Here is a RAS lecture I really wish I could attend:

The Work of Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission;

Uncovering the Hidden Stories of Korea’s Past

Under the?Framework Act to Clarify Historical Incidents for Truth and Reconciliation?passed in May 2005, Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set to foster national legitimacy and reconcile the past for the sake of national unity. Its activities aim to honor those who participated in anti-Japanese movements and unearth the truth through investigation on human rights abuses and massacres that occurred throughout the Korean War and up until the present time, including the nation’s authoritarian regimes.

Dong-choon Kim, a standing commissioner of the commission, will briefly introduce the main activities and the mandates of the commission before he examines its achievements and standings in Korea’s current political climate. The commission received a total of approximately 11,000 petitions during its application period of December 1, 2005 to November 30, 2006, and so far it has dealt with only up to 50% thereof. Once the commission verifies a case, it proposes recommendations to relevant governmental organizations to rectify damage, restore honor of the victims, and reconcile between the victims and perpetrators. However, the recommendations are not legally binding and thus can not be enforced. Although Article 32 of the Framework Act stipulates that the government has the duty to honor the recommendations and make efforts to implement them, the execution of the recommendations is dependent on the will of each governmental organization. In the Framework Act, there are no provisions regarding the binding power and the execution process of recommendations.

The introduction will be followed by details of investigations conducted by the commission whose notable discoveries include the truth-verifications on civilian massacres targeting “suspected” socialists (refer to [1]Bodo League Incidents, a.k.a. National Guidance League related incidents; ??????) and the US air raids on civilian refugees in Haman, Wolmi Island, Pohang, etc. during the Korean War; fabricated espionage charges of once-abducted fishermen and Koreans resided in Japan; and human rights abuses of Jo Bong-am and Park Jong-chul, etc.

Lastly but not the least, Kim will table the challenges the commission has been facing. For instance, because the commission’s mandate is to be ended in April 2010 in accordance with the ?Framework Act?, it is urgent to consider adequate measures to investigate the remaining cases as well as other activities it has been involved, including exhumation work of the victims’ remains, publication of the final investigative reports, etc.

Dong-choon Kim has been serving as a standing commissioner of Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission since its establishment, and also is a professor of sociology at Sung Kong Hoe University, Korea. He got his PhD from Seoul National University (1993). His researches cover the historical sociology of Korean politics, the formation of working classes, and the Korean War.  He has been an organizer of progressive academic movements since the 1980s and has actively participated in civil movements in South Korea. In 2004, The Hankyoreh Daily nominated him as a member of ’100 people who will lead Korean society.’ He was also awarded the 20^th DanJe Prize ( ???) in 2005 by his academic achievements and activities.

He has written several academic articles and books including Social Movement in 1960s of Korea (1991). A Study of Korea’s Working Class (1995), Shadow of Modernity (2000), War and Society (2000), Engine of America-Market and War (2004). Among them, War and Society, is translated into German, Japanese, and English (English title is The Unending Korean War).  [Via Tom Coyner]

For those that don’t know I have been highly critical of the Korean Truth & Reconciliation Commission.  I actually am not opposed to the idea of a Truth Commission if it was truly dedicated to researching an accurate history of the Korean War.   However, what I have shown is that they do incredibly sloppy work.  This sloppy work is because this commission is stacked with leftist ideologues like Kim Dong-choon who are using the commission to achieve political goals.

Kim Dong-choon

By reading his prior publications it is clear he is a Charles Hanley cheerleader and a North Korea apologist from the Bruce Cumings school of historical revisionism:

On the basis of newly released information and uncovered stories, the Korean War should be viewed differently and be eventually renamed, taking three points into consideration. First, the Korean War originated from an internal conflict on the Korean peninsula. 25 June 1950 was not a point when the war suddenly broke out; rather it was a turning point when regional guerrilla conflicts that had been going since 1948 became an all-out war (Cumings 1990). calling it as “June 25″ conceals this crucial aspect because it presupposes that belligerent North Korea abruptly invaded a peaceful South Korea. [Korean Journal - Autumn 2002]

Kim is trying to spin the narrative that many leftist revisionists have been trying to claim, that Kim Il-sung launched the invasion not out of aggression but to help guerrillas uprising against Syngman Rhee’s autocratic regime. If the US would not have intervened Kim Il-sung could have consolidated the peninsula into one country and everyone would be singing kumbayah with the toppling of Syngman Rhee.

Kim goes on to blame US business interests (where have I heard this before?) for America’s involvement in the war:

Second, the Korean War from the perspective of Westerners was not so much a confrontation between the communists and the liberals as it was “a substitute for World War III” (Stueck 1995). (…) Contrary to the official line towed by Korea’s ruling class, Korea’s urgent need for U.S. involvement was to defend Japan and the East Asian capitalist frontline more than save South Korea and Syngman Rhee.

Kim Il-sung’s invasion of South Korea was authorized by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin because he felt the US would not defend South Korea. This ended up being an incorrect assumption and Truman decided that Korea was going to be the place that the free world was going to take a stand against communist expansionism. It had nothing to do with business interests and more to do with sending a message to Stalin that the US would not allow aggressive communist expansionism. It was best to make this stand in Korea before Stalin was encouraged to try to conduct aggressive communist expansion in Europe. For a good read about the politics and decision making of this time I highly recommend reading David Halberstam’s excellent Korean War history The Coldest Winter.

Finally Professor Kim then goes on to incredibly say that North Korea should not be to blamed for starting the war:

Third, the tragedies of the war should not be exclusively attributed to North Korea, but also to the seeming lack of readiness, U.S. indifference as well as quick collapse of ROK forces.

So the fact that the ROK Army was ill prepared to fight off a North Korean invasion means that the North Koreans are not to blame for starting the war? The illogic of this statement is mind boggling.

Something of further interest about Kim’s essay is that it is sourced primarily from the writings of North Korea apologist Bruce Cumings, Hanley’s own No Gun Ri book (which has no endnotes), North Korean news reports, and from the anti-US website Kimsoft. Not exactly what I would call a well sourced essay that Hanley decided to copy in order to write his AP article with, but considering his poor sourcing for his prior No Gun Ri work it is not surprising.

My favorite quote of all from Kim Dong-choon comes from one of my favorite journalists Donald Kirk, when he interviewed Kim back in 2006:

Kim Dong Choon, another standing commissioner and author of a lengthy study on killing of civilians during the Korean War, acknowledges “divisions in our society about North Korea” but says, “I have no idea about violations in North Korea.”[Christian Science Monitor]

He has “no idea” about human rights violations in North Korea? It sounds like Kim may be spending to much time hanging out with former Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung. Maybe Professor Kim should spend more time listening to people like this and then maybe he can gain some idea about the tragedy going on in North Korea every single day.

How can someone have the creditability to determine what happened decades ago before and during the Korean War when he has “no idea” about human rights violations going on in North Korea today?

So for anyone who is able to attend the RAS lecture here are some questions you should pose to Kim Dong-choon:

• Ask him does he still have no idea about human rights violations in North Korea?
• Ask him does he still believe that North Korea shouldn’t be blamed for starting the Korean War?
• Ask him if he still believes the US supported South Korea during the war for business reasons.
• Ask him about what he thinks happened at No Gun Ri, than follow up on him on why no artifacts or remains from the site were recovered during the Chongbuk University excavation of the area.
• Ask him to explain the sloppy historical work that went into reporting on the Yecheon incident.

These are just a few questions that immediately come to mind, but I’m sure I could think of much more if I really sat down and though about it.

The issue of civilians killed during the Korean War is a very real one that unfortunately people with biases are using to advance their own agendas that are aided by sensational media reports.  As I mentioned before the Truth & Reconciliation Committee in theory is a very good idea that I support, it is the people that are leading it that is the problem. With the current Korean President Lee Myung-bak tried to staff the committee with nothing, but right wing ideologues I would be complaining just as much as I am about Kim Dong-choon and his buddies in the commission now.

I continue to believe that since the Korean War was a UN action maybe a joint UN research team from countries heavily involved in the Korean War could investigate the claims?   This idea is definitely better then having Kim Dong-choon and the rest of the clowns at the Korean Truth & Reconciliation Committee left to interpret the history of the Korean War.  The bottom line though is that veterans and civilians deserve an accurate accounting of what happened during the war which Charles Hanley, Jae Soon-jang, and the T&R Committee are currently not interested in doing which is just another continuing tragedy of the war.