[The Editors' Verdict] Is It Acceptable to Neglect the Erosion of National Identity?

[Asia Economy] National identity is the value, spirit, and ideology that enable individuals to feel a sense of unity as members of a nation. The values and ideology of a nation determine its political system, and the political system is directly linked to the rise and fall of the nation. Therefore, we strive to cherish and protect national identity. This is especially important considering that the 75-year history of the division between North and South Korea is a history of conflicting national identities.

However, our reality has often led or allowed the erosion of national identity. Since the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration, such phenomena have been frequently observed.

For example, while advocating the theory of the Provisional Government’s founding in 1919, the administration refused to acknowledge the founding of the Republic of Korea in 1948; in Memorial Day speeches, it praised Kim Won-bong, who was a mastermind of the June 25 North Korean invasion, as an independence activist; and it distorted the nature of the April 3 Rebellion by communist forces, which aimed to obstruct the establishment and founding of the Republic of Korea, portraying it as an uprising against state violence. Such historical perceptions have severely damaged national identity.

This distorted historical perception recently led the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to acts that undermine national identity, and the reality is quite shocking. Compensation for victims has focused more on those harmed by the South Korean military and police rather than those by the North Korean or People’s Army, turning perpetrators into victims.

Moreover, the commission reportedly even “kindly” guided that if the perpetrator cannot be identified, it is acceptable to designate the “South Korean military or police” as responsible. This has led to complaints that the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” is more like a “Truth Distortion Commission” or a “National Identity Erosion Commission.”

The history of division is a history of ideological and systemic warfare sharply opposing freedom and anti-freedom, democracy and anti-democracy, human rights and anti-human rights, and liberal democracy and hereditary dictatorship.

However, instead of correcting the issue of national identity erosion, we have participated in or acquiesced to it through voluntary internal criticism. Kim Il-sung scholarship recipients and sympathizers have expanded their activities through internal criticism, misleadingly presenting the erosion of national identity as the correct path.

In particular, the education sector monopolized history textbooks to subvert history with leftist ideology, denying the legitimacy and authenticity of the nation’s founding, while the cultural sector took control of the screen to participate in the subversion of historical perception by glorifying and fabricating leftist historical views.

Historical perception is important because it serves as a crucial channel for the erosion of national identity. They employ the hollow terms “democratization” and “nation” to deny national identity. “Democratization” is misused not as the end of authoritarian governments but as a tool to achieve socialism, and “nation” is exploited not as a sovereign people but as a means to accept the spread of Kim Il-sung’s nation. These terms are used solely for ideological warfare.

However, we have been addicted to this opium of “democratization” and “nation,” living as either leaders or bystanders in the erosion of national identity. Instead, we have advocated for the abolition of the National Security Act, which is a legal device to control national identity erosion, or the dismantling of public security organizations. Despite the severity of national identity erosion, control mechanisms are not functioning properly.

Establishing a proper national identity is the driving force for national development and the foundation of national unity. Therefore, it is urgent that control mechanisms function properly to establish national identity. The choices made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are closely related to correcting acts that distort national identity.

Thus, the public is paying close attention to the commission’s decisions. Of course, the Moon Jae-in administration must be compelled to make the right choices. We hope for a progressive change in the government’s stance.

Cho Young-gi, Chairman of the Hansun Foundation Advanced Unification Research Association