[Reporter’s Reading] Hanguk Has Not Yet Experienced a True Revolution

68 Revolution Germany's Reckoning with Past... Student Struggle Failure Japan Unable to Reckon
Complete Change in Germany After 68 Revolution with Emergence of New Generation
South Korea Without 68 Generation, 86 Generation Limited to Political Democratization

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The relationship between South Korea and Japan is deteriorating to its worst level again due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). While historical issues continue to hamper bilateral relations, COVID-19 has only added to the difficulties. Both countries have completely suspended visa-free entry, effectively sealing off from each other. Why is Japan unable to resolve its historical issues like Germany?

According to "Uriui Bulhaeng-eun Dangyeonhaji Anseumnida" ("Our Misfortune Is Not Inevitable") written by Kim Nuri, a professor in the Department of German Language and Literature at Chung-Ang University, this can be interpreted as a result of the failure of the Zenkoku Gakusei Ky?d? T?s?kai (Zenk?t?) movement in Japan, which was influenced by the European 1968 revolution.

The author explains that the 1968 revolution became the driving force behind Germany's reckoning with its past. The symbolic figure of Germany's historical reckoning is Willy Brandt (1913?1992), the fourth Chancellor of West Germany. Brandt became the first Social Democratic Party Chancellor of West Germany in 1969 amid the social atmosphere of the 1968 revolution. The photo of him kneeling and shedding tears in front of the war victims' monument in Warsaw, Poland, in 1970 remains a symbol of Germany's confrontation with its past.

Brandt's predecessor was Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1904?1988) from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Kiesinger was a Nazi party member in his youth. Until then, Germany had not properly confronted its past. When Kiesinger took office in 1966, G?nter Grass (1927?2015), the author of the novel "The Tin Drum," publicly sent a letter to the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung demanding Kiesinger's resignation, questioning how a Nazi party member could become Chancellor.

Professor Kim emphasizes that the emergence of a new generation following the 1968 revolution completely transformed German society. He argues that the 1968 generation in Germany not only made Germany a "country of historical reckoning" but also transformed the growth-focused economy into a welfare state emphasizing social distribution. A clear example is the introduction of "BAf?G" during Brandt's administration.

BAf?G is a living allowance provided to university students. During the election campaign, Brandt advocated under the slogan "Bildungsgesellschaft" (Education Society) to create a society where all Germans could receive high-quality education. After becoming Chancellor, he fulfilled his promise by enabling students to pursue education without financial burden.

The author aims to discuss Korean democracy and unification through the achievements and legacy of the German 1968 revolution. What he wants to convey is that the absence of a proper revolution like the 1968 movement is why Korean society today is unhappy.

"Our Misfortune Is Not Inevitable" is a reconstructed text based on lectures broadcast on JTBC's "Different Class" in October and November last year, titled "Germany's 68 and Korea's 86" and "Is Our Wish Unification?" Professor Kim stated that he preserved the broadcast content as much as possible while supplementing parts that required further explanation. He majored in modern German literature and wrote his doctoral dissertation on Grass's works. He was in Germany during the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.

The 1968 revolution was a global historical event with the motto "liberation from all forms of oppression." The author analyzes that the 1968 revolution influenced and was influenced by China's Cultural Revolution and that its spirit extended to Japan's Zenk?t? movement but did not reach Korea due to the strong anti-communist ideology in Korea.

The decisive driving force behind the 1968 revolution was protests against the Vietnam War. However, South Korea, under the Park Chung-hee military regime, was the only country to send ground troops to the Vietnam War (Taiwan also sent ground troops but only about 20 soldiers). Korea thus went against the global trend.

The author points out that the absence of the 1968 revolution exposed various problems in contemporary Korean society, such as a lack of human rights sensitivity, guilt and shame regarding sexuality, authoritarianism, self-exploitation, alienation, and a belated women's liberation movement.

There seems to be no need to view "Our Misfortune Is Not Inevitable" through the lens of left-right political ideology. According to the author, Korea's political landscape is so distorted that the distinction between left and right is meaningless.

In the latter part of the book, the author mentions false language and criticizes the statement "Korean politics is a competition between conservatives and progressives" as the biggest lie defining Korean society. He defines Korea as a society "ruled by an oligarchy of reactionaries and conservatives."

The first characteristic of conservatives is that they value the community more than the individual. In Korea, those who emphasize the community are attacked as "ppalgaeng-i" (communists). Conservatives who emphasize the community are likely nationalists. Kim Gu, a revered independence activist, was an excellent conservative. However, the author criticizes the current conservative forces as groups that belittle the nation and cling to foreign powers for their own interests.

The author claims that the progressive forces pretend to be progressive because conservative media call them so. He points out that if Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, ran for election in Korea, she would be attacked as a communist. In other words, the CDU, Germany's most right-wing party, is more left-wing than Korea's most left-wing party. He also criticizes that the labor, economic, conglomerate, and welfare policies of the Moon Jae-in administration are far from progressive by international standards.

In Korea, where there was no 1968 generation, the 1986 generation (the "86 generation") substitutes for the 1968 generation. While the author highly evaluates the democratization achieved by the 86 generation, he points out its limitation in that it was confined to political democratization. The 86 generation had an inherent limitation due to its primary task of overthrowing military dictatorship and thus failed to achieve social, economic, and cultural democratization. He also points out the problem of the 86 generation being overrepresented politically.

Therefore, the author argues that a mere change of government is insufficient to change Korean society. A completely new force must emerge.

Regarding German unification, the author points out that the most misunderstood expression in Korea is "absorption unification." German unification actually began with the East German revolution, and he emphasizes that fostering a peaceful atmosphere between North and South Korea is more important than unification on the Korean Peninsula.

(Our Misfortune Is Not Inevitable / Written by Kim Nuri / Haenam Publishing)

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.