[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 11, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1580-E1582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SPEECH BY KIM SANG HYUN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. THOMAS M. DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 11, 1996

  Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Speaker, I believe that my colleagues would benefit 
from hearing the words of Kim Sang Hyun, Member of the National 
Assembly of the Republic of Korea, and I ask unanimous consent to have 
Kim Sang Hyun's speech at National Press Club on September 5, 1996, be 
entered into the Record.

   Beyond Authoritarian Legacies: New Political Leadership For Korea

 (By Kim Sang Hyunq, Member of the National Assembly, The Republic of 
                                 Korea)

       Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
       I would like to begin by telling you what a long way it 
     took me to be here this morning to speak to you at this 
     prestigious press club. It took ten years. It was back in 
     1986 when I was invited to have the honor of speaking before 
     this forum. Korea was then under the military dictatorship of 
     Chun Doo-hwan, and I was prohibited from leaving the country, 
     as were many other democracy fighters, including my 
     colleagues who have joined me here today. I would like to 
     introduce them to you all in the audience: (would you all 
     come forward here, please.)
       From my left, Congressman Park Chung-Hoon. He was an able 
     leader of student movement, and he was put into jail for four 
     times for his courageous struggle for democratization. 
     Congressman Chang Young-Dal, who spent 8 years in prison for 
     the crime of fighting for democracy against military rule. 
     The last but not the least in importance, Congressman Kim 
     Chang Be, who was the leader of the citizens of Kwangju who 
     bravely fought the troops of General Chun and General Roh 
     during the massacre of 1980, and later was sentenced to 
     death.
       As for myself, I spent 4 years and 3 months in prison; I 
     was put under house arrest on 73 occasions; I was physically 
     tortured on three occasions; and I was banned from politics 
     for 17 years. Throughout these hard years of my political and 
     personal ordeal, under prosecution, repression and 
     humiliation, I never lost my spirit or my sense of duty and 
     honor to struggle for the cause of democracy for Korea and 
     for the cause of an ultimate unification of our nation.
       It was not until 1992 that I was set free politically to 
     make my way back to the national legislature. Well, I am 
     sorry we may sound like a bunch of ex-convicts. And I don't 
     even remember what my charges were for which I was sent to 
     jail. (Wait for a

[[Page E1581]]

     laughter.) (To the three members, ``Thank you for coming 
     out.'')
       Before we go into hard subjects, I want to introduce my 
     wife. The life of the wife of an opposition politician in 
     Korea was very difficult in those dark days. She persevered 
     many difficult years because of me. Without her love and 
     support, I would not have made it this far. The only good I 
     have done for her is that I have chosen to stay married to 
     her, now in our 38th year. But I had no other place to go 
     anyway.
       Ladies and gentlemen, I know this National Press Club, 
     while dedicating itself to protection and promotion of the 
     freedom of speech, has played an important role for human 
     rights and democracy around the world. It is indeed my 
     privilege to speak here on the topic of the need for new 
     leadership for true democracy in Korea, and on the issue of 
     national unification.
       President Kim Young-sam's government was launched in 1993. 
     However, the genesis of his government was a politically 
     immoral merger of three parties under Roh Tae-woo in 1990. 
     This brought an end to my political alliance with Kim Young-
     sam. Nevertheless, after he became President, I sincerely 
     wished him to succeed in carrying out political reforms and 
     completing the process of democratization for which we had 
     fought together.
       After more than three and a half years of his presidency, 
     it is clear that he has failed to meet the expectation of the 
     people for democratic reforms and a rebuilding of democratic 
     institutions. In the view of many, including myself, Kim 
     Young-sam has failed because of his role in the three-party 
     merger and the complacency of supporters of authoritarian 
     regimes who have resisted reform.
       At the threshold of the 21st century, Korea calls for new 
     political leadership to carry out genuine democratic reforms. 
     Next year, 1997, we will have a presidential election, which 
     I view as an opportunity to seek the kind of new leadership 
     that can take the nation into the next millennium of 
     civilization. If we fail to capture that opportunity, we 
     would be pushed to the sidelines only to watch a continuation 
     of the old practices of political division and internal 
     bickering, instead of opening a new era of democracy and 
     unification.
       In every respect, the next year's presidential election is 
     crucially important. It is crucially important because it 
     offers an opportunity to realize a truly democratic transfer 
     of power from the government party to the opposition party of 
     a legitimate national and democratic tradition. It will be an 
     opportunity for us to move forward to resolve the undesirable 
     conflicts of regionalism and to narrow the unhealthy gaps 
     between all socio-economic classes. We can then move forward 
     to work for a settlement of peace on the Korean peninsula as 
     a necessary step toward unification.
       Ladies and gentlemen, I am preparing to run for the 
     nomination of the presidential candidate of my party, the 
     National Congress for New Politics. New politics today calls 
     for new leadership. The era of coups, disrupting 
     constitutional order or an era of authoritarian rule, 
     suppressing democratic development, has ended.
       We need a new leadership not to justify the means to an 
     end, but to establish a tradition of respecting the process 
     of democracy. We need a new leadership to bring about 
     democracy within an organization as a model and to establish 
     the rule of law as the basic instrument of governance. We 
     need a new leadership that would not be content or remain 
     complacent with past contributions to democratization or with 
     the status quo of the division of the nation. A new 
     leadership that can meet the challenge of an independent and 
     peaceful unification. In the coming era of national 
     unification, we need a national leader who can earn respect 
     and trust from the 70 million Koreans of the North and the 
     South.
       By new leadership, I mean a political leadership of vision 
     for a new world order, a statesmanship that can lead the 
     nation harmoniously within and ``the politics of 
     coprosperity'' without into the 21st century and beyond. 
     Korea needs a new political leader who sees politics not as a 
     ``zero-sum game'' but as a process of building a consensus 
     and maintaining a balance through discussion and negotiation.
       If the 20th century was an age of conflict and 
     confrontation, the 21st century should become a century of 
     reconciliation and cooperation. If the Korean peninsula of 
     the 20th century was the arena of competition in the balance 
     of power between the East and the West, the 21st century 
     Korea should be able to play the role of a bridge to 
     cooperation and prosperity in the Asia Pacific region.
       A new era of a new century needs a new, creative political 
     leadership, and I seriously intend to provide that kind of 
     leadership which our people deserve. To win the next year's 
     presidential election and to realize a ``horizontal transfer 
     of power'' for the first time in our history, we the main 
     opposition party must develop the right strategy. I see three 
     sides of the strategy:
       First, a presidential candidate must be elected 
     democratically by his or her party members in a national 
     convention. To this end, I have insisted that my party's 
     candidate be selected through a free and open competition at 
     the next convention, not by acclamation for a particular 
     individual. The democratic process of selecting our party 
     candidate should result in a welcome festivity for all 
     members of our party and the people of Korea. I firmly 
     believe that free competition for the party's presidential 
     candidate will reform the undemocratic practices of both 
     government and opposition parties, which are currently 
     controlled and led by equally authoritarian party heads. I 
     believe free competition will provide a turning point for a 
     mature democracy.
       Second, we must bring an end to the chronic politics of 
     regional hegemony, that has been a fact of life for decades. 
     South Korea needs a successful presidential candidate who 
     opposes against ``rule by regional division,'' and who can 
     bring about regional harmony between the east and the west of 
     its land.
       Third, we must unite all opposition forces into a grand 
     coalition. The absence of solidarity within the opposition 
     camp has been one of the primary causes for the opposition's 
     failure in taking over the reigns of government. Not to make 
     the same mistake, an opposition presidential candidate should 
     be someone who is considered objectively best qualified in 
     terms of political career and statesmanship. Only such 
     candidate can bring opposition parties together and move 
     forward to win the presidency. When I am elected as the 
     candidate of my party next year, I promise that with a vision 
     of high politics, I will unite my party with the Democratic 
     Party, which is an important stream of our opposition, and 
     with other democratic forces.
       Now I want to share with you some of my perspectives on the 
     issue of North-South relations and unification.
       In this post-Cold War era, Korea remains the only divided 
     nation in the world, and there is no reconciliation between 
     the north and the south; therefore, no genuine peace on the 
     peninsula. In my view, we should change our thinking into a 
     new approach to the frustrating task of unification. For a 
     new turning point, I have long thought of an approach to a 
     peaceful unification on the basis of what I would call ``the 
     security and well-being of all Koreans'' and with cooperation 
     and support of the surrounding countries.
       In the past, the issue of unification was exploited as a 
     means of protecting the security of regimes by both leaders 
     of the south and the north. Unification policy should be 
     carried out to help build an all Korean national community 
     towards security, peace and prosperity for all Koreans. The 
     principle of ``security and well-being for all Koreans'' 
     should replace the conflict of political interest. The 
     principle of ``an all Korean national community'' should 
     replace ``the confrontation of political systems.'' Only 
     then we can move forward to peaceful coexistence and 
     common prosperity.
       A unified Korea will have an expanded national economy to 
     participate actively in world trade, playing a pivotal role 
     in promotion of regional security and economic cooperation in 
     Northeast Asia.
       Having proven itself as a winner of a half-century long 
     economic and political competition with North Korea, the 
     confident South Korea should not be too hard on the North. In 
     this context, a soft-landing makes a lot of sense. We should 
     avoid implosion or explosion. We should take the initiative 
     in inducing North Korea to reform and opening.
       In order to secure a durable peace structure, I propose a 
     two-track, parallel approach to negotiation with North Korea 
     for a simultaneous successful conclusion of negotiations 
     between the North and the South and between North Korea and 
     the United States. A final peace agreement from such parallel 
     negotiations should provide a nuclear transparency by North 
     Korea.
       As an interim move, and with the 4-party proposal pending, 
     I propose that the U.S. president meet with the leaders of 
     South Korea and North Korea in a third country outside the 
     Korean peninsula to discuss and ultimately to sign a peace 
     agreement.
       With a peace mechanism for the peninsula, we can move 
     forward to a ``2+4 peace agreement'' with the support of the 
     United States, China, Japan and Russia, which will become the 
     basis for a multi-lateral security cooperative system in the 
     region.
       Let me now focus on inter-Korean relations. To move closer 
     to unification, agreements reached between the North and the 
     South must be honored. We agreed on the July 4, 1972 joint 
     statement on the principles of autonomy, peace and national 
     unity, and signed the December 1991 Basic Agreement for 
     reconciliation, non-aggression, exchanges and cooperation.
       In the spirit of these agreements, we both North and South 
     Korea should amend or abolish those laws and policies that 
     impede progress towards the process of unification. 
     Specifically, South Korea should replace ``the national 
     security law'' with a ``law for maintaining the democratic 
     order.'' For the same token, North Korea must revise its 
     criminal laws the constitution of the North Korean Workers 
     Party. At the same time, practical measures of confidence 
     building must be put into action so that both sides can move 
     towards a mutual reduction of military arms.
       If we start these measures, and if we can build on them for 
     a further step towards unification, a peaceful unification 
     will become a matter of time, not direction. Our approach to 
     unification should neither be the German style of absorption 
     nor the Vietnamese style of a military takeover by force. 
     Ours should be a creative third style that we have not yet 
     seen in the history of the world.
       To this end, I announce my intention to meet with North 
     Korea's virtual leader Kim

[[Page E1582]]

     Jong Il at Panmunjom or at a place to be agreed on after I 
     become my party's presidential candidate. I am confident that 
     we can reach a constructive agreement on an incremental but 
     substantive modality of negotiations and progress towards 
     ``security and prosperity for all Koreans.''
       Because of geopolitics, Korea in the 20th century became a 
     battlefield of power struggle and ideological conflict, but 
     in the 21st century a unified Korea, because of the same 
     geopolitical reason, is expected to play the role of a 
     balancer in power relationship and an important contributor 
     to regional cooperation and world peace.
       Next I want to discuss the environmental issues. I have 
     always had a special interest in environment. It seems to me 
     many governments still do not deal with environmental 
     protection as an urgent priority issue. I am particularly 
     concerned about the deteriorating state of environment in 
     Northeast Asia. Unless we do something more about it, it will 
     only become worse.
       This remarkable economic growth of South Korea, the failure 
     of North Korea's socialist economic system, the rapid 
     industrialization and a huge amount of energy consumption by 
     China all are the culprits contributing to the pollution of 
     environment in East Asia. To discuss these common problems, I 
     am planning to hold a conference to which North Korea, China, 
     Japan, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Russia will also be invited. In 
     this conjunction, I also propose that an Asian environmental 
     summit be held to find better ways to promote cooperation on 
     environmental issues.
       Finally, I would like to discuss my views on how we can 
     develop a healthier relationship between the United States 
     and Korea. There is no doubt that many Koreans remain 
     appreciative of many constructive roles that the United 
     States has played in the security and economic growth of 
     their country in modern history. The people of Korea, along 
     with those of the international community, believe that the 
     United States, the only remaining superpower in this post-
     Cold War era, should play a leading role in the establishment 
     of a new world order based upon a principle of mutual 
     reciprocity.
       At the same time, we want to see U.S. policy for Korea 
     become more supportive of Korean unification. It should not 
     in anyway contribute to the perpetuation of the divided 
     Korea.
       For the bilateral economic relations, I support Korea's 
     market opening, but I oppose unfair pressure from the United 
     States on the process of market opening.
       Before I conclude, I want to say again, ``an era of 
     confrontation and conflict is gone.'' In the new era of 
     political negotiation and democratic compromise, the old 
     political strategy of ``all or nothing'' will not work. I 
     would not be shy to say that I am the one who can lead Korea 
     towards a better nation in the next century, with a kind of 
     new leadership of vision, open-mindedness, balance and 
     creativity.
       I want to create a new political culture of dialogue, 
     through which the nation can build a non-partisan consensus 
     on important national issues. I will pursue a democratic 
     compromise rather than trying to impose a unilateral view of 
     one party or one group on the people.
       I also want to mention that Korea's political achievement 
     owes a lot to many supporters from several countries, and 
     particularly from America. I want to lead Korea, and under my 
     leadership, Korea will pay back its debts to many friends of 
     democracy and human rights.
       Thank you very much.

                          ____________________