[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 121 (Tuesday, July 25, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S10660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
        THE STATE VISIT OF SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT KIM YOUNG-SAM

 Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, as the chairman of the Senate 
Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, I would like to call my 
colleagues' attention today to three important milestones in our 
relationship with the people of Korea which we will commemorate this 
week: The 45th anniversary of the end of the Korean war, the dedication 
of the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the state visit of the 
Republic of Korea's first democratically elected President in 32 years, 
Kim Young-sam.
  Forty-five years ago this June, the North Korean military--with the 
backing of Chinese troops and funding and materiel from the former 
Soviet Union--surged south across the 38th parallel in a headlong rush 
towards the Korea Strait. More than 33,000 Americans lost their lives, 
and over 103,000 were wounded, pushing back the surge of communism and 
making at least the southern half of the peninsula safe for democracy. 
It was a tremendous loss of lives and resources, but as is inscribed on 
the new Korean Veterans War Memorial: ``Freedom Is Not Free.'' Today, 
some 45 million Koreans live free and prosperous as a result of the 
dedication and sacrifice of our valient fighting men..
  In my mind, there is no clearer or more illustrative example in the 
world of the stark differences between communism and democracy than 
North and South Korea. South Korea is a powerful and vibrant player on 
the world stage. South Korea has the 11th largest economy in the world, 
with a growth last year of around 8 percent. Just after the war, yearly 
per capita income in Korea was around $82; today it is just over 
$10,000. Perhaps more importantly from our point of view, the ROK has 
grown to be our eighth largest trading partner, and our fourth largest 
market for agricultural products. Unlike most countries in Asia, South 
Korea actually runs a trade deficit, not a surplus, with the United 
States. On the political front, despite the ever-present threat from 
the North and an occasional step backward, the ROK has steadily marched 
toward true democracy. After decades of military rule, President Kim 
represents the first civilian elected government since 1962, and the 
country recently concluded the first round of local elections since 
1960. All these developments are due solely to the hard work, 
sacrifice, and dedication of the South Korean people.
  In contrast Mr. President, North Korea, the ``Showcase of Communism'' 
is a morally and economically bankrupt dictatorship teetering on the 
brink of implosion. Where South Korea is governed by elected leaders, 
the North is ruled from beyond the grave by the lingering personality 
cult of a leader who died over 1 year ago. While filling the airwaves 
with announcements of the triumph of the Communist juche ideal in 
leading their economy into self-sufficiency, the North is forced to 
import vast quantities of rice from the South and Japan to stave off 
widespread famine--requiring that the rice be shipped in unmarked bags 
aboard ships that do not fly their foreign flags from the stern so as 
to hide the truth from its own people. Instead of taking a responsible 
place in the brotherhood of nations, the North continually allies 
itself with the forces of subversion and terrorism. Rather than 
diplomacy it prefers violence; who can forget the North's assassination 
attack on the Presidential Residence is Seoul in 1962, its murder of 
much of the South Korean Cabinet in a 1983 bombing attack in Burma, its 
destruction of a civilian airliner with all aboard in 1987, or the 
countless tunnels the North has dug under the DMZ to prepare the way 
for an invasion of the South.
  Mr. President, the difference is like day and night, and it is a 
difference that thousands and thousands of South Korean and United 
States soldiers fought and died to protect more than 40 years ago. This 
is why I believe that it is so important to commemorate the 45 years of 
alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea. President 
Kim's visit here this week gives us a chance to honor those who fought 
and died in Korea, to celebrate the historic partnership they forged, 
and to recognize the ROK's tremendous achievements and growth as a 
democracy since 1950. It also affords us the opportunity to honor 
President Kim himself. President Kim is dedicated to the ideals we 
fought to protect; in 1993, he received the W. Averell Harriman 
Democracy Award and the 1994 Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolent Peace 
Prize in recognition of his work.
  The ROK has made tremendous progress over the past 45 years and has 
accelerated its pace under the leadership of President Kim. But there 
are still some areas in which it needs to take concrete and important 
steps before it can be considered to have arrived at true democracy: 
for example increasing media freedom, and phasing out of some of the 
draconian legal vestiges of military rule such as the Labor Dispute 
Adjustment Act, the Trade Union Act, and the National Security. 
Nevertheless, I know without a doubt the Republic of Korea will arrive. 
It will take hard work and dedication, but no more than that which the 
Korean people have already shown themselves capable.
  Mr. President, the challenges we face in the future--the changes in 
the world economy, the continued threat of an unstable North Korea--
will require the same cooperative spirit we have shared over the last 
45 years. And I am sure that this week, as we dedicate the Korean War 
Veterans Memorial, there will be born a renewed sense of friendship and 
alliance between us and the ROK that will stand us both in good stead 
into the 21st century.


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