Roh, Country is a Real Democracy When it Can Allow Communist Party into Its Ranks

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday, the last day of his state visit to Japan, hinted that he would allow the Japanese Communist Party to engage in an exchange program with South Korea for the first time in the history of the Korean presidency, the Sankei Shimbun reported on Tuesday.

When talking with members of the House of Representatives, Japan`s Lower House, Mr. Roh said to Kazuo Shii, chairman of the Japan Communist Party (JCP), "Though South Korea is not allowing a communist party, a democratic nation should permit it. I will be the first South Korean president to accept a communist party in the country."

Mr. Shii gave support to the Korean participatory government`s policy vision and its policy to promote peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and hoped for exchange with South Korea. The JCP had sounded out on the Kim Dae-jung government plans to send a delegation to Korea and establish a branch office in Seoul in its publication Akahata.

The JCP, organized in 1922, is a legal progressive party that recognizes private property unlike the Communist Party in North Korea and opposes Japan`s aggressive policies and is based on the principle of freedom and democracy. However, South Korea severed relations with the party in 1983 Aung San Cemetery in Myanmar, as orchestrated by North Korea was bombed, killing Korean delegates there.

At present, the JCP holds 20 seats each in the upper and lower houses and it is to delete words like "communist revolution" and "American imperialist" from its party platform, keeping abreast with the times. Recently the party has led a campaign against the passage of Contingency bills by Japan`s Parliament.

Meanwhile, Yoon Tae-young, a Cheng Wa Dae spokesperson, revealed what words had been exchanged during the dialogue between Mr. Roh and Mr. Shii. According to the spokesperson, the President said, "If a communist party is allowed in South Korea, the nation can become a perfect democracy. If [the Japan Communist Party] visits South Korea, it is welcome."

"A communist party which Mr. Roh referred to means a communist party that operates within a legal framework like in Western Europe or Japan," a Cheong Wa dae spokesperson said. "It should be taken into account that the President mentioned a communist party while talking with the JCP chairman.”

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