Democratic decay

style=”font-size: 11pt”>Now, embarrassingly for Moon, the US has joined the criticism:

U.S. Republican Representative Chris Smith, the co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, in a Congressional hearing on April 15 described the South Korean government's ban on sending propaganda leaflets — or "bible and BTS balloons" — as a "retreat… from its longstanding commitment to human rights," and said he is "extremely" alarmed by it.

In the same hearing his co-chair, Democratic Representative James McGovern expressed hope that the National Assembly will "fix the bill" and provide the "redress" which democratic process allows. Both U.S. political parties believe the South Korean ban to be an infringement of freedom of expression and human rights. Witness after witness testified that the South Korean government is suppressing criticism of the North Korean regime in its harebrained pursuit of cross-border rapprochement.

That is a spectacular embarrassment for the government, but the Unification Ministry vowed to uphold the leaflet ban. One supposedly progressive academic who is thought to be Moon's mentor accused the U.S. of "meddling" in South Korea's internal affairs, and some die-hard supporters of the president gathered in Seoul to stage an anti-U.S. protest….

But Smith said the South Korean government's infringements have been described as "democratic decay" and urged it to "resume its commitment to civil and political rights in particular, and human rights in general. It must do so, not only for the sake of Korea both South and North, but also for the entire world." The U.S. Congress accusing South Korea of violating human rights and suppressing democracy and the South accusing the U.S. of meddling is reminiscent of the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s. That it should be replayed now, with a government that has set itself up as a shining beacon of democracy, is a disgrace.

Pressure on Moon might well be a more productive use of US energies than engaging in more absurd high-level summits with Kim Jong-un.