Applying the NSL to an academic conference makes you wonder if Korea's is really a democratic society. It might be worth stating yet again that the basis of democracy is freedom of thought and expression. It's worth listening to Song's final statement from the last trial, in which he said the NSL "functions as a form of self-hypnosis" for our society. "The liberal democracy they believe can be maintained through the NSL is being mercilessly damaged by that same law, a law that prevents them from seeing that very contradiction." It's the Seoul prosecution that needs to hear that more than anyone. Just the other day the same public security prosecutors applied the NSL to officials from the Association of Korean Youth Organizations, one of the better known youth movement groups, and asked the court for prison time. Meanwhile, since April's National Assembly elections the NSL has been noted as one of the most typical of malicious laws on the law books, one that should be dealt with during the 17th National Assembly.

It would also be worth considering the "doubts" Song described in his final statement. "Sometimes I have doubts about this society's capacity to reform, since it is still has yet to abolish the NSL," he said, and not because he is ignorant of the persistent campaign against it on the part of civil rights groups. The prosecution's tenacious "witch hunt" against Song is a clear reminder of the current state of Korean society. Civic groups need to get actively involved so that the National Assembly can delay abolishing the NSL no longer.

The Hankyoreh, 2 July 2004.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]