[Editorial] What Does President Think About His Fact Finder’s Controversial Proposal?

The Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths has reportedly been mulling a proposal to repatriate long-term leftist prisoners who refuse to publicly renounce communism to the North, following its controversial decision to designate North Korean agents’ and leftist guerillas’ refusal to make such renouncement as part of the democratic movement. In sum, we cannot but doubt about the historical consciousness and the sense of balance of the commission members as well as their understanding of the political system of the South.

All in all, the commission was not given a legal authority to do what it has done. The Special Law on the Fact-Finding of Suspicious Death defines the suspicious death as the death in questionable circumstances related to the pro-democracy movement. It also define the pro-democracy movement as the movement since 1969, when the constitution was forcedly rewritten to allow a third term for then-President Park Chung-hee – and the suspicious death as one related to the movement from that year and onward.

Therefore, when the commission attempted to make a final conclusion on a sensitive issue of Korean modern history or when it interfere with the North Korean issue which requires articulate political judgment, it acted beyond its authority.

The current second-term commission will be resolved in late July after filing a report with President Roh. At this point, we cannot help but ask what opinion and awareness President Roh has about the commission’s proposals. The president, who has a final say in the government administration, should clarify his position and will regarding his duty to defend the continuity of the state and the Constitution. Some allegations that he president, who will be debriefed by the commission on the proposals, has no authority to reverse or scrap them make no sense..

In the same light, some politicians should reconsider their attempts to revise the law to give the third-term commission more jurisdiction over the death by the government in order to allow it to reinvestigate incidents like the 1987 mid-air explosion of Korean Airline 858.