The progressive Christian church and democracy in South Korea

Journal of Church and State, Spring, 1998 by Chang Yun-Shik

The authoritarian state that emerged in South Korea during the post-Liberation republican era (1948-present) lacked legitimacy and tolerated no criticism. The first president, Syngman Rhee--a democrat in conviction but an authoritarian in temper--accepted the institution of political opposition as an unavoidable feature of the democratic political system, but never liked it. Park Chung Hee of the Third and Fourth Republics, who learned his military craft under the Japanese authorities and ruled South Korea with an iron fist for eighteen years, neither believed in nor tolerated opposition to his regime and policy. As much as he wanted people to support his policies, he brooked no criticism of them. He was determined either to eliminate opposition forces from the system or to have them join his side. He had a masterful plan of bringing under his control all the groups that might compete against him, including the National Assembly, political parties, the army, the police, the banks, the conglomerate, the press, intellectuals, and the labor interests. Chon Doo Hwan of the Fifth Republic inherited the authoritarian system from Park through yet another bloodless coup d'etat. Chon sustained this system for seven years by retaining and elaborating on the system of opposition control employed by his predecessor.

In spite of such authoritarianism, however, opposition forces remained active. Together with student activists, both Protestant and Catholic dissident leaders of the Christian church (hereafter referred to collectively as the church) defied the authoritarian government's rule, stood firm in their stance against the "undemocratic" government, joined the democracy movement, and proved to be a significant factor in preventing the extinction of democracy in South Korea.

This essay will document and explain the role of Christian church leaders in the democratization movement during the authoritarian period of the Park (1961-1979) and Chon (1980-1987) regimes. Issues to be addressed include: why and how the church became involved in the politics of democratization, what roles the church played in the stages of the development of democracy (namely, the transition from authoritarian rule to a democratically elected government, and the consolidation of democracy(1)), and how church leaders sustained their political struggle for democracy.

THE CHURCH AND THE AUTHORITARIAN REGIME

The South Korean Christian church's involvement in the democracy movement began in 1970, when Park's intention of staying in power beyond the two terms permitted by the constitution became apparent. The Korean Student Christian Federation (a Protestant group) and young progressive Protestant ministers organized an opposition force. In "The Christian Student Proclamation on the Tenth Anniversary of the April Revolution" and other proclamations issued at various times in 1970, the Korean Student Christian Federation vowed to become "part of the history of the everlasting freedom struggle to uproot the undemocratic autocracy, combat injustice and corruption, and build a new society."(2) The Federation declared its "solemn duty to publicly disclose social problems and mobilize all available means to protect the rights and interests of the popular masses"(10 February 1970).(3)

After the Yushin regime was installed in 1972, the National Council of Churches of Korea (NCCK) joined the democracy movement. Representing one-third of the Protestant Church population, the NCCK consisted of six of South Korea's fifty church associations: Daehan yesu changnohoe (Presbyterian, tonghap), Hankuk kitokkyo changnohoe (Presbyterian), Kitokkyo daehan kamrihoe (Methodist), Kusaekun daehan bonyong (Salvation Army), Daehan songkonghoe (Anglican), and Kitokkyo daehan bokumhoe (Gospel). The NCCK branded the Yushin regime as an "absolute dictatorship or a dictatorial oppression, established by a group of wicked people for their own interest in betrayal of people" and the Yushin constitution as "an evil force destroying constitutional democracy and undermining basic human rights and dignity."(4)

The Catholic church was pushed into the democratization campaign in 1974 when Cardinal Chi Hak-Soon of Wonchu Diocese was arrested for his involvement in a large-scale student uprising.(5) While detained, he issued a statement (which later came to be known as "Cardinal Chi Hak-Soon's Proclamation of Conscience") in which he condemned the new Yushin constitution as "a device abrogating citizens' inalienable human rights and human dignity by a single ruler with the help of an emergency decree" and declared that the constitution was "invalid as it was fabricated through violence, threat, and a fraudulent referendum."(6) The arrest of Cardinal Chi prompted a group of young priests to form the National Conference of Priests for the Realization of Justice. They not only demanded the immediate release of Cardinal Chi, but also expressed their support for his stand on the Yushin regime as stated in his proclamation.