Glorifying a communist revolution

Ahn Byung-jik, an honorary professor at Seoul National University, had been a theorist for South Korean leftist forces since the 1960s, but went over to the conservative side in 1995 after growing disillusioned with communism in the mid-1980s. Called the “godfather of student activists,” he talked for the first time about incidents involving leftists in the 1960s and 70s such as the People Revolution Party, the Unification Revolution Party, and the South Korean Liberation Preparation Committee in his newly published book “The Origin and Future of Korean Democracy.”

Some in South Korea claim that the three incidents were manipulated by the then authoritarian government to crack down on communist forces. The 29 people who were caught for involvement in the South Korean Liberation Preparation Committee in 1979 were recognized as pro-democracy activists in 2006 by the Roh Moo-hyun administration. The progressive government said their act was a protest against dictatorship. Ahn, however, said in his book that these incidents were not manipulated but aimed at carrying out a communist revolution. Though investigators committed violence and torture against those arrested, they did not cause the incidents.

While Ahn was a graduate student at Seoul National University in 1962, he got education on communism from Park Hyun-chae, a communist sympathizer during the Korean War and member of the People Revolution Party. Ahn read books of Lenin and Marx. He effectively said the People Revolution Party, the whole picture of which was exposed in 1964, was an organization voluntarily formed by South Koreans to start a communist revolution in their country. On the Unification Revolution Party in 1968, Ahn said the party was established under orders from North Korea. Kim Jil-rak, the No. 2 man in the party, influenced Shin Yeong-bok, a chair professor at Sungkonghoe University who was also a student at Seoul National University. Shin later influenced Park Seong-joon, a former adjunct professor at Sungkonghoe who attended the same university at the time. Those involved in the South Korean Liberation Preparation Committee attempted to join hands with North Korea, committed robbery to raise funds for their armed guerrilla activities, and possessed firearms.

Article 2 of the Law on the Memorial of Democratic Movements defines a democratic movement as “activities in protest of authoritarian rule that violates basic rights of the people as guaranteed by the Constitution.” If the three incidents were to turn South Korea into a communist country as Ahn said, they are unrelated to a democratic movement. The former left-leaning government undermined the spirit of a democratic movement by honoring communist activists who attempted to overthrow the Republic of Korea.

If someone does not want to make a confession, he or she should refrain from trying to beautify an attempt at a communist revolution. Nobody can hide the truth in the wake of Ahn’s courageous testimony.