Give Koreans the Credit for Their Miracle

South Korea never ceases to surprise. The country that created an economic miracle out of the devastation of a bitter war has transcended 25 years of harsh repression with a stunning political miracle that has laid the foundation for a genuine democracy.

The dramatic proposals for political reform advanced last week by Roh Tae Woo, the chairman of South Korea’s ruling party, have completely transformed the political landscape of South Korea. To the amazement of his friends and foes alike, Roh recommended that President Chun Doo Hwan accept the opposition’s longstanding demand for direct presidential elections. In addition, he called on the government to release most political prisoners, remove restrictions on the press and restore the political rights of opposition leader Kim Dae Jung.

Chun’s acceptance of Roh’s recommendations has introduced a welcome tone of compromise and conciliation into Korean politics, and has paved the way for a national consensus on a new political system for South Korea. While the promise of pluralism still needs to be translated into the reality of democracy, and some hard bargaining between government and the opposition lies ahead, prospects for the establishment of a genuinely free society are very good.

South Korea’s enormous economic and educational achievements over the past generation have produced a large middle class that clearly hungered for the benefits of full political freedom. And this is why, over the course of the last few weeks, tens of thousands of Koreans took to the streets to demand that their government permit the establishment of genuine democracy.

South Korea has now begun a historic transition from dictatorship to democracy. That such a transition is in process is a tribute first and foremost to both the courage and the determination of the South Korean people, whose willingness to put their careers--and even their lives--on the line for democracy is a reflection of their commitment to the most fundamental values on which our own country was founded over two centuries ago.

It is a tribute to the courageous leadership of the Korean opposition, and especially to individuals like Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young Sam, who for years have held aloft the torch of liberty in South Korea.

It is a tribute to government leaders like Roh, who were willing, in an act of surpassing statesmanship, to put the interests of their nation ahead of their personal political interests.

And it is a tribute to an effective American diplomacy, made possible by a bipartisan consensus that the best way to solve the crisis in South Korea was through the establishment of democracy rather than by a continuation of repression. To the extent that the United States has been able to assist South Korea in its passage from dictatorship to democracy, it constitutes further proof of the fact that we are most successful abroad when we are united at home.

The consequences of this transformation from an authoritarian to a pluralistic political system are likely to be profound. For South Koreans it has now made possible the achievement of a genuine national consensus and laid the groundwork for an enduring political stability and continued economic prosperity.

Americans as well will benefit from this historic transition to democracy. The nature of the political system in Seoul is, after all, a matter of much more than purely academic interest to the United States. South Korea is a country in which we have a significant strategic interest, manifested by the presence of 40,000 American troops south of the 38th parallel.

A continuation of the political turmoil in South Korea could have tempted Kim Il Sung, the dictatorial ruler of North Korea, to launch a new war of aggression in an effort to reunify Korea under communist control. Any such attempt would inevitably and instantaneously involve the United States in another war on the Korean peninsula. With the emergence of a genuine democracy, however, political stability is likely to prevail and the prospects of an armed conflict between the two Koreas will thereby be diminished.

The significance of what has happened in South Korea extends far beyond the Korean peninsula. Like the victory of “People Power” in the Philippines a year and a half ago, the establishment of democracy in South Korea has demonstrated that peaceful political change is possible even in countries ruled by repressive regimes, and that armed revolt or supine acquiescence is not the only possible response to tyranny.

Just as the people of South Korea took heart from the triumph over tyranny in the Philippines, the peaceful establishment of democracy in South Korea will undoubtedly encourage and embolden men and women in other countries that are not yet free to renew their own efforts to bring down the dictatorships under which they suffer.

Democracy is once more on the march around the world. The brave people of South Korea have achieved one of the most notable victories in the long history of man’s struggle to be free.