World Peace Convention 2018 , Keynote Address 2
Incheon Harbor Park Hotel, Grand Ballroom(2F)
How to Achieve 100-Year-Old Desire for Peace of Korea?
Kim Young Ho
(Chairman of Northeast Peace Center; Professor at Sungkyunkwan University)
1. Dream of Peace of Millions of Magpies
Recently such rare, old picture was discovered. A magpie is on a branch, feathers gone, no energy to fly, nowhere to turn to. Such poor magpie!
It was a picture drawn by Jeong Lee (1541), famous for pictures of bamboos. While fleeing from Japanese soldiers during Imjinwaeran (Japanese Invasion), his right arm was hit by a sword and broken, forcing him to draw with his left hand afterwards. Korean people troubled by the war was fittingly depicted as such harrowed magpie. Cheon Ro Cha, a famous poet, wrote a poem for the picture, which Seok Bong Hahn, a famous calligrapher, calligraphed. Collaboration of the then Famous Three. A Korean version of Gernika? The poem goes:
A starved bird on a cold branch
Head turned, feathers gone
Nothing to hear and nothing to see
And, nowhere to plead with open mouth
This picture of magpie reminded me of the “Bird,” of Pablo Casals, a cello mastermind. Casals’s was the birds of the sky, Jong Lee’s the bird on a cold branch. The Song of Birds, says Casals, but the bird of Jeong Lee without the energy to muster to sing, hence may well be named the “Silence of the Bird.”
The birds are said to sing “peace, peace, peace,” but the depicted bird is incapable of shouting peace, just dreaming of a peace so far away, hence the “Dream of the Peace.” This magpie is the Korean people, sacrificed in the lengthy war between the land power and the sea power, and its modern replay,
incessant wars at the war crust (not the earth crust) of the Powerful Four. So many magpies have died, dreaming of peace, in a series of wars instigated by the sea power that spanned 1,000 years, to name just a few in modern history: Sino-Japanese War (1897), Russo-Japanese War (1905), Pacific War, Korean War (1950), Vietnamese War and the Cold War. In modern days, two hundred thousand died of Donghak Revolution, 30% of the entire population left Korea during colonization, two hundred thousand became comfort women, fifty hundred thousand turned unwilling solders, two hundred thousand victimized of the nuclear bomb explosions, and one million died during the Korean War. Those magpies that barely survived groan on the cold branch, desperately dreaming, willing for peace. The privilege of those who never made war, but nevertheless were victimized by one is becoming the mouthpiece for the peace.
2. Comparing Kant’s Perpetual Peace and Jung Kun Ahn’s Peace for East
Humanity’s dream for peace is conceptualized by the “Perpetual Peace” by I. Kant; Korean’s dream for peace is materialized by the “Peace for East” of Jung Kun Ahn. Kant’s perpetual peace requires the federation of sovereign states, education of moral citizens and the establishment of the democratic republic. Jung Kun Ahn’s peace for Asia demands the protection of sovereign states from the invasion of the Japanese Imperialism, education of moral and democratic citizens, alliance with the Western civic societies, establishment of the East Peace Council comprising citizen representatives, and the joint financial management, joint economic development and the joint military operation by the East Peace Convention.
First, Kant’s perpetual peace is a theory of peace of sovereigns, that emphasizes the importance of sovereign states in the backdrop of the Westphalia System of Europe. Jung Kun Ahn’s Peace for East is a fight against Japan’s East-ism, a subterfuge localism hiding its invasion of other sovereigns. It is an independence-based peace: No independence, no peace. The fight for independence culminates to the pace movement. The struggle for the independence may adopt a non-peaceful means, but inevitably results in the peace movement from the bird’s eye perspective, in the long run. If possible, the independence movement must take the form of the peace movement.
Next, the democratic republic in Kant’s perpetual peace theory does have the effect of deterring the armed conflict between nations, which makes the democratic peace theory important. The East Peace Theory of Jung Kun Ahn is a product of the transition period from Korea under the Japanese rule to the temporary government of Korea in Shanghai. The movement to repay the national debt of the time is important. When the Korean government borrowed money from Japan without the ability or willingness to repay it, general citizens - themselves not even debtors - declared together that “We are the people (Wir sind das Volk).” It is the citizen responsibility movement where the citizens, themselves not debtors, repay the debt of the government on their own volition. About 4 hundred thousand people have participated in this movement. The number, however, means the number of households, not people, so considering that under the large family system of the time, each household had about 7-8 people, approximately 3 million people joined the movement. It represents about 20% of the entire population, about 15 million strong. Jung Kun Ahn also actively participated in this movement. Keenly aware of the power of the citizens, he proposed to organize the East Peace Council comprising citizen representatives in his East Peace Theory. Furthermore, the theory advocates the joint economic development of East Asia, joint military operation of East Asia, joint bank and issuance of common currency. It is rather Jean Monet than Kant. Jung Kun Ahn identifies the sovereign independence of countries with the pace and the East and the world peace. Kant’s democratic republic in his theory of perpetual peace was powerless to contain Napoleon’s expansionism after the French Revolution. Jung Kun Ahn’s Theory of Peace in the East proposes the East Peace Council from citizen representatives, which may be said to have overcome the limitations of Kant’s proposal, and precedes Jean Monet and the birth of the EU by about half a century.
3. Historical Meaning of One Hundred Years Since March 1 Movement
The biggest event in Korea, since antiquity, is said to be March 1 Movement. I agree. 2 million magpies had participated in the Manse Movement. People of even little eloquence and high wills all gathered in plazas in different places, but with the same meanings, to express their will for post colonialism in their own voices, despite the oppression of the Imperialist Japan, with so many people, inscribing their shouts in the sky of the world history.
You may observe the three rainbows if you look closely, if you really focus because they are so blurred, of meanings of not only national but also world history. The first rainbow is related to that the President Wilson of the USA announced the national self-determination after the First World War, it did not apply to the winners of the First World War, just as Lenin’s self-determination of nations did not apply to those outside of the Soviet Federation. Most of the colonies and semi-colonies outside just stayed where they were, despaired, but only Koreans used the principle and triggered the March 1 Movement. What made it possible? Second, movements for independence had arisen in dominoes, including March 1 Movement of Korea, May 4 Movement of China, and independence movements of the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Egypt and Latin American countries. It all began with the March 1 Movement. It is the rainbow of this chain reaction. Third is the rainbow of continuation and evolution, from March 1 Movement to various movements and revolutions to the Candle Revolution and all future revolutions, through interruptions and disruptions, all a part of the peace movement.
(1) Intrinsic Rainbow
Let’s go back to the first rainbow. The intrinsic element, the internal power that enabled people to actively adopt and exploit the extrinsic, external event such as the principle of self-determination of Wilson is the enlightened consciousness of citizens. It is the rainbow that transformed the subjects of the King to the citizens of the “people country.” The phrase “people country” is coined from the theory of people first of Mencius. It appeared once in Sukjong Silok (Chronicles of Sukjong) of Chosun Dynasty, but 229 tines in Gojong Silok (Chronicles of Gojong) at the end of the 19th century. Professor Che Jin Fung (Taiwan University), one of the best comparative theorist of philosophies of Korea, China and Japan, commented that the only oriental philosopher who turned the people first-ism to democracy is Jung Dasan. We may as well add Han Gi Choi to the list. The idea that the people is the heaven of Donghak had spread among people. During the 19th century withering of Chosun and the 20th century valley of demise of Chosun, people had obtained the consciousness of the idea of people power and democracy. The introduction of Christianity, Patriotic Enlightenment Movement and the Citizen Soldier Movement all fueled the growth of the nationalism and democracy. The national debt repayment movement is a part of the movement to become the responsible citizens, the real owners of the people country, by repaying the foreign debts of the government. The national headquarters where people paid the foreign debts were called the ‘place of fulfilling obligations.’ Patriot Jun Lee attended the all nations’ peace convention, and said that the national debt repayment movement is the sufficient evidence that Koreans deserve the independence. Based on the experience of the national debt repayment movement, Patriot Jung Kun Ahn proposed to organize the East Peace Council, finance for its activities, and to curtail the strategy of aggression against nations as a unit. The relatively higher level of the sense of sovereignty of the people country in Asia, it appears, had served as an intrinsic element that enabled Korean people to actively exploit the self-determination doctrine of Wilson. The resulting March 1 Movement naturally gave birth to the democratic republic of the temporary government.
(2) Rainbow of Spread into East Asia
Second, direct and indirect shock waves to foreign countries caused by the March 1 Movement is the second, international rainbow. Setting aside the intrinsic processes of the independent movements of countries, those were influenced more by the March 1 Movement that had been triggered by the Wilsonism rather than the Wilson’s self-determination itself. Journals of China that lead the May 4 Movement, such as “New Youth (新靑年),” “Citizen (國民),” and “New Trend(新潮)” all rushed to publish a special edition on March 1 Movement in their April editions. In particular, the April edition of the Citizen (國民), the official journal of the Student Patriot Convention of Peking, published the March 1 Movement special edition, then the leaders of the organization gathered in the editorial office to hold a conference, where a resolution was made to demonstrate at the Tienanmen Square on May 4, which resolution was delivered to each level of schools. Chen Du Xiu (陳獨秀), the leader of the May 4 Movement and the editor of the New Youth (新靑年), highly appreciated the March 1 Movement as the ‘New Era in the History of World Revolution,’ the reason being ‘Use People’s Will, Do Not Use Force (用民意 不用武力), according to him. And, Bu Si Nien (簿斯年), the chairman of the student organization during the May 4 Movement and one of the editors of the New Trend (新潮), also praised the March 1 Movement as a ’New Monument of the Revolution,’ because first, it was a revolution of justice, without force, second, it was done with the knowledge that it will fail, and third, it was simply, purely a student movement. It is noteworthy that the leaders of the May 4 Movement identified the March 1 Movement as a peace movement of the people. Students gathered in Tienanmen Square during the May 4 Movement stated in the ‘Declaration of Tienanmen Square Convention of Peking Students’ that ‘Koreans are determined to die if they cannot achieve their goals.’
In addition, Satayagraha Movement led by the National Convention of India from April 5 was related to the March 1 Movement as the strong extrinsic factor. M. Gandhi heard of the March 1 Movement while traveling South Africa, and hurried back to New Delhi. ‘Glimpses of World History,’ a book written by Nehru in the form of letters to his daughter from prison, specifically mentions the March 1 ovement, urging her to follow the example of Korean women during the March 1 Movement. It is unclear what relationship does the famous Non-violence Movement of India have with the March 1 Movement, but when Tagore referred Korea as a ‘Brightly Burning Lamplight of the East,’ he must have the March 1 Movement in his mind.
In Vietnam, which was a French colony, under the influence of the self-determinism of Wilson, Ho Chi Minh and Phan Chau Trinh proposed 8 items of “Demands of Annam People,” which, however, failed to demand full independence but stopped at demanding general improvements. However, after the March 1 Movement, in Paris, they met Kyu Sik Kim, an independence fighter from Korea, who was dispatched to attend Paris Consolidation Conference. Thanks to the meeting, they were able to overcome the limitations of the reformism and turn to the struggle for the independence from the colonialist. Recently, a report on Ho Chi Minh authored by Jean, a Paris police officer, was discovered, which states that Ho Chi Minh ardently followed Kyu Sik Kim, his 9 year senior with high learnings, and “bases everything what he does on what Koreans do. He strictly follows the plans of Koreans against the Japanese Imperialism almost to the letter.” In 1919, Ho Chi Minh published an essay, ‘Indochina and Korea’ in a French daily, Le Poziliere, where he compared Japan’s policy of colonization of Korea and French that of Vietnam. The March 1 Movement appears to have greatly influenced the ietnamese liberation struggle. Ho Chi Minh later even visited the temporary government in Chung Ching. After learning about Leninism, Ho Chi Minh became even more revolutionary.
June Independence Movement of college students in Manila, the Philippines - a colony of the USA - or the independent movements of Vietnamese students, and June Independence Movement of college students in Cairo, Egypt, it may be argued, were the domino effects of March 1 Movement. In that regards, March 1 Movement is said to have the characteristics of an international movement in line with the French Revolution or the Russian Revolution.
(3) Beyond the Rainbow Spanning from the March 1 Movement to the Candle Movement
Third, March 1 Movement was not a single event, but was revived and evolved into June 10 Movement, Gwangju Student Revolt, April 19 Movement, May 18 Gwangju Struggle for Democracy and, most recently, the Candle Revolution. March 1 Movement had absorbed and sublimated the peaceful Patriotic Enlightenment Movement of Old Korea Era and the violent Citizen Soldier Movement into the peace movement; it sublimated the independence movement and the democracy movement into the peace movement. It was an international peace movement that linked the peace of Korea to the peace of East Asia to the peace of the world. If the Theory of Peace for Asia of Jung Kun Ahn is a peace ideology drawn by a single, exceptional magpie, then March 1 Movement is an expression of the collective intelligence and action of millions of magpies. Importantly, it is a peace movement that combined the sovereign independence movement and the democratic enlightenment movement, which facilitated and allied the movements for the independence, democracy and peace of the East Asia, and which further tried to connect to the world peace movement but failed as the Hague Peace Conference and the Paris Consolidation Conference were not prepared to accept the proposed terms.
There were naturally interruptions and disruptions as environments and conditions change, but the pace movement-nature of March 1 Movement that synthesized and sublimated three rainbows has evolved further to culminate in the Candle Revolution. The March 1 Movement did not only gave birth to the temporary government in Shanghai. It had many children, including the Beijing Clique that went against the temporary government, the Socialist Yanan Clique, the Primorsky Clique, the Korea Clique and the US Clique. President Seung Man Lee, when faced the objection of Goo Kim to his plan to create a South Korea-only government, ended emphasizing that the government succeeds the temporary government of Shanghai in the First Constitution. He certainly needed the notion that the new government was not a patchwork but had inherited the legitimacy from the temporary government. Needless to say, that it was a Cold War measure against the Il Sung Kim regime of the North Korea. It didn’t fit the character of Seung Man Lee government according to the international law, as the government was a product of the US government eager to implement the San Francisco Consolidation Treaty and its proxy, the US Military Government;
it was nothing more than a decorative symbol. If the South and the North are to celebrate the one hundred year of March 1 Movement together, we need to change our perception of the movement. The North Korea also need to rebuild its idea of the history of revolution. March 1 Movement must be seen, as it should be, as the mother of many brothers and sisters, the mother of both leftist and rightist independence movements. All movements of Korea are somewhere on the spectrum of continuation and disruption of March 1 Movement.
While March 1 Movement transformed the Patriotic Enlightenment Movement and the Citizen Soldier Movement at the end of Old Korea into the peace movement, June 10 Movement (1926) happened in the backdrop that the large investment of Japanese capital resulted in the formation of the labor class. It was an intensive labor movement that challenged the contradictions in the labor-management relationship wherein concentrated the national and class contradictions were heavily focused. It was combined with the Marxism that was gaining attraction around the same time. It radically expanded the democracy and peace movement. This trend is also mixed into the recent torrents of the Candle Revolution. Gwangju Student Movement (1929) had begun in Gwangju by students who also took critical roles in March 1 Movement, but later expanded to the nationwide student-driven independence movement, then revived in April 19 Revolution (1960) that brought about the demise of Seung Man Lee.
It also becomes one of the main elements of the recent Candle Revolution. June 10 Struggle (1986) was a civic democracy movement deployed by the alliance between the middle class (the so-called necktie army), which was created widely in the aftermath of the radical industrialization by Jung Hee Park Government, and the democratization movement groups. It resulted in the regime change by the civil revolution for the first time in the East Asia. Likewise, it resulted in the regular, peaceful change of powers between conservative and progressive parties, also for the first time in Asia.
The Candle Revolution (Winter of 2016-Spring of 2017) was a tidal wave that peacefully embraced all innumerable streams since March 1 Movement, including the independence movement, democratization movement, labor movement, student movement, citizen movement, radical democratization movement and the feminist movement. It moved us all deeply to witness more than 20 million citizens, candles in their hands, gather together in cold twilights at the heart of the winter, on streets, so peacefully, in perfect orders, without even a trace of trash in their aftermath, without a single incidence of violence or accident, with children with them, in demonstration like prayers. Many commentators evaluate the Candle Revolution as the culmination of the world democracy revolution that has shown the possibility of the plaza democracy or the direct democracy. I am rather inclined to interpret the Candle Revolution as one of the end points of the modern peace revolutions, in the extension of the spirit of interpretation of March 1 Movement as a peace movement. Not only was it peaceful in form and attitudes, but also was an anti-imperialistic, democratic, peace movement that deeply embraced all core elements of the peace such as the independence movement, democratization movement, labor movement, student movement, citizen movement and the radical democratization movement, as we have seen earlier. The problem of the modernity, according to the peace movement perspective, culminates into the problem of peace. Also, in this movement, the peace movement of Korea identified itself as a part of the East Asia peace movement and, furthermore, the world peace movement. The revolution was made in that spirit. Most of all, it was shown abundantly clear that for tens of millions of “magpies,” the biggest victims of the 100 year-long war at the last ring of the global cold war, placed in the largest market of the world military-industrial-financial complex where more than 60% of the world weapons are deployed (according to SIPRI), the most desperate dream is the dream of peace.
4. Building the Corridor of the World Peace Movement; Proposing the World Peace Forum
Chae Ho Shin, one of the greatest independence fighter and historian, once analyzed that as Korea was located at the contact point of the land power and the sea power, Korean history is full of damages from challenges from both powers, but such damages and hurts were the price the region paid to avoid big wars. He continued that once Korea disappears, immediately big wars like Sino-Japanese War, and that the regional conflicts has resulted in wars in Korea. He concluded that the peace in the region shall also begin with the peace in Korea. Professor Morris Suzuki at Australia National University analyzes the mechanism of how the wars in Northeast Asia begin in Korea, and how the peace in Korea triggers peace in Northeast Asia.
The peace process in Korea Peninsula began operating with the government born out of the Candle Revolution, triggered by Pyeong Chang Olympic. It is expected go through the process of North-South Summit, North-USA Summit, 2nd North-South Summit, 2nd North-USA Summit, then North-Japan Summit. We are hopeful that the process will yield the deconstruction of the last Cold War regime in the world. Witnessing the global deployment of the Korean peace process since the Candle Revolution, we were able to reconfirm that the war and peace in East Asia mostly begins from Korea.
At the same time, we also felt that the peace process triggered by the Candle Revolution is very vulnerable to the 4 world powers. Depending on the national self-interests and election strategies of the 4 powers, the process can be overrun at any time, with Korea becoming the center of the world war. The vulnerability, I believe, can be overcome by empowering the alliance with the world’s peace loving citizens, gathering their strong supports, representing the world peace groups and organizations, and ensuring that the peace loving citizens of the world function as our strong allies. How about, for this purpose, organizing the World Peace Forum (WPF), after the model of the World Economic Forum (SEF) held in Davos, Switzerland every year. We already have the World Society Forum, so I believe we can ally with it in any manner, and seek vitalizing both. There are already thousands of peace groups around the world. I propose to create not the hub, but the corridor of them, enhancing the network effects among them, full of the will for the peace renaissance of the civic societies. Then, through the peace corridor of the world civic societies, the WPF will become the platform for the peace.
There are various inter-government relationships, but inter-civic societies relationships are weak. There is a heavy imbalance. We often witness the hostilities and conflicts between countries arise as political needs arise in East Asia, with the civic societies mobilized as a puppet for the power that be. Dictators exploit the territorial disputes or disputes on history to antagonize neighboring countries, to develop the mutually dependent antagonistic relations through territorial or historical nationalism, mobilizing civil societies and solidifying their power bases. As democracies develop, such mutually dependent antagonistic relationship will be weakened. The problem, however, is that such hostile mutual dependency endangers the growth of the mature democracies. East Asia, despite 1.2 billion strong middle class population, it appears, has failed to become democratic civic societies at least partly due to the strategy of hostile mutual dependency of dictatorship regimes. History eloquently proves the need for organizing civil societies internationally through the example of the French Revolution: post-revolution French democracy was incapable of containing Napoleon’s expansionism.
In this regard, we need to pay close attention to the Theory of Peace for the East of Jung Kun Ahn, which advocated the East Peace Council comprising representatives of civil societies. We may also want to consider its modern day alteration, the corridor of the world civic societies and the WPF plan.
It will supplement the governance model that delegates the role of containing and relieving the risks and tensions only to the inter-government relations. It, however, is not just a supplement, but an expansion of the horizon of the new citizens at the age of citizens. Now, world citizens are eyeing Korea Peninsula for observation and inspiration. It may be the best opportunity to achieve it. Last year, on November 3, on the Constitution Day of Japan, 50,000 citizens of Tokyo have gathered around, and surrounded the National Assembly building, as a symbol of the protection of Japan’s peace constitution. I was invited to give a speech, where I emphasized that “In the modern world, no problem is purely domestic. P. M. Sweezy, a progressive economist, has published a book, ‘Present as History,’ after Lukacs statement that all problems of the present are problems of history. Truly, no problem is a purely domestic one. All domestic issues are world issues. The problem of the peace constitution of Japan is the problem of Asia and the world. It cannot be left to be solved by the civil societies of Japan; it shall be fought, and solved by the civil societies of the world. Let us protect the peace constitution, through alliance among the Candle Revolution forces of Korea, the Article 9 Council of Japan and all other peace-loving citizens of the world. Let us gather ourselves at the World Peace Forum, a citizen forum, every year in the fashion of the Davos WEF.” On March 15, I have invited 11 leaders of the Japanese group, “Action Committee of Joint Actions for No War! No Change to Article 9!” group, to organize a joint symposium with the “National Conference of Sovereigns” - one of the core organizations behind the Candle Revolution - where we reconfirmed our solidarity and agreed to study and organize the WPF together. The WPF can be held in different locations, like the Olympics.
5. In Lieu of Conclusion
We find it meaningful that the Centennial Ceremony of March 1 Movement will be held jointly by the North and the South. As March 1 Movement is closely linked to May 4 Movement of China, India’s independence movements and Vietnam’s independence movements, as I have observed earlier, all of them marking the centennial anniversary, and all variations of citizen-centered peace movements, I am thinking about the possibility of having the ceremony jointly or in connection with each other. We are carefully discussing the possibility with YMCA Korea and other civil society groups that have led the peace movements. We cannot afford to miss an opportunity when all eyes of the world are watchful of happenings in Korea. I am also trying to invite all peace-related events and groups, domestically as well as internationally, to be a part of the WPF.
We expect to have a Centennial Ceremony of March 1 Movement at the place of the Candle Revolution - a most recent variation of the March 1 Movement - with the representatives of the world civil societies.
We want to light the ever-burning candle; we want to convene the WPF. I hope that the Centennial Ceremony of March 1 Movement not only stands for the democracy in Korea, but also the peace loving world citizenship.
