| The Korea Times, 04-29-2008 15:51 |
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| Truth and Reconciliation | |
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By Kim Sung-soo
Korean history in the 20th century witnessed Japanese colonialism, the division of the country between North and South, civil war and military dictatorship.
Throughout this troubled century many civilians experienced oppression and human rights abuse but in many ways the families of these victims continued to suffer.
For example, before and during the 1950-53 Korean War, more than 200,000 innocent South Korean civilians were massacred by their own police, military, anti-communist groups and even U.S. soldiers.
Yet the bereaved families, guilty by association, continued to be victimized ― they were not allowed to get decent jobs or work in the public sector, police tailed them wherever they went and their children were bullied at school.
Most of the eyewitnesses and survivors are already dead. Although even these victims' families are now quite old, memories of these human rights abuses are still fresh.
During the periods of authoritarian rule (1948-60) and military dictatorship (1961-87), there were also frequent human rights abuses in the name of national security. Dissidents, demonstrators and sometimes even innocent people were dragged away by police and tortured or murdered.
Some people simply disappeared and those who survived were either enlisted into the army or were permanently disabled after undergoing unbearable torture. It was only after Korea became democratized that it began to address this past.
The past-dealing of the Gwangju Democratization Movement (Massacre) in 1980 may be the most well-known case among them.
In the early 2000s civil society groups began a nationwide campaign to establish a body to deal with these issues.
Working alongside these human rights activists and the bereaved families, liberal lawmakers proposed a bill to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea (TRCK) to expose this hidden history of abuse of power from the time Korea was colonized by the Japanese up to the military dictatorship of the late 1980s.
After considerable debate the bill became law in May 2005 and the TRCK was launched on December 1, 2005. The TRCK is run by 15 commissioners who are appointed by the President, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court.
It is an independent governmental body, and the scope of its investigations covers the following five areas: the anti-Japanese movement during the colonial period and the history of the Korean diasporas; the massacre of civilians after 1945; human rights abuses by the state; incidents of dubious conviction and suspicious death; reinvestigation of the above categories and other incidents as determined by the Commission.
Since the government has never dealt with these kind of issues before, the TRCK has been charged with addressing some of the most sensitive and painful events in 20th century Korean history.
The TRCK's truth-finding activities are not only to settle the grievances of the individual victims, they also function as preventive measures against a recurrence of the same sort of incidents in the future.
Its goal is to prevent a distorted history leading to a distorted present and future. Korea is only country in Asia that reveals its shameful past to the public. However painful it may be, knowing the truth can help us build a better society in the future.
Human history is like a root of a tree. We cannot expect a tree to flourish if we cut its roots. Equally, we cannot dream of building a bright future while we ignore our history.
Kim Sung-soo, who has a PhD. in historical studies, works as head of the International Cooperation Team of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea (www.jinsil.go.kr/english). He was the author of ``Biography of a Korean Quaker, Ham Sok-Hon." He can be reached at wadans@empal.com. |
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2008/04/137_23295.html
