; instead, he showed that
Western Orientalism produces a power relation of dominance and suppression through
political and economic practices.
When they achieved independence from the West, the countries of the East
sought out their subjectivities in the models of the Western nation-state (the formal
universality), and, at the same time, emphasized their non-Western originality (the
concrete peculiarity). The non-Western intellectuals found themselves faced with the
duty to establish an identity for their nations based on putative differences from the
West, and to make their own history through the mechanism of imitation of and
resistance against the West. It was in this context that the rehabilitation of Confucian
culture was suggested in countries such as Japan, Korea, China and Singapore. In the
case of Japan and China, the rehabilitation of Confucian culture receded after a while,
unlike in Korea where it still remains as one of the country’s major cultural currents.
This Eastern Confucian culture, however, can be seen as a kind of Orientalism sharing
Sinocentrism based on nationalism. The starting point of Sinocentrism is courtesy, i.e.,
the decorums of the ceremonies of coming of age, marriages, and funerals as well as
ancestor worship. In the Joseon Dynasty, courtesy was forced to an extreme degree in
order to get closer to China, the utopia where courtesy was worshipped. It is necessary
for us to discuss how to overcome Orientalism, while taking precautions against
dangerous traps such as Sinocentrism.
In Orientalism, Said analyzed how Western supremacy had been fabricated in
the names of literature, scholarly works, art and religion, and how Western supremacy,
in league with the imperialist domination, had exploited the colonized people and
imposed upon them various forms of self-abasement. Orientalism was a book of anger
toward the falsehood and hypocrisy of the Western mind, through which Said pursued
his investigations as a genuine “intellectual activist.” Though Orientalism dealt with
the invasion of Western imperialism in the Middle East, its argument can be applied to
analyze the situation in Korea, both during the Japanese colonial period and today,
where modernization, westernization, Americanization, internationalization, and
globalization have come to mean the same thing. Imperialist Japan merely imitated the
West and exploited Korea. Though it has been more than half a century since its
liberation from Japan, Korea is still haunted by the Western ghost, which is now even
more blatant, and at the same time subtler, than before.
 Since the publication of Orientalism, Said’s criticism of Western science and
art, especially of Oriental Studies, literature, fine art, architecture, and music, numerous
controversies have been raised. Said already analyzed the linkage between Western
music and imperialist power in his “Musical Elaborations,” and his perspective was
further developed by Linda Nochlin through her criticisms of Western fine art. Said’s
argument has provided a new critical perspective on the invasive and mystifying
Oriental Studies in the West, and have, most importantly, been developed by Gayatri
Spivak and Homi Bhabha into discussions of people in the Third World, of the
fabrication of “peoplehood” under colonial domination, and the contradictions and
ambiguities of colonial policies. Said’s argument in Orientalism has become the
guidepost that continuously promotes discourses which attempt to establish a new
cultural system for the world based on the diversity of the non-West, anti-authoritative
democracy, and the anti-logocentric mind.

The Environmental Problems and Movements in South Korea

Im Nakpyeong, Chairperson of the Executive Committee

Gwangju Federation of Environmental Movements
(Translated by Hyeon-ock Lee)

2. Introduction

The Nobel Peace Prize 2004 went to Ms. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan
environmental movement activist. This made an exceptional case, as the Nobel Peace
Prize has awarded those who have performed in the fields of movements for the
promotion of human rights and democracy, and for the eradication of wars and other
conflicts. Her winning of the prize can be interpreted as a message that the
environmental issue is now recognized as important as other issues like human rights
and democracy, and is a problem to be solved for the peace and welfare of the world.

Are the environmental problems being improved? Despite the Declaration of

the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, in 1972, and
the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in 1992, the environmental crisis
of the world is still continued. As the climate changes, the global warming continues to
proceed and the glacier on the polar areas is melting; the rain forest, or the so-called
“lungs of the earth,” is being decreased; the diversity of the animal species is also
decreasing. The fresh-water source is severely contaminated: many around the world
suffer from the water shortage, while the amount of toxic waste is increasing. The
developed countries, in particular, are abusing the resources and energy through their
socio-economic system of mass production and conspicuous consumption. The
development policies of the 20th century are still in operation.

South Korea has one of the worst environmental and ecological conditions in
the world. Since the early 1960s the country has pushed on policies for
industrialization, urbanization, rapid growth, and export drive, and has achieved a
remarkable economic growth. Behind the scenes of this rapid economic growth, the
destruction of the environment and the ecology of the country has been also proceeded
at a high speed. Korea has experienced an unprecedentedly rapid development and
growth which was accompanied with a rapid environmental destruction. Even with the
appearance of the Roh Muhyeon Administration, the old paradigm of growth and
development is still prevailed. The Roh Administration takes the economic growth as
one of the most important element for the national competitiveness in the time of
globalization and neo-liberalism (new freedom).

Environmental movement organizations in Korea have carried out their active struggle
against the Roh Administration’s development-oriented economic policies that do not
show any concern on the environment. The environmental organizations define the
current situation as an “environmental emergency” and are putting their efforts together
to change the Roh Administration’s policies. It is not quite clear how the government
will respond to the recent activities and demands of these environmental organizations.

The history of the environmental movement in Korea is not long. It can be said to have
started in the late 1980s. The major environmental organizations were formed
spontaneously in the early 1990s, are still in operation. Before the 1990s, the Korean
society concentrated all its efforts to drive away the authoritative military dictatorships
and establish democracy. The social movements throughout the 1990s have come to
fruition in realizing democracy in South Korea. The environmental movement in Korea
started to root slowly in this social context.
 2. The Environmental Problems in South Korea

South Korea is a country of 100.00㎢, 65% of which consists of mountains, 47 million

population, four distinctive seasons, and of a rainfall of 1400~1500mm per year. The
country has the world’s fourth highest density of population. Owing to the high
manpower and the consistent economic development, the country has become the
eleventh largest economic power with a GNP of more than US$10,000 per person. The
imports and exports of South Korea have increased considerably: the country imports
the fifth largest amount of petroleum in the world; its car manufacturing industry and
the pelagic fishery also rank the fifth in the world. South Korea ranks the seventh in the
world in terms of the number of nuclear plants, with 20 of them. As the result of the
industrialization, more than 85% of the population in South Korea is living in cities. In
the early 1960s, the country was a poor agriculture-oriented country, with a GNP of
US$ 200 per person, the amount of export less than 100 million US dollars, about
30,000 automobiles, and around 85% of the population living in the farming and fishing
communities. It, however, has achieved the economic growth at the rate of 5% per year,
and transformed itself into a urbanized industrial country.

Due to this economic growth, the country was able to overcome the poverty and
is now enjoying the wealth and convenience to certain degrees. Housing is provided to
more than 90% of the urban households and more than 13 million cars are supplied (1
car per 3.6 persons). Korean companies have advanced into more than 170 countries
across the world, and the number of South Koreans who travel abroad has also
consistently increased.

In order to understand the environmental problems in Korea, one should first

understand the economic growth and the development policies of the country. The
growth-oriented policies of the country were not concerned with the importance of the
environment and the ecology in the past. Their only interest was growth and
development. The dictatorships for 30 years since the 1960s truly suit their nickname,
‘development dictatorship.’ Those dictatorial authorities took any environmental
questioning as a challenge against their system and oppressed it. The governmental
policies, which could not last long, made indiscreet developments prevalent. The
general public also followed the governmental policies unconsciously as the
development could offer chances of employment to them, thus, chances to overcome the
poverty.

As the result of the development-oriented policies, the following environmental

and ecological problems have been caused in South Korea:

First, the injudicious land development was carried out consistently through
those projects to build cities, industrial parks, those resorts with golf links, various roads
and harbors. The abusive development and further exploitation of the land have
resulted in fundamental transformations in the ecological environment of the country. A
considerable portion of the land was submitted to meet the goals of development and
growth, and, consequently, the ecosystems of the forests and the foreshores have been
destroyed easily.

Second, the mass production and the mass consumption have become a part of
the daily life in South Korea. The development and growth-oriented policies changed
the South Korean production-consumption structure at one stroke. In other words, the
successful economic growth was made possible at the cost of different natural
resources, water resources and energy resources. In the case of petroleum, South Korea
is the fifth largest importing country in the world, and it comes to the ninth in terms of
the total exhaust amount of the greenhouse gases. In the case of wood, South Korea is
the second largest importing country in the world, following Japan. The process of the
mass production and the mass consumption has brought out diverse and complex
ecological and environmental problems.

Third, due to the consistent urbanization and industrialization, every city has
certain problems of environmental pollution. The overgrowth of the Capital area is
indeed a serious problem that South Korea is confronted with. South Korea might be
the only country where about 47% of the entire population is concentrated in the Capital
area, as well as all the structures and functions of the political, economic, social,
cultural, and educational fields. It is quite a natural phenomenon that all the cities in the
area are suffering from the traffic-related pollutions such as the air pollution, the lack of
greens, and the difficulties of securing safe drinking water and hygienic refuse disposal
system. The industrial parks in South Korea are also confronted with the air pollution
and the toxic wastewater and other toxic waste matters.
 Fourth, although it is one of the biggest energy-consuming countries in the
world, South Korea has not put out enough efforts to prevent the climate change. The
country is exhausting the ninth largest amount of greenhouse gases in the world. The
overconsumption of fossil energy means the mass exhaust of the air pollutant such as
greenhouse gases. Nevertheless, the country doesn’t seem to pay enough attention to
contriving the alternatives.

At last, South Korea has 20 nuclear plants and is the second country in Asia to
take the electric energy policy that is concentrated on the nuclear energy. The nuclear
plants have been producing a huge amount of radioactive waste, but the country has not
secured a permanent disposal site yet. The South Korean government, however, is
building even more nuclear plants. The nuclear energy issue, especially the problems
with radioactive waste disposal sites, has been one of the biggest environmental issues
in South Korea for the last 20 years.

As they have been exposed to various environmental pollutions caused by the

abusive land development, the mass production and mass consumption structure, and
the rapid urbanization and industrialization, the people in South Korea are now
increasingly demanding safe drinking water, pollution-free food, and clean air for their
healthy life.

The South Korea government, nonetheless, has stated its will to revive the
South Korean economy and is enforcing large-scaled development projects: the
Saemangeum reclamation project which destroys the foreshore mud-field, the
construction of the radioactive waste disposal site which is conditioned with further
construction of nuclear plants, the construction of roads which destroys the forest
ecosystem, and the construction of large-scaled dams to secure more water resource.
The government will also accelerate the development of the Capital area, the
construction of hundreds of new golf links which will damage the forest ecosystem, and
the construction of tens of tourist and resort towns.

Both the central government and the local self-governing bodies have special
sectors concerning the environmental problems and execute a considerable portion of
their budget. The government seems to emphasize the harmony among man,
environment, and development and says that it will carry out policies for the
‘sustainable development’ as adopted at the UN conference; however, its actual policies
still aim at the economic growth and development. The South Korean government is
carrying out the so-called “end of pipe” administration, i.e., the ex post facto measures,
instead of planning the preventive measures in advance. The environmental policies of
the government cannot control huge development projects. It is, thus, very likely that
the environmental problems that our generation is experiencing now will be continued
in the future, as the development-oriented policies will have seriously bad influences on
the environment and the ecosystem. For this reason, the environmental organizations
are required to carry out their struggle for a better environment.

3. The South Korean Environment Movement Against the Development

Dictatorship

Since last November, the environmental organizations in South Korea have

been displaying their struggle against the development-oriented policies of the
government, through certain extreme activities such as a sit-down strike in the middle of
the street of Seoul and a hunger strike. Major organizations both from the Capital area
and the local areas are putting collective efforts to achieve their goals.

The major claim of the environmental movement organizations is the

withdrawal of the large-scale development plans that will certainly destroy the
environment. They claim that the government should stop the above-mentioned
projects: the Saemangeum reclamation project, the energy policy dependent on the
nuclear energy, the construction of roads, golf links, and leisure towns that will further
the environmental destruction. The environmental movement organizations are
demanding the government to reinforce the regulations and restrictions to preserve the
environment, and abandon the development-oriented policies.

The history of the environment movement is not long in South Korea. It was
only in the early 1960s that the country started its full-out development, and the
environment movement came to the front only in the late 1980s. Under the military
dictatorship since the 1960s, the authoritative system didn’t allow any questioning, let
alone opposing, on its policies for economic growth and development. With its great
power behind, the dictatorship pushed its development policy. One-directional
development, the development propelled with the power and authority—this was the so-
called development dictatorship.
 The major task of the society was to expel the dictatorial authority and realize
democracy in South Korea. The environmental problems could not attract enough
attention as a major social issue. The environmental organizations started to be formed
themselves only when the political society became democratized in the late 1980s. The
general public also started to claim for their environmental right as their basic right. It
was because they were faced with severe environmental problems. Before and after
1990, several cases of large-scaled water contamination were reported one by one. The
mass media headlined the cases, and drew the general public’s attention in the
environmental problems.

By the time of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in 1992,

the environmental issues had drawn much attention from the international society.
Korea was not exceptional and its nongovernmental organizations sought for the
international solidarity to deal with environmental problems at the global level. With
the vision of the “Environmentally Sound and Sustainable Development” which was
agreed upon at the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development Conference,
the organizations started to put on the breaks on the development-oriented policies.

At the moment, more than 500 environmental organizations are displaying their
activities in every corner of the country, forming a nationwide network. The
organizations have expanded at high speed since the early 1990s when there were only
tens of the organizations. In the case of the organization that I belong to, it started with
1 central unit and 7 local units in the early 1990s, but now has 53 local units. Through
this case can be observed a phase of the environmental movements in Korea. Each
environmental movement organization has members and is run with the members’
financial support. They have been coping with diverse environmental and ecological
problems, and different organizations have got together and displayed collective
activities, faced with important environmental issues. The followings are some of the
major examples of the environment movements in South Korea.

First, the struggle against the construction of the nuclear plant and the
radioactive waste disposal site, i.e., the struggle against the nuclear energy can be
mentioned. Since the late 1980s, the environment movement organizations have been
demanding the government to change its energy policy which is very dependent on the
nuclear power. They have also opposed to the construction of the radioactive waste
disposal site premised on further constructions of the nuclear plant. Nevertheless,
including the first nuclear plant built in 1978, altogether 20 nuclear plants are in
operation at the moment, producing a tremendous amount of waste every year. Because
of the organizations’ struggle against the construction of the radioactive waste disposal
site, the government have not been able to select the building site yet. The issue of the
nuclear plant and the radioactive waste disposal site is and will be one of the biggest
environmental issues.

Second, the save-the-energy campaign and the movement to introduce the

renewable energy have been continued. South Korea is the 5th largest petroleum-
importing country, and it exhausts the 9th largest amount of greenhouse gases in the
world. Diverse actions have been taken to change this ‘environment-destructive energy
policy’ into the ‘sustainable energy policy’. Movements to introduce the renewable
energy, such as the solar energy, the wind force, the heat of the earth, and the hydrogen
energy, have been continuously carried out. Faced with the crisis that the fossil energy
will be exhausted at the end of the 21st century, the world should search for an
alternative energy that can substitute the fossil and the nuclear energy.

Third, there have been consistent movements to protect and preserve the mud
flats on the foreshore. The Saemangum preservation movement carried out since the
late 1990s makes a good example of the struggle against the one-sided development
policy of the government. The western and southern coastlines of South Korea one of
the four major mud flats in the world. The mud flats, however, have been considerably
reduced due to the reclamation projects of the government since the 1960s. Most of the
reclaimed lands have been turned into farmlands, industrial lands, or cities. As the
environmental and ecological values and importance of mud flats are recognized, the
environment movement organizations in South Korea started to prevent any more
reclamation. Mud flats are rarely found around the world, and they provide us with a
variety of species and marine resources, provide the nature with a purifying system, and
provide water birds with a habitat.

Fourth, the environmental organizations have also carried out the movements
against dam constructions and the river-reviving campaigns. Due to the different
development projects such as building cities, industrial parks and farmlands, the amount
of water consumed has increased rapidly. To ensure the supply for the daily water
consumption, the industrial water and the agricultural water, the government has built
dams up the rivers. Consequently, the amount of waste water increased, and the
construction of dams resulted not only in the water contamination but also in the
destruction of the ecosystem of rivers. Indeed, several cases of the contaminated tap
water and rivers have drawn much attention from the society. Recognizing the
environmental crises caused by the dam construction, the environment organizations
have been displaying campaigns against the dam construction, and for the preservation
of the ecosystem of rivers.

Outside the above-mentioned movements and campaigns, the environment

organizations have been coping with the environmental problems through campaigns to
reduce and recycle wastes, to encourage the Green Consumption and the Green
Transport, and to build the green city or the ecological polis. The organizations have
been carrying out diverse publicity activities and education programs. There have been
also very active international solidarity activities in the field of the environment
movement.

4. For the ‘Sustainable’ Future

The 21st century is said to be the century of environment. In this expression is

implied that the 20th century was a century of environmental destruction, and the 21st
century should be a century to get over the environmental destruction. It is also implied
that we, the human beings, will have the future only when we overcome the
environmental crisis.
Many environmentalists have been warning us that if the environmental
destruction is continued at the current speed, the future of the world will be quite dark.
This can be easily demonstrated with the global warming phenomenon. If the global
warming is continued, the unusual changes of the climate will be also continued and the
damages from draught, flood, and typhoons will be accelerated. The glacier on the
polar areas will melt, causing the rise of the sea level. This, at the end, will have a
direct influence on the agricultural activities.

We should overcome the environmental crisis. Then, how should we cope with
it? This is a very difficult task. The UN is recommending every country to aim to build
an environmentally sound and sustainable society, as the destructive development
policies of the 20th century should not be continued. Nonetheless, most developed
countries including South Korea are still carrying out the ‘unsustainable’ development
policies which give priority to the accumulation of the national wealth. In the case of
South Korea, the ‘unsustainable’ development policies can be observed in its land uses,
the energy policy, and the economic growth policy. South Korea, in a word, will
continue to sacrifice its environment and ecosystem for its economy. This will be the
same in the countries in the Third World.

The environment organizations, however, are making sure that they will
continue to carry out movements to overcome the environmental crisis and to build the
‘sustainable’ future. One of their major efforts is to carry out the struggle against the
South Korean government. The ‘unsustainable’ development policy, if continued, will
further the environmental destruction, and eventually kill off the life on the earth. The
environmental destruction is the life destruction, which results in the deprivation of our
basic right. To secure a safe and peaceful ground of life for our generation and the next
generation, i.e., to secure ‘our sustainable future’, the environment movement should be
carried on.

The Korean Student Movement: Major Cases and Their Characteristics

Hogi Jeong
Honam Culture Research Center, Chonnam National Unviersity
(Translated by Hyeon-ock Lee)

I. Introduction: the Context and the Goals of the Lecture

The Korean student movement first appeared in the Japanese colonial period,
and has taken important roles in the social movements in Korea in times of disorder and
rapid change. The student movement has contributed to the democratization of South
Korea, especially through the following social movements: the April Uprising in 1960,
the struggle against the “June 3rd ROK-Japan Talk” in 1963, the Buma Uprising in 1979,
the May 18 Uprising in 1980, the June Uprising and the struggle for the realization of
the August 15th South-North Korean Students Meeting in 1987, the reunification
movement in 1989, and the May Struggle in 1991.
The student movement was not limited in the democratization movement in the
politics, but closely related to every social movement in the fields of labor movements,
peasant movements, movements for the poor, and educational movements. The student
movement activists participated in each field: one of the most frequent modes of their
participation was the so-called “site entering,” i.e., for them to get a job in the actual
working sites of the laborers. The government defined this “site entering” as a
disguised employment and suppressed it. Having moved into various fields and leading
the social movements, the participants of the past student movements are now
contributing to the development of the democracy and human rights in the Korean
society.
This lecture will introduce some of the major Korean student movements and
their contexts, focusing on their goals, activities, and sufferings. It will introduce the
student movements largely in two perspectives: first, through the major cases of student
organizations, and, second, the major cases of meetings and demonstrations occurred in
the process of the student movements in Korea.
The lecture will give a lot of space to the student movement in the 1980s when the
democratization movement was very active in South Korea.

II. Cases of student Organizations

1. The Case of The National League of Democratic Youths and Students (April 3,
1974)

● The Context
With the appearance of the Yushin System that denied even the perfunctory
democracy, the elated social movements became depressed in the early 1970s. The Park
Junghee Administration invoked the garrison decree, as the struggle against the military
training at school spread in 1971. The Park Administration took a strong measure: it
stationed the army in educational institutions, took 1,889 students to the police station,
and arrested 119 of them. As the Yushin System appeared after the leadership of the
student movement was arrested on a large scale and pressed to the army, the student
movement stopped taking overt actions. As observed in the case of “the NH Society” of
Korea University, also known as the “Minuji” case, in June, 1973, the case of “the
Black October Group,” or the case of “Hamseongji (cries)” of Chonnam National
University, the student movement in this period hoarded up its ability and conducted its
struggle through underground print materials.
The Park Administration, however, came to face with high criticism both from
the inside and the outside of the country due to “the Kim Daejung kidnapping case” in
August, 1974, and the raised antipathy against the Yushin System. The first
demonstration against the Yushin System took place on October 2nd, 1974, led by the
students at Seoul National University. With this demonstration, the student movement
renovated its stagnant atmosphere and reassured its leadership in social movements.
After the demonstration at Seoul National University, the anti-Yushin System
demonstrations spread not only through different universities and high schools around
the country but also through the societies of religion, journalism, and outside the public
office. This nationwide struggle resulted in “the Million Signature-Collecting
Campaign for the Petition for the Constitutional Amendment.”
The Park Administration took a very firm line on this people’s movement,
declaring the Emergency Measure No. 1 and No. 2 which said that no discussion on the
constitution would be allowed and that those who violate this measure will be brought
to the emergency court-martial and punished without the warrant of a judicial officer.
At the same time, the Park Administration fostered an intense social atmosphere,
purging the public officers (reprimanding 627 public officers including the then deputy
prime minister), controlling the press media, and holding a nationwide anti-communist
demonstration in the cause of the return of the fishing boat captured by the North
Korean marine while working in the Yellow Sea.
As the antipathy against the Yushin System grew intense despite this
suppressive atmosphere, the Park Administration invoked the Emergency Measure No.
4 on April 3rd, 1974, claiming that the National League of Democratic Youths and
Students tried to upset the government instigated by North Korea. The Emergency
Measure No. 4 was an oppressive action that allowed the government to sentence the
death penalty to those who participated in the demonstrations against it or criticized it,
as well as the members of the National League of the Democratic Youths and Students,
and to close down its violator’s school.

● The Outline
At the beginning of 1974, the student movement searched for a new direction
in their activities faced with the unprecedented iron-fisted rule in the form of the
Emergency Measure No.1 and No.2. With the recognition that their struggle against the
Yushin System could not have its effect through scattered, individual demonstrations at
different universities, the leadership of the student movement centering around Seoul
National University tried to form a nationwide, united organization for their struggle,
i.e., the National League of Democratic Youths and Students.
The leadership consisted of the senior student group that led earlier struggles
against the constitutional amendment for the third term of a president in 1969 and
against the military training at school in 1971, and the junior student group that
organized the demonstration at Seoul National University in October, 1973. The
leadership tried to build a network among different universities and regions, as well as
constant ties with the opposition personages and the religious figures. The plan,
however, was detected by the authority, and the members of the leadership were chased
and arrested by the investigation agencies. Consequently, the united demonstration
planned for April 3rd, 1974, turned out small-sized scattered demonstrations at different
universities. Altogether 169 persons concerned with the case of the National League of
Democratic Youths and Students had been arrested until the end of November, 1974.

● The Characteristics
The case of the National League of Democratic Youths and Students that
resisted against the Park Junghee Administration under the slogan of “Overthrow the
Yushin System,” has its significance in the history of the Korean student movement in
several ways. First, the progressive student activists formed through the case of the
National League of Democratic Youths and Students came to constitute the middle
leadership of the democratization struggle since the mid 1970s. A considerable number
of participants in the National League of Democratic Youths and Students supplemented
the personnel for the social movements, devoting their lives in the democratization
movement after their release from confinement, as well as connected each social
movement in different fields in an organic way.
Second, through the National League of Democratic Youths and Students was
tried, though elementary, a nationwide organization and task allotment through linking
different university and regional organizations. The leadership of the National League
of Democratic Youths and Students prepared for a nationwide demonstration following
the so-called “3.3.3 principle.” They tried to link different colleges of Seoul National
University with the first three axes of the organization: the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences, the College of Law, and the Commercial College. They, then, tried to build a
network among different universities in the Seoul area with the second three axes: Seoul
National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University. The nationwide
organization was to be completed with the linkage among the third axes: Seoul National
University, Kyungpook National University, and Chonnam National University. The
leadership also tried build a network that include high school students and the
personages in the religious world.
Third, to evaluate the level of the social consciousness of the leadership based
on the “Declaration for People, Nation, and Democracy” distributed under the name of
the National League of Democratic Youths and Students, the characteristics of their
management system and plans for social reformation seem to have much to be desired.
Their line of struggle, however, became the guide post for the Korean society, being
further developed especially in the mid 1980s.

2. The Case of the University Student Union Presidents Taken to the Police
Station (May 17, 1980)

● The Context
Street demonstrations by university students and emergency declarations by
professors were spreading throughout the nation. The more intense the people’s
demand for democratization became, the worse the governmental suppression became.
The country was still under the martial law proclaimed at 4 p.m. on October 27, 1979,
after the death of the former president, Park Junghee. The presidents of the student
unions at 23 universities around the nation agreed upon holding nonviolent intramural
demonstrations until further notice, and announced their statement demanding the
withdrawal of the martial law. On May 14th, altogether 27 presidents of the university
student unions resolved to hold street demonstrations, and around 100,000 students
from 34 universities around the country participated in the street demonstrations. On
May 15th, the street demonstrations of university students reached its climax, including
the one in the square in front of the Seoul Station where more than 100,000 students
gathered and demanded the withdrawal of the martial law.

● The Outline
After the nationwide street demonstration on May 15th, 95 representatives from
55 universities around the country gathered together at Ehwa Women’s University and
held the first meeting of the university student union presidents from 5:30 p.m. on May
16th. They decided to stop all demonstrations both on the campus and in the street
temporarily, and were discussing their future measures, when hundreds of the policemen
made a raid on the campus and arrested 18 members of the leadership.
At midnight on May 17th, the martial law was expanded and airborne units
marched into different universities. The students at school were taken to the police
station indiscriminately, and agents from the joint investigation headquarters went to the
houses of the student union leaders and of the students who returned from the army, and
arrested them at discretion. More than 200 students from about 38 universities around
the country were either taken to the police station or arrested around May 17th.

● The Characteristics
The leadership of the student movement decided to stop the street
demonstrations that had been held for several days in a large scale, so that they would
not give the cause for the military authorities to expand the martial law. The new
military authorities expanded the martial law when the students’ demonstrations were in
a state of lull, and oppressed the leadership of the student movement who formed the
core of the demonstration for the withdrawal of the martial law and democratization.
The new military authorities tried to shut out the resistance against the expansion of the
martial law in advance, by separating the student movement from the people.
The leadership of the student union of Chonnam National University hid
themselves at the news that the leadership of each university student union had been
taken to the police station. Around 11 p.m. on May 17th, a number of young people,
students, professors, the leaders of different social movement organizations, and the
opposition personages were taken by the martial army. When the leaders of the student
union of Chonnam National University were still in refuge, the May 18 Uprising took
place. With this case, the May 18 Uprising became isolated, and the struggle to search
for the truth of the Uprising became fractured.

3. The Case of the Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation (October 17th,
1986)

● The Context
The Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation was originated in the
“Danjae’s Theory Study Group.” It was the first group of students that professed for an
ideological movement, and insisting the followings: the immediate dismantlement of the
ideology circle system which was the basic frame for the student movement in Seoul
National University, the exposition of sectarianism, the abolition of the student number
system and other vestiges of the feudalistic system in the student movement
organizations. As an alternative to the existing system, the group also suggested to
make a united organization for the student movement.
The Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation assembled the student
activists’ will that was scattered before due to the absence of a united organization,
formulating main principles and rules and organizing the group through persuading
other students. The Federation had its inaugural meeting along with more than 100
students in Room 404 of the Natural Sciences College in Seoul National University on
March 29, 1986.

● The Outline
The Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation displayed full-out activities
as “the Struggle Committee for Autonomy Against American and Democratization
Against Fascism” was inaugurated on April 10th, 1986. The Federation divided their
struggle sectors into the struggle for autonomy against America, the struggle for
democratization against Fascism, and the struggle for the promotion of the Korean
reunification, based on the NLPDR (National Liberation People’s Democracy
Revolution).
In May, 1986, the Federation carried out their movement through “the Special
Struggle Committee for May,” demanding the punishment of those responsible for the
massacre in Gwangju and the constitutional amendment for democracy. On May 21st,
they occupied the U.S. Cultural Center in Busan and staged a sit-down demonstration.
As the Federation was exposed to the intelligence service, many relevant persons were
arrested.
Under such conditions, the Federation pushed on a plan to organize a student
movement federation in order to construct and solidify the nationwide solidarity. The
Federation was dismantled practically when the Jeon Duhwan regime quelled the
founding ceremony of “the Patriotic Students Struggle Federation” held in Konkuk
University on October 28.

● The Characteristics
The Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation that created a sensation
amongst universities and in Korean society from the end of 1985 until the early 1986.
Their arguments and activities have their significance in the history of student
movement in Korea. They pointed out the U.S. as the source of the dominating power
in Korean society and argued that the ultimate reformation of the Korean society would
be possible only through the anti-America struggle. In this context, the Federation
suggested the Anti-American Save-the-Nation and Reunification Front as the main body
of the reformation. The federation has its significance in professing for an ideological
movement for the first time in Korea.
 4. The Case of the Constituent Assembly Group (May, 1986 ~ February, 1987)

● The Context
The demands for democratization through a constituent amendment raised since
the February 12th general election in 1985, brought on the political situation that the
entire country was divided into two groups, with the meeting between the governmental
and the opposition parties at the Presidential Residence on April 30th, 1986. Some
supported the constitution protection while others supported the constitutional
amendment. The social movement sector in Korea, including the student movement,
carried out their struggle to establish the constitution for unification and to abolish the
fascist constitution.
The foundation of the Promotion Committee for the Constitutional Amendment
by the New People’s Party (Shinmindang) in May, 1986, further instigated the
nationwide struggle against the dictatorship of the Jeon Duhwan regime, and led to the
“May 3rd Incheon Meeting.” As the New People’s Party participated in the “National
Assembly Special Committee for the Constitution,” the political situation of the
conservative vs. the united seemed to be formed. The Jeon Duhwan regime, however,
suppressed the social movement after the Asian Game in September, 1986, claiming that
the discussions on the constitutional amendment were breaking up the public opinion,
and made various political moves to converse the opposition parties into their system.

● The Outline
Around May, 1986, the Constituent Assembly Group asserted the establishment
of the people’s democratic constitution through convening the Constituent Assembly,
not through amending the constitution to introduce the direct presidential election
system. They insisted on convening “the People’s Assembly for the Constitution
Establishment” for their struggle. The group’s affiliated student organization, “the
Student Struggle Committee for the People and Democracy” organized “the National
Student Struggle Committee for the People and Democracy against Imperialism and
Fascism” in may, 1986. The student organization carried out activities around the Seoul
area during the summer vacation, 1986, including the sit-in demonstration at the
headquarters of the New People’s Party and the propagation in the Seongnam industrial
zone.
The Constituent Assembly Group argued that South Korea was under the
indirect rule of the imperialism as its new colony, and advocated the political
independence of the nation. They also observed that the South Korean society had
experienced a condense development of capitalism through subordinate relationship
with the powerful, and defined the Korean capitalism as the monopolistic capitalism of
a new colonial state.
The Constituent Assembly Group recognized the then situation as expecting a
revolution, thus, decided to take the preparatory tasks for the impending revolution.
One of the most important tasks was to equip the people with the consciousness as the
subject of the state power. Recognizing that the constitutional issue was not only a
matter of the “comprehensive system reformation struggle” (the struggle for all the
democratic rights), but also a “medium for the power struggle,” the group insisted on
defining the period as a “constitutional struggle period.” They argued that the
constitutional problem could be solved only through exposing the problems of the
power (i.e., the problems of the subject and the methodology in establishing the
constitution), specifically, through summoning the constituent assembly. From their
viewpoint, the New People’s Party’s proposal of the constitutional amendment for the
direct presidential election was a mere timeserving measure.
Though a great number of students were arrested related to the Constituent
Assembly Group, to limit the category to those at the core of the organization, the
number sums up to around 20.

● The Characteristics
The Constituent Assembly Group had its aims in resisting the authoritative Jeon
Duhwan Administration, and claimed to overthrow the regime, to establish a democratic
constitution, and to secure the basic rights of the people. Their activities and inclination
contributed to the expansion of the student movement into various fields of the
democratization movement in Korea, and left a great influence on late social
movements as well as the student movement.

5. The Case of the National Council of the University Student Representatives

(August, 1987 ~ March, 1993)

● The Context
Through the experience of the June Uprising in 1987, the Seoul Council of the
University Student Representatives recognized the difficulties in the qualitative and
quantitative expansion of the people’s struggle due to the lack of systematic
organization, and suggested to establish a nationwide leadership that can unite the
consciousness and practices of the struggle. In 1987, the student movement had two
factions: the National Liberation faction and the Constituent Assembly Group faction.
Those in the National Liberation faction, which formed the majority of the student
movement then, constituted local organizations, such as the Seoul Council of the
University Student Representatives, the Student Union Federation in the Honam Area,
and the Busan Student Union Council. After the June Uprising, these local
organizations contrived a national union, and pushed on the establishment of the
National Council of the University Student Representatives, centering around the
student unions of each university.
The National Council of the University Student Representatives had its
inauguration on August 19th, 1987, in Chungnam University where approximately
30,000 students gathered from 95 universities around the country. In the declaration
that the students adopted for the inauguration were included their claims for the
dictatorial military regime to resign, for the United Democratic Party (Tongilminjudang,
the opposition party) to reflect the people’s interests and demands in its political
negotiations with the government party, for the army to keep neutrality, and for the US
to stop intervening in the domestic affairs of South Korea.
With an indirect election through the representatives of the 6 regions and 19
districts in the country, the students elected Inyeong Lee (Student President of Korea
University) as the chairman, and Sangho Woo (Student President of Yeonsei University)
and three other students as the vice-chairman of the National Council of the University
Student Representatives.

● The Outline
The National Council of the University Student Representatives carried out
activities through the following struggles for autonomy, democracy, and reunification:
the fair election monitoring group during the presidential election in December, 1987;
the struggle to achieve the South-North Youths and Students’ Meeting on June 10th and
August 15th in 1988; the November struggle to liquidate the Gwangju issue and the 5 th
Republic; Im Sukyeong’s participation in the Pyeongyang commemoration in 1989;
organizing the August 15 national meeting in 1990; the struggle to commemorate and
succeed the spirit of the May 18 Uprising.
Facing the presidential election in December, 1987, those in the student
movement were divided into two factions according to their positions: those who
advocated the “critical support” to Kim Daejung, and those who advocated the
“unification of the candidate for the opposition parties.” In this context, the Constituent
Assembly Group came to participate in the National Council of the University Student
Representatives from 1988.
To highlight some of the major activities of the National Council of the
University Student Representatives until its dissolution in March, 1993:
-

III. Major Meetings and Demonstrations Related to the Student Movement

1. The April Revolution (February 28th ~ April 26th, 1960)

● The Context
The April Revolution started as the resistance against the injustice and illegal
conducts of the Lee Seungman Administration during the presidential election on March
15th, 1960. Its actual cause, however, was the explosion of the people’s anger against
the Lee Administration’s contradictory structure in general. Through the March 15
election, the Lee Administration of the 1st Republic committed unfair conducts
mobilizing all the state institutions in order to grasp the political power again. The state
power oppressed the opposition parties and terrorized the candidates of the opposition
parties and the voters even in broad daylights. The police suppressed the
demonstrations against the violence and injustice of the Lee Administration, instead of
monitoring the unfairness of the election. The political gangs, especially, such as the
anticommunist youths groups used violence all around the country and many were
victimized by them. As the result, Lee Seungman won the election with 9,663376 votes
amongst 11,196,490, and Lee Gibung became the vice-president with 8,337,597 votes.
The Democratic Party, on the other hand, won 1,843,758 votes.

● The Outline
The demonstrations to censure the unfair election started from the protest
against the Lee Administration stopping the people from participating the campaign
meeting of Jang Myeon, the vice-president candidate of the Democratic Party on
February 28th, 1960. It was high school students in the Gyeongsangbuk-do area who led
the demonstration. After the demonstration, the situation seemed to resume peace, but,
students’ demonstrations for the freedom of the schools and for

As for the ideological aspect of the student and the intellectual’s movement in the
1980s, one of the most distinctive features is the appearance of the class perspective and
the nationalist perspective. In other words, the students and the intellectuals in South
Korea took their people’s or their nation’s interests and tasks as theirs. Even in the
fields of culture, art, and academia, the national democratization was the most important
task