South Korea President’s Mourning

Whether to mourn or not the passing of Chairman Kim Jong-il of North Korea is a controversial issue in South Korea but the government seems have a rather flexible approach.

In 1994, the head of the opposition party Lee Bu-young suggested official mourning in regard to the death of Kim Il-sung and this caused a sensation. People were terrorised and the Kim Young-sam administration turned to the extreme right wing.

Now, 17 years passed. Two South Korean presidents had summit meetings with Chairman Kim Jong-il and the Lee Myung-bak administration showed signs of change.

The Korean government issued a statement on 20 and the Minister of Unification expressed sympathies to the people of North Korea. However, the government decided not to send mourning delegation in a situation that the Blue House officially announced its wishes of the stable North Korean regime through the spokesperson.

Why not President Lee Myung-bak himself offer his condolences? If he gives his condolences to Chairman Kim Jong-il, it will have a great meaning internationally and also historically. The whole world will be surprised again by his and the Korean people’s courage. Besides, they will break into rapturous applause.

There can be two ways. One is mourning by official statement or press conference and the other is delivering a message through Mrs Lee Hee-ho, former First Lady and Hyun Jeong-eun of Hyundai. They will be leaving for North Korea on 26 and if President Lee gives his message before their departure, it will be an example of ‘a great leader’.

Now is Christmas. President Lee himself is a Christian and he must know what Jesus had preached – forgiveness and reconciliation.

A leader’s determination and wisdom is especially required in difficult and yet critical times. Certainly, there are many things to consider for a president’s condolences such as relations with neighbouring countries. However, they are only a dependent variable.

The important thing is the inter-Korean relations, the Korean peninsula and the future of the Koreans. These independent variables are vital clues. South Korea and North Korea are the same group of people sharing the same history and culture of a few thousand years. Also the same community to share the same destiny including past, present and future. On the other hand, neighbouring countries such as the USA, China, Japan and Russia are only partners, supporters and in the end, a third party.

Courage is the most important thing. Without courage, nothing can be done. Successful leaders in history such as Admiral Lee Sun-shin, Mahatma Gandhi and An Chang-ho all risked even their own lives. What President Lee desperately needs at the moment is courage, determination and foresight. He strongly claimed the issue of comfort women at the Kyoto Summit in Japan on 18, the time Chairman Kim Jong-il had already died. The entire world is watching him if he could show that bravery again or not.