Is Democracy Imperiled in Korea?

By Jon Huer
Korea Times Columnist

It is odd even to raise the question of ``too much democracy" for Korea, as any old Korean hand knows that the problem was never too much but too little democracy.

But the idea of too much democracy came to mind when I was reading about the recent joint declaration by 120 or so professors at Seoul National University who lamented that democracy is being eroded under the present administration.

In essence, the professors declared that Korea's democracy is being imperiled by the harsh anti-democratic measures of the current government. The declaration was occasioned by the recent dramatic suicide of ex-president Roh Moo-hyun.

The question for our consideration is this: Is democracy in danger in Korea as the professors declare? My thought is exactly the opposite: There is too much democracy in Korea, resulting in chaos and disorder in a country not quite comfortable with too much democratic liberty. Just now, in its chaotic disorder and lawlessness, Korea in 2009 is all too reminiscent of Korea in 1960-61, a time of great political and social chaos under John Chang's ``liberal" administration.

The street chaos and government impotence eventually ushered in a military coup led by General Park Chung Hee in May 1961. There is no danger of a military coup in Korea today, but the chaos of society and disorder of the mind in Korea now are quite similar to those days in 1960-61.

Let's recall those days. By April 1960, the Rhee government and his Liberal Party collapsed under student protests that raged across the country. After the collapse, the hitherto-opposition group, the Democratic (Minju) Party took power. But internally weakened by factionalism and beholden to the students for their ascendancy, the Democrats were not strong enough to maintain law and order in Korea.

Indeed, the college students actually ruled Korea. They sat in the meetings at government ministries and dictated their terms to befuddled ministers and officials. They encouraged such ``liberal" self-expressions in Korea that an average of 7.5 street protests of all varieties occurred daily. Students and workers protested at the slightest provocation for any cause, and made impossible demands. Some student leaders announced they would march north and confer with the North Korean government on national issues.

The nation was so chaotic and disorderly, politically, economically and culturally, that when the military finally took over the government in May 1961, many people in Korea felt the writing had been on the wall the whole time and welcomed the coup.

Now back to 2009, the chaos and disorder, modern-day Internet-style, are once again threatening Korea with such feelings of instability and emotion that old Korea hands can easily recall those 1960-61 days.

The famed mad-cow protests had nothing to do with democracy. Neither against government tyranny (as the government had not been set up yet), nor against real health hazards (as there was no scientific proof of any kind available), the mad-cow candlelight protests, which once physically threatened the Blue House, proved to be sheer emotional outbursts and extreme mass paranoia. Thoughtful observers might say that the current Lee government was so crippled then, mentally and systematically, from this trauma that it has actually never recovered into a fully functioning government.

As a belated reaction to the threat to its own survival, and under pressure from the electorate to toughen up, the Lee administration finally began to show some measure of face-saving, by bringing charges against those disorderly destructions and civil disorders.

In spite of some of these measures, the impression of Korean society today is not one of repression or tyranny, as the SNU professors declare, but of chaos, disorder and instability, a society on the verge of another uncontrollable outburst, self-destructive disorder and madness just around the corner.

Last week on a KBS radio discussion program (June 1), one participant, while talking about the ``North Korean Crisis," blurted, ``Have we ever been really free of crises in all our modern history?"

Now, the aftermath of Roh's suicide might become another threat to Lee's already weakened government, quite reminiscent of John Chang's liberal government in 1960-61.

Roh's party is smelling blood and is hoping that this emotional event will turn into the energy and emotional source for a new ``mad-cow-like" protest movement that would, hopefully and fatally, weaken Lee's government.

As one high official said of such a potential (June 3): ``It would be a fatal mistake if they thought this would just fade away." Whether this actually happens or not, the anticipation and expectation of another street protest to threaten the sitting government do not represent a situation of not enough democracy, but too much ``democracy" of uncontrollable energy and emotion in the Korean mind.

In my 15 years in Korea, the only time I have really felt threatened by repression and chaos was during the Roh era. Roh was a man of enormous charisma. The power of his words and actions was quite capable of causing powerful reactions in Korea's emotional and tribal reservoir of energy.

During the five years of his tenure, the underlying tension for chaotic eruption, incendiary for its populist and mass appeal, was quite palpable everywhere, for both Koreans and foreigners alike.

It was as if Korea under Roh was just one step away from an anti-democratic illiberal abandonment of social order and discipline. Even in death, Roh is quite capable of creating these fascist-like reactions from Koreans who would hit the streets under any pretext. Just now, Korea reminds me of the buffalo herd that is gathering into a huge mass, and its amassed energy is ready to explode in a mad stampede. All it needs is just one well-placed emotional spark to trigger it.

By contrast, the Lee government, first crippled by the candlelight shock and then beset by the global economic meltdown, has been operating at half-strength. The general impression that Lee himself and his administration give us is one of impotence, weakness and uncertainty.

In spite of controlling the majority in the National Assembly, the ruling party is so hopelessly split internally, reminiscent of Chang's party in 1960-61 again, between Lee and Park Geun-hye, that the factionalism, one of Korea's most incurable political illnesses, makes the ruling party look like a giant corporation on the verge of bankruptcy.

Lee, quite different from Roh, is a timid political soul with little or no charisma and can command neither the ability nor personality to rally the country around him. His government drifts and floats, reacting to one crisis after another, but without energy or creativity. And his ruling party is merely squandering its majority in the National Assembly amid factionalism and a lack of direction.

It is wholly unlike the picture that threatens democracy with repression and tyranny, as the SNU professors declare.

If anything, there is too much democracy and liberty in Korea, as populism and chaos can be just as detrimental to society as repression and tyranny. For Korea, it is time to re-gather its energy and thought into a semblance of rationality and orderliness. Who knows, even before this column goes to print, there might be another mass candlelight protest in progress and Roh, after all, might be having the last laugh.

jonhuer@hotmail.com

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