North Korea Unknown to the World

 

North Korea blocked the border as soon as COVID-19 appeared in February 2020. And two years are approaching. So begins an article in the Catholic Peace Weekly by a member of a University Research Team.
 
Something unprecedented in history is happening. Therefore, some diagnose that the North Korean economy is at its worse. North Korea-China trade, which has been regarded as the lifeline of the North Korean economy, is predicted to fall below the record low of $200 million this year. Trade is carried out at sea under strict quarantine guidelines. Most of the human traffic was suspended due to the blockade. The National Intelligence Service announced that there was a shortage of essential medicines in North Korea and that water-borne infectious diseases such as typhoid were spreading.
 
This situation was also confirmed by North Korea's supreme leader, Chairman Kim Jong-un. In a speech at the National Veterans Conference held in July, he said: "The unprecedented global health crisis and the difficulties caused by the long-term blockade are a turning point, comparable to that of war." He admitted that it was the most severe period since the founding of the country.
 
In the blockade situation, Chairman Kim seems to have paid the most attention to solving the problem of hunger. According to the National Intelligence Service's National Assembly report, he said: "It feels like walking on thin ice. To secure even one more single grain all of us who eat rice should go together in rural support." To overcome the food shortage, the army mobilized the entire population and completed the rice harvest around October 20 earlier than usual. Fortunately, this year's overall food crop is expected to exceed last year's level due to increased sunlight hours. This has given them some space to breathe.
 
Corona 19 is acting as a huge challenge for the Kim Jong-un regime today. One problem is that North Korea is one of two countries that have not started the vaccine program among the citizens. The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that North Korea and Eritrea are the only countries that have not started vaccination against COVID-19. This means that unless North Korea starts vaccination as soon as possible and increases the rate, it will not be able to contain the spread of the coronavirus, so it will not be easy to ease the lock-down for a long time to come. 

Some predict that North Korea will soon open an overland route between North Korea and China as the internal hardship and economic difficulties intensify. However, if you open the border clumsily and allow goods and people to come and go in a situation where vaccination has not even started, you can expect an out-of-control spread of COVID-19. So, while other countries are moving toward a step-by-step recovery of daily life, with Corona, North Korea is not slowing down the reins of emergency quarantine.  
 
It is noteworthy that North Korea does not appear to be as nervous about the situation as we think. Rather, it justifies border closures. "The current situation of complete lock-down is a golden opportunity to maximize our internal strength and power based on our technology, raw materials, and resources"— the words of a labor newspaper. They view the situation as an opportunity to reduce dependence on imports, which are prevalent in North Korea, and to strengthen self-reliance and internal capabilities. Of course, it is not easy to say what the outcome of the Kim Jong-un regime's efforts will be. What is clear is that we are dealing with a new North Korea, we have never experienced before.

Let's Live As We Should

 It is the season of politics. With more than 100 days left before the presidential election, what can the Korean people expect from new leaders and governments? A former politician gives his ideas in his Remembrance of the Past column in the Catholic Peace Weekly. 

When any leader rises to a responsible position, he is bound to reaffirm his determination to do his best for the country and the people. At least that level of initial commitment can be expected by the people. The problem is words and actions of the candidates before the election day will often depress and disappoint. 

This is because it is easier to attack and criticize the other candidates than to highlight one's own position. It is also undeniable that the so-called negative election strategy has been accepted by the voters. Most of the time what I do it's OK but when the other does it, it's not OK — blaming others without acknowledging our mistakes. The avoidance of this attitude is a mark of a good leader. 

In particular, one of the reasons people are disappointed with politicians during election time is irresponsible behavior and harsh talk. He remembers a person who resigned in the middle of running for president a long time ago explaining the background to journalists. In the election, he had no choice but to brag about himself and criticize his opponent, he was not confident of doing well in either. In the end, he said he could survive in the political world only when he was generous to himself and infinitely harsh to the other person.

Similar things happen during elections in so-called politically advanced countries, only a difference in degree. The wisdom of the electorate is shown by their choices. 

When the writer was a member of the National Assembly, he participated in The Movement for Unity in Politics (Mppu), an international workshop for shared politics sponsored by the Focolare Movement and established the "Right Political Language Award" every year for his fellow lawmakers. Professors and college students reviewed and evaluated all the official remarks of each lawmaker. It was an event that started with the idea that every word of responsible politicians was a strict assessment of politics. Furthermore, it was intended to refine the political language and create a decent political culture.

 

At the same time, religious leaders participated in the National Assembly's "Let's Live As We Should" campaign. Of course, the main targets were politicians who most frustrated the people, but they were messages aimed at all leaders in our society. In short, it was also the result of deploring the reality that those in responsible positions are not doing their part.

The habit of "blaming others" is to avoid one's responsibility. On the contrary, the idea of "thanks to you" is an attitude of gratitude to the other person. It is unreasonable to expect this attitude towards the other party ahead of the election. However, a candidate who is accustomed to blaming others can never give hope to people.

All candidates are appealing to the citizens for votes, seeing them beyond conservative and progressive. Possible when you do "addition" politics, not "deduction" politics. The people hope that a leader will be one who does not exclude but will lead the whole country. 

He wants to see a candidate who can shout "Mea Culpa" when decisions were wrongly made singly or with others. 

Even if it is due to a bad relationship, it is the responsible leader's attitude to admit the mistake if he was involved. Bad relationships do happen. And if the results of the relationship cannot be accepted, this needs to be made known.

 

Left or Right Let's Not Hate

 

In the Eyes of the Believer column of the Catholic Times a lawyer writes how one early morning he received a message in KakaoTalk (similar to Skype) in which two politicians of the ruling party, were singled out as communists, sent by someone unknown. It was a chat room he was dragged into by a friend.
 
There was a notice from the operator of the site not to post political or religious issues. In politics and religion, we have different opinions, so it's difficult to have a conversation. It's essential to respect differences if we are to maintain contact with one another.

In the beginning, God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Before there was light, there was just chaos? God? Then there was light, and there was darkness—'difference' started. Since 'differences' have arisen from the one God, this world is the unfolding of 'differences'. All things, including human beings, are different. Human concepts, language, thoughts, hearts are derived from this 'comparison of differences'.That's right. We are all 'different' from the 'one' we have come from. 

God is the one beyond these differences. Transcending differences means 'love'.  God is love. Love is God Himself who transcends differences in this world, we have the unfolding of differences and to overcome them we need to return to God in love.

Recently, the lawyer defended in a new trial a case of a Korean resident in Japan. A native of Jeju Island, he went to Japan during the Japanese colonial period to run his business and saved quite a bit of money. After liberation, he was about to return to his hometown, but when tens of thousands of people died unjustly due to the Jeju 4·3 incident, he remained in Osaka. He saw the persecution and hardships the Koreans in Japan faced in their daily life and worked hard to help. He devoted himself to the education of Korean children in Japan using his personal wealth.

The pro-Pyongyang federation of Korean residents in Japan was doing the same kind of work so they naturally joined forces. However, in time he was very disappointed to see the pro-Pyongyang group gradually fall into organizational selfishness as they gained trust among Koreans. He left them and returned to Korea to focus on his business.

However, National Security under Chun Doo-hwan's administration tortured him when he returned, claiming he was doing business in South Korea under the orders of North Korea, and ultimately sentenced him to death. Since there was nothing that could clearly be seen as an act of espionage, he was acquitted in this retrial. At the time of the first trial, although he escaped the death penalty, he passed away after spending several decades in prison, and since his family and relatives were also accused of being spies, the family bond was destroyed.

Last month, he attended a discussion about the National Security Act. It is right that those who harm the peace and order of the country or society are punished for rebellion, foreign exchange issues, espionage, and organized criminal groups, and the like. However, the National Security Act punishes people with ideas or interests even when they do not harm others, saying that they are sympathizing with the enemy. And promoting hatred is not just a matter of the National Security Law. Even if the law is repealed, another law or system will take the place of the National Security Law as long as we do not acknowledge our differences and refuse to hate each other. In fact, these days, the media amplifies hatred in our society several times over that of the National Security Act.

The KakaoTalk that came to him this morning was also hatred for someone different from himself. During the discussion, the moderator asked how this law could be repealed. He answered: "Let’s not hate those who demonstrate with candles and those with the national flag." (Liberals and Conservatives)
 

That's right. Jesus said that although we are different, we are all children of God. The Buddhists say the same thing with different words. Saint or sinner, rich or beggar, stupid or smart, red or blue, each one of them is different but in need of our love.
 

Why? All those with these differences have come from God and are meant to return to him. [It's love that can bring about change]

No Man Is An Island

 

A professor emeritus of Chemical Biological Engineering gives the readers of the Kyeongyang magazine his ideas on the importance of relationships.

 In education, he knew many in the field and the words he heard often: "students' marks are good but the capability is low". Besides grades other elements are needed.

Why is this the case? Justus von Liebig (German scientist who made a great contribution to agriculture with his 'law of the minimum'. (If one of the essential plant nutrients is missing, plant growth will be poor even when the other essential nutrients are in abundance).

This is the same when it comes to capability. An intelligent quotient may be high with many special qualities but if relations with others are poor capability will suffer. Here is a need to add the emotional and spiritual quotient to the intellectual.

Relation-Ship can be compared to traveling on a ship together. Sea-sickness comes from living together with others. Even the smallest storm that is experienced if not overcome, will not allow one to head out to sea. But with the power of the will, we can overcome the difficulty.

The Anglican priest John Donne wrote in the poem: For Whom Does the Bell toll, the line that No man is an island.

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Every man is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

.....

Any man's death diminishes me,

Because I am involved in mankind.

.....

We are all part of the continent. The death of another has a connection with me. With the worldwide social media and internet, we can readily understand this new reality. We are all connected but we are not all communicating or relating, there is no contact.

In our world, information is not what is most important but our relationship with others— but before we think of the world-family let us go to our own families. When we come to the dinner table do we come with the hand phone? Even pope Francis has mentioned we should put our hand-phones away when we come down to the dinner table.

The essence of the Scripture is the love of God and neighbor. That is our mission to love God and neighbor. It is in this relationship with others that we find out who we are. 

This is necessary for traveling on the ship of life. The compass will give us direction, for the Christian, the Scriptures.

We are made up of trillions of cells. The process of growing an egg and sperm from a single cell into an organism with such an organic and unified life is still an area that cannot be fully explained scientifically. Cells, which were initially identical, soon differentiate into different organ tissues. Cells with strong vitality before differentiation are called stem cells. Stem cells do their own thing while constantly interacting organically with neighboring cells and the surrounding environment without errors to form a unity.

Stem cells have the same 3 billion sequencing genomes but express only a small portion of the information to play a necessary role at the required site.

In addition, while making the necessary proteins, each cell is differentiated to live well so it can do its job. How wonderful this is! For example, if a stem cell is injected into a damaged heart, the stem cell becomes a heart cell. By injecting stem cells around brain cells with Parkinson's disease or dementia, they can grow into new cells. So stem cells give hope for the repair of organs of the body. It will soon revolutionize future medicine. Of course, obtaining stem cells from embryos poses ethical issues, but obtaining them from somatic cells avoids this problem.

Our students dream of college and a number of them are planning for masters and doctorate degrees, he wants all of them to be like stem cells and work to nourish their possibilities and potential in the years ahead. This is his prayer for all of them.

 

You Can't Look at North Korea from a Western Perspective

The 5th International Conference of the Catholic Institute for Northeast Asian Peace was covered in an article in the Catholic Times. A brief summary of the issues that were raised are mentioned in the words below.  

You can't look at North Korea from a Western perspective... Religion needs to play a humanitarian role. North Korean human rights are considered the worst in the world, but good results can be obtained if the end of the war and a declaration of peace are pursued. After the UN sanctions, we need to help the children  that are dying because of lack of food. Religious role: Instead of approaching the North Korean human rights issue with hostility what is  needed is mercy and love— dialogue between the   North and South.

On the first day, North Korean human rights were dealt with from the perspective of the international community. The presenters all agreed on the importance of human rights itself, but they showed a difference of opinion in approaching human rights in North Korea. 

The first presentation was made by a Georgetown University professor. He emphasized the universality of human rights in the light of Catholic social doctrine, and said the concept of human rights can be applied in various ways to suit each country's situation. He was of the position that the view of human rights in the East, which has a communal character, should be recognized rather than viewed only from the Western perspective. However, he was cautious about human rights in North Korea. He said: The human rights situation in North Korea can be classified as the worst situation in the world. Nevertheless, he said that now is the time to put an end to the war between North Korea, the United States and the United Nations. He suggested that the Korean church needed to build connections and friendly relationships so that they could carry out forward-looking strategies on human rights and exchanging with private human rights advocacy groups. 

The second presentation was made by a professor from the  University of London. She looked at human rights in North Korea from the perspective of the right to life. She said: "The most pressing issue in North Korea is the right to life," and analyzed the North Korean food crisis from the great famine of 1990 to the present. According to her North Korea's agricultural production recovered significantly from the mid-2000s to 2017, and children's nutritional status improved significantly. However, in 2018, a food crisis arose again, citing UN sanctions against North Korea in 2017 as the cause. North Korea, which relies entirely on imports, suffered a severe blow to agriculture as oil and natural gas were cut off, resulting in a food shortage. As a role that the church can play in this situation, it is suggested that humanitarian assistance through cooperation with Caritas International and maintaining a dialogue window with North Korea should be maintained.

Finally, a professor emeritus, from the university of Georgia gave a presentation. He pointed out that "powerful countries such as the United States are demonizing and isolating North Korea with Western values," and pointed out that the view of North Korea itself is biased. He argued that we must understand the unique situation of North Korea, which moves as a group, and that we must acknowledge diversity. He further emphasized that North Korea should be recognized as a normal state and that North Korea should be able to improve itself in terms of human rights. He also said, "Human rights should be an end in itself, not a tool." He also said that religion should not have a  missionary goal, but we need an attitude that can help North Korean children by feeling hunger together with them  and want to help them.

On the second day, they looked at North Korean human rights issues from a religious point of view and sought solutions. A Protestant pastor gave the first presentation, emphasized the need for solidarity for reconciliation and cooperation above all else. The state, churches, and civic groups should share their roles as advocates and watchers to improve inter-Korean relations and improve the human rights of North Koreans. 

The process of acknowledging North Korea as a dialogue partner and cooperation as a partner in the peace process must continue. In particular, he said, "The role of the church is to care about the least of the people because human rights ultimately start with the problem of one specific person."

Next, Pax Christi Korea  shared about the role of the Catholic Church in improving human rights in North Korea. He explained: "North Korean human rights should be dealt with from various perspectives: internal issues in North Korea, inter-Korean relations, and international human rights issues."

In the discussion that followed people with different religions put their heads together on human rights issues in North Korea.

Two of the panelists pointed out: "The international community considers itself to be a fresh apple, and treat North Korea as a rotten apple because it tastes different like an orange." They argued that the North Korean human rights issue should not be seen as a means to achieve international order but should help North Koreans to solve them on their own. 

On the other hand, anther participant  took a more cautious approach. "There is intervention from the outside on the the North Korean issue because it is difficult to resolve internally, but it is by no means a simple issue. He added: "It is a time that the wisdom of the religious world and humanitarian perspective needs to be added."

A Buddhist monk emphasized the need to actively help the North  to survive, while taking a strong stance that there is no sovereignty in a dictatorship. He said: "The idea and practice of wanting people to eat three meals a day in North Korea is the most realistic way to help."  He also stressed this was to be done without any evangelizing motivation.

A professor introduced the activities of Chondoism (a 20th-century Korean Pantheistic religion), that actively participated in the March 1st Movement and said that North Korea's human rights issue should be approached  by the the North independently rather than relying on external forces.

How to Overcome the Corona Pandemic

 

In the recent Catholic Peace Weekly, a human rights lawyer gives his ideas in the Diagnosis of the Times column on ways to overcome the pandemic crisis. 

Recently there was a second public discussion on the gradual recovery of daily life in the Corona era. All the presenters and debaters were health and medical experts, he was added to the panel to convey the position of human rights groups. The discussion time was short and there were so many things he wanted to say.

 

Consider the deaths related to COVID-19. We didn't even have the opportunity for condolences and memorial services nationwide. We can talk about overcoming the crisis because we all desperately want it. Overcoming the COVID-19 crisis should start from proper memorial and mourning in public space and time.

  

COVID-19 crisis requires proper respect for human rights. The public health system made it difficult to respond quickly to infectious disease, economic inequality became more serious in a disaster situation, labor sites were vulnerable to infection, the social safety net was lacking for the socially disadvantaged: disabled, elderly, migrant workers, and the homeless. The quarantine system centered on distancing, which hurt the small business owners and the self-employed. 

 

It is necessary to restore rights that have been suspended by COVID-19. Infringement of basic rights, such as invasion of individual privacy, excessive information collection, the introduction of electronic bracelets without legal basis, and prohibition of excessive assembly and demonstrations that even conservative courts found illegal, took place without any social discussion. 

 

Vaccination policies should not promote discrimination and inequality. Some are in stressed situations whose livelihood is threatened: unregistered migrant workers, and those who cannot easily access the vaccine due to status and institutional problems. Some people are concerned about safety that has not yet been sufficiently verified. Exclusion, stigma, hatred, and discrimination against them can never be the direction of overcoming the COVID-19 crisis. Overcoming the COVID-19 crisis should not be just for those who have been vaccinated.

 

Currently, most people in poor countries have to wait two years for the COVID-19 vaccine. The government should take an active role in overcoming international vaccine inequality through the temporary exemption of intellectual property rights under the World Trade Organization's trade-related intellectual property rights agreement. Our safety should not be at the cost of someone else's life. If everyone is not safe, no one is safe. 

 

Overcoming the COVID-19 crisis should be a process of restoring human dignity. Overcoming the COVID-19 crisis should be centered on human rights. It is absolutely necessary to listen to the voices of the socially disadvantaged, minority, and vulnerable in overcoming the COVID-19 crisis and restoring our human dignity. Restoration of daily life without human rights is fiction and can be a disaster. 

A few days ago, a high-ranking official of the quarantine authorities appeared in the lawyer's dream and shouted loudly that all he said above was seeing one side of the argument and it was not helpful at all. This may have been the case in reality for the government officials who had to listen to what he was saying in one meeting or another. He is sure that the gap can be narrowed to some extent by collecting specific details one by one along with seeing the whole picture. He hopes this crisis, surrounded by others, will be an opportunity as we move on to a better world.

Seeing Beyond Our Boundaries

Inter-religious dialogue is not a subject that has many interested fans. It's a very difficult area of discussion. Pope Francis has shown great interest and followed by action. In Fratelli Tutti, he has confirmed the teaching of Vatican II:  "The Church esteems the ways in which God works in other religions and rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions." He  also has repeated the words of Pope John Paul II:  "If there is no transcendent truth, in obedience to which man achieves his full identity, then there is no sure principle for guaranteeing just relations between people."

In the Eyes of the Believer of the Catholic Times a professor of Media Communication explains the need for dialogue between all of the human family if we are to continue to live on this 'little pale blue dot'  called earth.

The rich and the poor, powerful and common people,  Asians and Westerners, the sad and joyful, regardless of situation, everyone on Earth is now suffering the same three calamities: climate crisis, fake news, and COVID-19 Pandemic, experienced on a daily basis since the new millennium.

What can we do to save life and the earth? In the face of these questions, people first began to reflect on their own civilization and realized  that "everything in the world is connected to each other, all is one.
 

The writer brings to mind the words of Carl Sagan. Before Voyager 1 left the solar system in 1990, it had taken pictures of the Earth in outer space 6 billion kilometers away from Earth and transmitted them. Carl Sagan, who participated in the space planning at this time, said that the Earth in the picture was a 'pale blue dot'.
 

"Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."

"This picture emphasizes that we should be kind to each other and that it is our duty to cherish our only home, the pale blue dot."
 

People have learned that once they overcome these disasters a great change in hope and a new normal will settle in human society.

Humanity is facing a great turning point of civilization in many ways. For example, science and technology are rapidly developing, and people have come to specifically plan for  the cultivation of crops on the moon.

In this great transition, people have to overcome the disasters they have caused themselves, and as Carl Sagan said, it is becoming clear that being kind to each other is the key. In other words, kindness comes from peacekeeping such as mutual understanding, respect, cooperation, and solidarity. This naturally requires efforts in many fields such as politics, economy, science, and technology, but especially in pursuit of the absoluteness of truth, it is important to awaken religion that is prone to being exclusive.
 

Hans Küng, a renowned theologian who passed away this year, emphasized this during his lifetime. "There is no world peace without inter-religious peace."

All religions in the world try to monopolize absolute and final truths, but now we have to learn and help each other through dialogue, he said. "Based on the common ethics of world religion to treat others as we want to be treated by others, let's now contribute to global peace by practicing global ethics." Each religion must cross the boundaries of 'me'.

However, it is not easy to cross the boundaries. This is because we have to reform and change ourselves first. For example, the Korean Catholic Church should correct its unique clergy-centeredness, male supremacy or bureaucracy, and materialism, which is leaning day by day toward neoliberalism.

He also thinks the laity have a lot to reflect on. The so-called "hard-working believers" are obsessed with exclusive supremacy over other religions or devote their efforts to maintaining their old customs by closing their eyes to the signs of the times. The 2nd Vatican Council, which revolutionized the horizon beyond the boundaries of the Catholic Church itself, was already 60 years ago, but many don't accept the changes that have come.

Pope Francis says we need to overcome the narrowness of the  boundaries we have made for ourselves. "Let us dream, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all."