The Positives of Protest: Korean students give their views
BY TOM NORRIS
NOVEMBER 15, 2016 - Although the Korean political crisis is largely seen as the lowest point in decades for democracy in Korea, it could also be a bellwether for positive change that has been long in the making, say student protesters.
The scandal that has embroiled the president erupted three weeks ago when cable news channel JTBC discovered an abandoned tablet computer belonging to Park’s confidante Choi Soon-sil. Evidence allegedly recovered from the device revealed that Choi had received confidential documents and may have intervened in state affairs. Since then, President Park has made two televised apologies to the Korean public and Choi has been arrested on charges of fraud and influence peddling.
However, this has done little to quell the anger of Korean citizens, and Park’s approval rating has tumbled to an abysmal 5 percent. Subsequent protests reached a boiling point this Saturday, when up to a million Koreans flooded the streets of the capital to call for President Park’s resignation.
Despite their disappointment with the current government, protesters say the scandal has, in fact, galvanized a passionate new wave of interest in protecting the democratic future of Korea. They believe that the protests symbolize this hope. One such protester, Beomcheol Lee, a student from Seoul National University and council president of SNU’s Graduate School of International Studies, says the country is witnessing “democracy in action”. Lee has never shied away from civic engagement or felt indifferent to the political process. Determined to have his voice heard, Lee, along with several classmates, went to Gwanghwamun to take part in the demonstrations.
Lee was shocked by both the size and spirit of the demonstrations. This protest was far different than the ones he had witnessed on television as a child. Gone was the fear of police brutality and atmosphere of danger. Instead, the protest was a family-friendly event that took on the air of a festival, with police officers calmly managing traffic.
The most inspiring aspect of the protest to Lee was seeing four generations of a family coming together to participate. For Lee, it was important for the older generation to take part as “it brings an end to the romantic nostalgia for the Park Chung-hee dictatorship”, a popular sentiment that he says handed Park Geun-Hye the presidency in the first place. While the younger generation had always held Park and her government in a negative light, according to Lee, “this latest scandal made my father and his generation feel betrayed by a leader they thought represented the good of an old era”.
It was equally as important for younger people to be involved in the rally, in Lee’s opinion, due to the educational opportunity it presented. Lee described the protests as “the best way to learn about democracy” and said that many parents brought their children “in order for them to witness democracy in action”.
The protests gave Lee hope for a stronger democratic future because they made young people take an interest in Korean politics for the first time. One such person was Kat Kang, a fellow student at Seoul National University, who joined Lee at the protests. Kang was motivated to take part in the rally after the Choi scandal, realizing “the danger of indifference” and believing she must do something to “keep government leaders and the ruling party accountable”.
To Kang, the Choi scandal was more than just a call to action, to her, “the scandal was a starting point to look into what our constitution meant, what true democracy meant, and what it means to be Korean”. And, although Kang believes the protests represent “a major growing pain in the path towards a mature democracy”, she says they also “represent a great opportunity for people like me to think about our role as citizens”.
To protesters like Lee and Kang, the protests are a painful reminder that democracy in Korea is still very much a work in progress. However, the protests give them hope and belief in Korea’s potential for a stronger democratic future.
*Tom Norris is a student at Seoul National University Graduate School of International Studies, majoring in international cooperation. As a Korean Government Scholarship recipient, he previously studied Korean language at Yeungnam University and received a level 5 on the TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) exam. Mr. Norris is involved with several NGOs based in Seoul. He is Director of Cooperation for the Arirang Institute and a volunteer English tutor for Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR). He received his B.A. from UCLA in political science and global studies and intends to pursue a career in international relations.