People in South Korea and Taiwan should give their leaders a chance to be re-elected so that the spirit of reform can take root in society, a renowned South Korean intellectual said yesterday.
Kim Young-oak told the Taipei Times that there is an astonishing similarity between President Chen Shui-bian (
"Chen and Roh were both human-rights lawyers before they got involved in politics. They both represent reform and progress, and coincidentally, Chen and Roh both lost a battle to be mayor before they took office in the presidential building," Kim said.
Chen and Roh are a part of a "new breed" of leaders who are different from the old, corrupt, traditional Asian ones in that they are "not fundamentally corrupted," said Kim, who was the first reporter allowed to interview Roh after he entered the Blue House.
"Those new presidents brought a new experience for Taiwanese and South Korean societies. It's a historical necessity to bring about change," he added.
Lack of political experience and sometimes improper rhetoric has make Roh's leadership as challenging as Chen's, Kim said.
"But chaos is necessary for democracy," Kim said. "People in both places should let them be re-elected so that the strength of reform and progress and be fully used."
"We should wait more patiently before the fruits of reform grow," he added.
Taiwanese society has undergone big changes for decades and keeps transforming, Kim said.
"When I was reading for my first master of arts at National Taiwan University in the 1970s, students were all talking about how to go to the US, and professors were talking about what it was like in China. But now you are more concerned about reality," he said.
With the goal of "reforming the press," Kim started to work for Munhwa Ilbo (Culture Daily) last year as a reporter and may be the best-educated journalist in South Korea.
An expert in traditional Chinese philosophy, the founder of the Korean Institute of Classical Studies, a medical doctor and a reporter, Kim is renowned in South Korea for his versatility.
He also has a doctoral degree in comparative philosophy from Harvard Univeristy.
Kim thinks the most important thing a leader can do is to create a better society for humanity.
"It's not time for the still unfruitful solution [for Taiwan and China]. What's most essential for you now is how to continue reforming society and make it better," Kim said.
As for the on-going six-nation negotiation over Pyongyang's nuclear program, the reporter said that the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-il is actually eager to develop a normalized relationship with the US, but the hawkish Washington politicians and strategists have not realized this fact.
"Just like in Taiwan, in the case of North Korea nuclear facilities issue the US factor is the most important. And the world should not blame only North Korea for being bellicose and uncooperative on the nuclear-weapons issue," Kim said.
Since the East European communist regimes collapsed with the former Soviet Union, Pyongyang has lost almost all its allies and friends and is longing to forge a normal relationship with the US, Kim said.
But the idea of Pax Americana -- the global peace under the American hegemony -- held by hawkish US President George W. Bush and his top national security aids is a barricade on the road to peace in the Korean peninsula, Kim said.
The coming US presidential election is a key factor that has brought six nations to the table for negotiations over North Korea's nuclear facilities, he said.
"But the Bush peaceful gesture is only a superficial one, and it will fade away after the [2004 presidential] election is over. Therefore, North Korea should know that time is precious for them if they really want to achieve something," Kim said.
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