Economists continue to struggle—here is the latest
from South Korea
where a professor emeritus, actually
former dean of the business school at Yonsei
University, one of the top
schools in Korea,
has been
arrested for his public support for building socialism.
The National Security Law continues to be
used to attack any efforts to challenge the existing system.
The following is from the 8/27 Korea Times, a major
conservative newspaper in Seoul,
South Korea.
Link is http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/08/113_30105.html
Marty
Economist Nabbed for Praising Socialism; Female
Spy Caugh
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Police arrested a renowned economist for speaking out against
capitalism, which
is in violation of the National Security Law. Civic groups and
academics are
criticizing the government for suppressing so-called progressive
scholars over
false information.
Some are worrying whether these new moves will bring back the ``public
security'' era when police used excessive force against people under
the name
of ``keeping the peace'' in the authoritarian era of the 1970s and
1980s.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Wednesday it had arrested Oh
Se-cheol, honorary professor at Yonsei University,
and seven
other Socialist Workers League of Korea members on Tuesday. The eight
are now
being questioned in Ogin-dong, central Seoul,
over whether they have criticized capitalism and praised socialism as
well as
other acts considered benefiting the enemy ― the North Korea.
The police spokesman said Oh, chairman of the league, and others have
released
leaflets and other materials denouncing liberal capitalism. The group's
flags
were seen at the candlelit protests against U.S.
beef imports, he added.
The investigative body also said Oh openly sought the establishment of
a
revolutionary socialist group saying, ``We are the revolutionary forces
that
declare the world proletarian revolution publicly and express the
determination
to struggle with the proletariat of the world including Korea in the
history of
the workers' movement and communist movement in Korea after 1945,'' on
the
group's Web site.
However, academia and others are criticizing the police's moves since
Oh is
well known for denouncing North Korea. Roh Hoe-chan
of the minor New
Progressive Party said, ``Oh and his groups constantly said the North
has been
polluted with other ideas in socialism, which all socialists should
`refrain
from following'. Shouldn't the group be defined as anti-North Korean?''
About 10 civic groups held protests in front of the investigation room
saying,
``Why should they be punished for talking about what they believe in,
which is
obviously not praising the enemy?''
``Oh criticized capitalism even under the military junta in the 1970s
but was
never prosecuted for violating the law. I do not understand the
government's
ethics on the issue,'' Prof. Han Sang-hee of Konkuk University
said calling for the government's respect on a variety of social ideas.
Some speculate the investigation will see a revival of the debate about
whether
the National Security Law should be abolished. The law bans all kinds
of
praise, promotion or sympathy toward the enemy. In this case, the enemy
is North Korea,
experts say.
Since a reconciliation mood swept the Han peninsula in 2000, there were
only
two other cases of such groups being involved in violation of the law.
During
the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the law was submitted for abolishment
at the
National Assembly.
Meanwhile, Suwon District Public Prosecutors' Office said it caught a
female
North Korean spy disguised as a defector. According to the office,
34-year-old
Won Jeong-hwa disguised herself as a defector in China,
married a South Korean man
and came to the South in 2001. Then she contacted several military
officers and
handed over confidential information to the North.
The office has also arrested a military captain who handed over
information and
another man for delivering such stuff to the North.