Going Home--to What?

In 1971, in South Korea’s last open presidential election, Kim Dae Jung came close to winning the popular votes that would have ended the rule of former general Park Chung Hee. The national and personal consequences of that event were sweeping. For Korea it led to an intensification of authoritarian rule. For Kim it eventually meant several near-assassinations, a kidnaping, a sedition trial on trumped-up charges, a death sentence commuted under American pressure, and eventually exile in the United States. Now Kim is preparing to return to his homeland to work, as he says, for freedom and democracy. President Chun Doo Hwan’s regime can be expected to do all that it can to thwart that work.

South Korea’s controlled press won’t be allowed to report news of Kim’s return, and Kim himself probably faces close house arrest or a return to prison. At this point it may well be that it is not so much Kim the opposition figure that the regime fears as it is the aspirations that he represents. A half-generation, after all, has passed since Kim last had the opportunity to enlist a following and test his popular support, and for the better part of that time there has been an imposed blackout in South Korea on his statements and activities. But others have carried on the painful battle for political and civil liberties. A Kim allowed to remain free could well become the rallying point for a fresh offensive in that battle.

There is always a risk when outsiders theorize about the mass appeal of liberal values in a society where governance has traditionally been personalist and authoritarian. But certainly there is no less a risk when rulers seek to stifle basic civil rights in a country that is no longer isolated but has instead become very much a part of the modern world. In exile or at home, Kim Dae Jung is a symbol of what South Korea, for all that it has achieved materially, still lacks politically. Sooner or later, and certainly sooner if it is wise, the Seoul government must agree to meet that need.