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Moonshine Policy of Low-Level Federation and the Potential Danger of North Korea-Dominated Korean Unification

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Moonshine Policy of Low-Level Federation and the Potential Danger of North Korea-Dominated Korean Unification Moonshine Policy of Low-level Federation and the Potential Danger of North Korea-dominated Korean Unification March 10, 2018 Tara O (Paper based on the presentation at the ICAS Winter Symposium at the Woodrow Wilson Center on February 14, 2018) Key words: Low-level Federation, Federation, Confederation, unification, South Korea, North Korea, Identity, Olympics, History, History Textbook, Constitution, Constitutional Reform, Decentralization, Subversion, Moon Jae-in Introduction While North Korea’s nuclear weapons development program consistently receives global attention, little is noticed about the internal dynamics of South Korea, except for the recent Olympics. Efforts have been underway that impact South Korea’s national identity of liberal democracy and market economy. While some see the South Korea-North Korea joint team and the flying of the unification flag at the PyeongChang Olympics Opening Ceremony as “peace,” others see it as South Korea subsuming itself under North Korea. The attempts to change the Republic of Korea’s foundation from 1948 to 1919 and misleading content in children’s history textbooks are controversial as they change the narrative that weakens the political and economic system that propelled South Korea into one of the wealthiest and free societies in the world. Most importantly, the ongoing efforts to change the constitution to put South Korea on the path to socialism and decentralization, especially as it relates to “low-level federation” with North Korea, are deeply disturbing. This change, if it occurs, could result in the end of the South-Korea-U.S. alliance and a North Korea-dominated unified Korea. PyeongChang Winter Olympics In August 2011, the International Olympics Committee announced that the 2018 Winter Olympics would be held at PyeongChang in Gangwon Province of the Republic of Korea (ROK).1 South Koreans, especially the PyeongChang residents, were ecstatic, proud,2 and worked hard to be a wonderful hosts for an international event of this magnitude. Athletes trained in 1 The last time the Republic of Korea held the Olympics was 1988 (Games of the XXIV Olympiad) in the City of Seoul. It showcased the Korean economic miracle. 2 Donald Kirk, “South Korea goes wild as PyeongChang wins bid to host 2018 Winter Olympics,” The Christian Science Monitor, July 6, 2011, https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0706/South-Korea-goes-wild- as-Pyeongchang-wins-bid-to-host-2018-Winter-Olympics-VIDEO 1 skating, ice hockey, curling, and other winter sports. Private sector companies, like Hyundai, Korean Air, and SK Telecom poured in around $800 million to $1 billion to sponsor the athletes, including ₩ 400 billion (~$370 million) during the Park Geun-hye administration and at least ₩ 400 billion more during the Moon Jae-in administration.3 For example, Lotte, CJ Jeil Jaedang, & Shinhan sponsored skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding, and alpine skiing, while Halla, LG Electronics and KB Financial sponsored ice hockey.4 Over $10 billion were spent to get ready for the PyeongChang Olympics.5 On his January 1st address, Kim Jong-un hinted at participating in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, all the while referring to South Korea as “vassal forces” implementing sanctions.6 South Korean president Moon Jae-in and his administration responded with alacrity. They have been reaching out to North Korea for some time, were spurned each time, until the January address. As such, they quickly moved to hold meetings, open a hotline, and invited North Korean delegations to South Korea. The visit by Hyon Song-wol, the singer and Samjiyon Orchestra leader, was met with much fanfare, although protesters in South Korea burnt North Korean flags and Kim Jong-un pictures.7 For Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong’s visit, Moon’s Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, a well-known figure in North Korea,8 even hosted the final evening’s dinner.9 South Korea and North Korea agreed to form a joint women’s ice hockey team, enter the Olympics Opening Ceremony together while flying the unification flag, conduct ski team 3Jeong Kyu-jae, “To those who enjoy the PyeongChang Olympics,” (평창올림픽이 즐거운 여러분에게), Jeong Kyu-jae Video Column (정규재영상칼럼), February 9, 2018, https://youtu.be/F1KEWSD6_Vk , Refer to 11:00- 13:30 for the 800 billion Won provided by these companies. Shin Uen-jin, “Even After Paying 1 billion Won, Businessmen are not in PyeongChang” (1 조 후원하고도… 기업인들은 평창에 안보인다), Chosun.com, February 10, 2018, http://m.chosun.com/news/article.amp.html?sname=news&contid=2018021000257 4 Ibid, refer to 7:58-10:05 for a list of sponsors, including KB Financial Group for short track and bobsleigh; LG Electronics for figure skating; Korean Air for speed skating; POSCO for bobsleigh and skeleton; Hana Financial for Luge; Shinsegye & KB for curling, etc. Olympics event are great venues for the sponsors to promote these companies’ products and services, but they are staying low, because they don’t want to become the next Lee Jae- yong of Samsung, who got arrested and tried for “bribery” for his company providing funds for sports and athletes. 5 “As Olympics near, South Korea agonizes over post-Games costs,” USA Today, December 14, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2017/12/14/as-olympics-near-south-korea-agonizes-over-post- games-costs/108613128/ 6 Kim Jong-un, “Kim Jong Un's 2018 New Year's Address,” English translation posted on The National Committee on North Korea, January 1, 2018, https://www.ncnk.org/node/1427 7Park Jeong-hoon, "Hyun Song-wol from North Korea arrives…Conservative Group Assembles for Kim Jung-un (Picture) Burning” (北 현송월 서울 도착... 보수단체, 김정은 화형식 집회), Sunday Paper TV (일요신문 TV), January 21, 2018, https://youtu.be/IV674SRxyC8 9 “Kim Yo-jung says ‘Hope we meet again in Pyongyang’…with Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok at the Farewell Dinner ” (김여정 "평양서 다시 만나길"...임종석 靑비서실장과 환송만찬), YTN, February 11, 2018, https://youtu.be/WvexzLeUTGw 2 practice at Masikryong Ski Resort in North Korea, hold a joint cultural event at Mount Geumgang in North Korea, and for South Korea to host North Korean athletes and support teams in South Korea.10 The Mount Geumgang event was canceled, probably due to the energy shortage in North Korea, and South Korea could not provide energy or other resources due to sanctions against North Korea because of its nuclear and missile development. The decisions above, especially the forming of one team for women’s hockey and not flying the South Korean flag during the Olympics joint team entry at the Opening Ceremony caused a backlash in South Korea, especially among those in the 20s and 30s. They felt it was unfair that the South Korean hockey team members, who have trained for years to be in the Olympics would be displaced by placing North Koreans on the team. The young identified with the unfairness of such a situation and complained. They also felt that while it is fine for North Korea to be there, why not participate as separate teams and fly respective flags? The anger of the youth is reflected in a hip hop song called “PyongChang Yugam” (Regrets for PyeongChang), which says the PyeongChang Olympics became Pyongyang Olympics.11 It includes lyrics such as “What kind of Olympics host country seeks North Korea’s approval in determining whether to fly its own flag or not?,” “You’re opening paying tribute (to North Korea),” “hard work and sweat doesn’t matter” and “is this North Korea or South Korea?”12 The younger generation is the core supporters of Moon, so their complaints caused Moon to state that he should have tried harder to convince the public. The controversy over the flag continued in protests. Those flying both the ROK and U.S. flags, protested against the NK musical performance in South Korea, which included performing not only at the Olympics, but at the National Theater in Seoul. The North Korean performance at the National Theater has a deep historic and symbolic significance. The National Theater is where the former First Lady Yuk Young-su, Park Chung-hee’s wife, was assassinated in 1974 by a pro-North Korea Chongryon (조총련) member. Park Chung-hee was president of South Korea at the time and the assassination attempt was meant to kill him, but failed. To many South Koreans, especially from the older generation who remember, North Korea performing at the National Theater was a great insult. They also protested against North Korea hijacking the Olympics and using it as propaganda. With some people supporting and some people protesting, the Olympics Opening Ceremony commenced. It was a spectacular show, with drones showcasing the technological prowess of 10 Hyung-Jim Kim, “North and South Korea agree to form first unified Olympic team” Chicago Tribune, January 17, 2018, http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/international/ct-north-korea-2018-olympics-20180117-story.html 11 Boy Bugs (벌레소년), PyeongChang Yugam (평창 유감) Regrets for PyeongChang, January 26, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqYCWLRMRfI 12For English subtitles, see Boy Bugs (벌레소년), PyeongChang Yugam (평창 유감) Regrets for PyeongChang, February 11, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx8xLo9dBvM&t=4s 3 South Korea. North Korea also took the center stage, receiving wide-spread media attention. The joint South-North team walked together with a unification flag. The North Korean cheering team waved North Korean flags in the cheering stand. The South Korean flag also eventually appeared, but only after much discussion and ire about why they were using the unification flag instead of the South Korean flag. The importance of flags to national identity cannot be understated. In the time before modern media, flags were the first visible representation of a country.
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