January 22, 2025
SEOUL – In the past, the Korean people were very sensitive about how foreigners saw their country. However, Koreans these days no longer seem to care about how they look in foreigners’ eyes.
Of course, we do not need to be overly conscious of foreigners’ views or assessments of us. Nevertheless, we should pay heed to foreigners’ perceptions of Korea because it fosters the image of Korea overseas. Therefore, if we want to promote a good image of Korea, we should act accordingly.
Many in the foreign press have pointed out that the unsuccessful recent martial law incident seriously hurt the image of South Korea as an advanced country. Indeed, it would be a shame if martial law was enforced and the Korean people had to suffer curfews, censorship and warrantless arrests, as they did half a century ago under the military dictatorship.
Equally devastating to the image of South Korea was the recent proposition of the Democratic Party of Korea to censor KakaoTalk. The politicians in the opposition party argue that it is necessary to stop the spread of fake news supporting impeached and suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol on KakaoTalk. They said that those people should be indicted under a charge of “supporting the insurrection.”
However, censorship or surveillance of social media is possible only in tyrannical, totalitarian countries.
Perhaps those politicians may want to emulate such authoritarian countries, but South Korea is a “Free World” country of liberal democracy, not a totalitarian socialist country. In the eyes of foreigners, such an extreme measure is as bad as declaring martial law. Besides, observers point out that the Democratic Party, too, is not completely free from using fake news for political gain.
In fact, banning “forwarding messages” on social media directly violates freedom of speech, which the Korean people would not tolerate. Young people, especially, will strongly resist such anachronistic censorship, which reminds them of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” and they will promptly withdraw their support from the Democratic Party.
Foreigners also think that the decision to have law enforcement arrest and detain Yoon on insurrection charges was too hasty.
Foreign experts think that arresting the current president for investigation before the Constitutional Court reaches its final decision on impeachment is somewhat impetuous.
We may think such actions reflect a strong democracy that we can be proud of, but in foreigners’ eyes, such an action not only lacks common courtesy for the current president, but looks like anarchy and chaos.
Foreigners are also confused about the term “insurrection” attached to the martial law incident.
“Insurrection” refers to a rebellion against the state, not the other way around. A ruler with absolute power practices “tyranny” or “dictatorship,” not “insurrection.” Although the National Assembly deleted the “insurrection” charges against the president in the special counsel bill for his investigation, the ruling party criticized that it was simply a political gesture to pass the bill.
Another thing foreigners find perplexing is Korean politicians’ insensitivity and unpreparedness for the imminent crisis coming from outside, which might make the country’s future grim and bleak. Indeed, in foreigners’ eyes, Korean politicians do not seem to realize the dangerous situation their country is now facing and are occupied with internal skirmishes only.
The short memory of the Korean people, too, puzzles foreigners.
After the martial law incident, Koreans suddenly seemed to completely forget that the National Assembly was originally implicated in the political turmoil. Perhaps that is why many Koreans solely blame the current administration, forgetting and thus unwittingly condoning the National Assembly’s numerous impeachments of government officials and constant blocking of the government’s policies and budgets.
Foreigners are also baffled by Korean professors’ “declaration of national crisis,” which only demanded the impeachment of the president. Instead, it should have been a solemn warning to all politicians on both sides, calling for the swift normalization of the country. In a polarized society, intellectuals are not supposed to take sides and must stand in the middle against both extremes.
Another strange thing is that the Korean government allowed foreign students to participate in rallies demanding the impeachment of Yoon. Other countries deport foreign students who take part in political demonstrations.
In foreigners’ eyes, the impeachment or imprisonment of the president seems to have become a regular ritual in South Korea.
It is embarrassing because it is not something that can happen repeatedly in an advanced country. If our foreign policies and alliances radically change every five years, foreign countries may find it hard to trust South Korea. Moreover, the foreign press has diagnosed that Korea is currently in a civil war of repeated clashes between the martial law of the ruling party and attempted coups by the opposition party.
Now is the time to stop our chronic ideological warfare, which has been ongoing since 1945. Otherwise, we will not only become an embarrassment in the international community, but also endanger our already unstable, vulnerable national security.
Kim Seong-kon
Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are the writer’s