hankyoreh

Han Ki-ho, a lawmaker with the ruling People Power Party, speaks during a meeting of his party’s task force on matters of national security failures held at the National Assembly building in Seoul on July 20. (pool photo)

Kim Jong-dae

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and the People Power Party (PPP) are slowly sinking deeper into the swamp of delusion.

During a meeting in the National Assembly on Wednesday, a PPP task force that seeks to investigate national security shortcomings by the previous administration made an extraordinary claim about the repatriation of two North Korean fishers who defected after killing 16 of their crewmen.

PPP lawmaker Han Ki-ho, who is head of the task force, said the Moon administration had lied about 16 people being killed, citing testimony by other defectors.

The two repatriated fishers, rather than being murderers, Han claimed, were actually guides who had been planning to help 16 people from five families from the North Korean city of Kimchaek defect to South Korea on a squid boat.

To justify the bizarre claim that the two fishers had defected on their own on the boat after North Korea’s Ministry of State Security learned about their plans, Han volunteered the information that “some members of the five families defected in advance and are currently living in South Korea.”

Han is repeating rumors that had circulated among North Korean defectors even at the time of the incident, three years ago.

However, it is rather curious how this argument, which had already been previously rejected due to its unrealistic nature and lack of veracity, is now being turned into a fact. In reality, Han’s claims could be fact-checked rather quickly.

If Han would reveal the identities of those who made these claims, namely the North Korean defectors and members of the five households he mentioned, then the South Korean media could find out the truth in as quickly as three days. So, what’s stopping him from revealing his sources?

I would like to direct a few questions to Han. If the North Korean fishers were truly “good” defectors, how could they have been framed as murderers in a joint interrogation involving five agencies at the time? Did all the agencies conspire together to make it all up? How can the conclusion be fake after these fishers were judged to be murderers through intelligence information jointly produced by South Korea and the US? And how could the Moon Jae-in administration deceive the US, which has such strong intelligence assets? I’d like to hear his response.

Denying the validity of our country’s intelligence operations and repudiating the cooperation between allies for the sake of demonizing the former administration has reached such an unbelievable point of delusion that the ruling party might need to consider seeking some professional counseling.

This is not the first time Han has made such outrageous claims. Back in 2012, Han stated that he could identify which lawmakers were “pro-North Korea” and made a reference to how, in the olden days, Catholics were identified by seeing who wouldn’t be willing to step on a cross.

Han’s words prompted public outcry at the time as he tried to push for similar tactics to be used to reveal which opposition lawmakers had switched their ideological beliefs in support of North Korea.

The behavior of the “enemies of open society,” a term used by Karl Popper to describe those who try to destabilize a democratic republic where free thought is analyzed and verified meticulously through public opinion, remains unchanged even to this day.

About a month ago, the ruling party claimed that the South Korean civil servant who was shot and killed in the West Sea two years ago was wrongly accused by the Moon government of trying to defect to the North. However, as they failed to find the necessary evidence to overturn the results of the original investigation, the focus was shifted toward the East Sea.

No matter what anyone says, it is the presidential office that is swinging between the West and East seas while enjoying a medieval-style witch hunt and obsession with finding and rooting out so-called “pro-Pyongyang” figures.

Ten days ago, Yoon’s spokesperson, Kang In-sun, said that South Korea had committed “crimes against humanity” which were “in violation of both the Constitution and international law.”

This means that Kang has now declared to the entire world that “Korea was not a democratic country.” What if, as a result of such remarks, international human rights organizations or the International Criminal Court come forward to judge our country?

Let’s say that we can handle international humiliation. But how are we to endure the darkness of an uncivilized Korea, where delusion breeds extreme criticism and triggers more political strife?

The peculiar situation of the confrontation between North and South Korea continues to take place in a vacuum of norms and standards.

Who would oppose additional reflection on a regrettable incident where a life was lost as a result of this division between North and South, which lies beyond human morals, laws and conscience?

Even I do not object to the fact that the previous administration indeed should reflect on whether there was any negligence on its part regarding the protection of human lives.

However, what the current government is doing now, demonizing a group of people and revealing its intention to rule the country through public security, points to a serious crisis of our democratic republic.

In fact, South Koreans may be deprived of democracy once more. The public virtues of the government have been lost and are in danger of being privatized by public security forces.

What is even more painful to see is the self-preservation — how the security chiefs who served under Moon Jae-in have either disappeared abroad or, if they remained in Korea, are busy trying to defend themselves.

If I think about it now, the past five years of the Moon administration, which came about as a result of the candlelight protest movement, was simply a mirage.

Why? Because the powerful ruling forces that once spoke of democracy and peace have now disappeared. Democratic Party lawmakers such as Yun Kun-young and Kim Byung-joo are struggling to resist this trend, but no main agent is ushering Korean democracy in the right direction.

If the Democratic Party keeps this up, citizens might end up carrying candles in the streets once again.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]