[Kim Seong-kon] Korea and the kingdom of heaven

Recently I came across Shiono Nanami’s “Story of the Crusades” and read it with great enthusiasm. The book reminded me of the mesmerizing epic movie “Kingdom of Heaven,” which I had seen in 2005. The movie happened to be showing on a cable channel last week, so I decided to watch it one more time. And it was worth watching again. 

Superbly directed by Ridley Scott, “Kingdom of Heaven” boldly touches upon the sensitive but compelling issue we now face: the clash between Christians and Muslims, which stems from the ancient times of Abraham but continues today. “Kingdom of Heaven” is

a memorable movie in the sense that it is neither pro-Christian nor pro-Islamic. Instead, it embraces both faiths, trying to find the possibility of reconciliation somewhere in between. The movie raises the fundamental question “Which is more important: killing others in the name of religion or searching for a noble purpose in life?” In order to answer this question, “Kingdom of Heaven” depicts the atrocities committed in religious battles between King Baldwin, who briefly ruled Jerusalem during the Second Crusade, and Sultan Saladin, who attacked and occupied the Holy City in 1187.

As I watched “Kingdom of Heaven” for the second time, I was once again deeply moved by the heroic decision of the Christian leader Balian and the Saracen leader Saladin to avoid bloodshed and choose to coexist peacefully. Initially, both of them are surrounded by extremists. For example, Guy de Lusignan and Raynald of Chatillon, who are hostile to Muslims, attack a Saracen caravan, a move that provokes Saladin to retaliate and eventually lay siege to Jerusalem with his massive army. Saladin, too, is advised by hostile Muslim extremists to root out all the Christians from the Holy City.

Yet Balian and Saladin are men of honor, integrity and dignity. At the end of the movie, the two great leaders choose to live in harmony, avoiding total annihilation. Witnessing heavy casualties on both sides, Saladin tries to persuade Balian, saying, “Surrender Jerusalem and no one will be harmed.” Then Balian answers doubtfully, “The Christians butchered every Muslim within the walls when they took the city.” But Saladin solemnly assures Balian to trust him, saying, “I’m not those men. I am Saladin.” Finally, Balian accepts Saladin’s proposition, saying, “Then under the terms, I surrender Jerusalem.” “And peace be with you!” replies Saladin. As Saladin walks away toward his troops, Balian asks one last question: “What is Jerusalem worth?” Saladin immediately answers, “Nothing.” Then he adds with a smile, “Everything.” After all, Jerusalem is not the true kingdom of heaven; what the peace treaty between the two noble leaders brought about, is.

Reading “Story of the Crusades” and watching “Kingdom of Heaven,” I was appalled to find some striking similarities between Jerusalem during the Crusades and Korean society today, which is hopelessly divided by extreme political ideologies. Indeed, the mutual hatred between the Left and the Right in South Korea seems to be as intense as that of the Crusaders and Muslims in the medieval age.

Think about the uncompromising antagonism between the ruling party and the opposition party, between the right-wing Ministry of Education and the left-leaning Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, and between conservative historians and radical historians who write radically different history books. And think about the recent incident involving the Prime Minster nominee Moon Chang-keuk. Instead of casting doubts on his professional qualifications ― since he was nominated out of the blue with virtually no prior experience for his job ― those who disliked his political tendencies just displayed hostility and doggedly dug out what Moon had said in his sermons at church simply to find some flaws.

Even in the medieval period, Christian and Saracen leaders exhibited mutual esteem, decorum and nobility. For example, when King Richard the Lionheart led the Third Crusades, Saladin dispatched his brother Al-Adil to negotiate with Richard. In her book, Shiono wrote, “Richard was impressed, not by the luxurious gifts Al-Adil brought to him, but by the Sarasen leader’s decency, courtesy and integrity. The 34-year-old Richard and the 48-year-old Al-Adil admired each other.” Although their talk did not turn out to be successful, they still held each other in esteem. Unfortunately, when our political leaders meet for a talk these days, they do not seem to respect each other at all. Instead, they relentlessly antagonize their political counterparts as if they were unpardonable archenemies.

Even Christians and Muslims can sometimes reconcile and become good friends. Regrettably, however, Koreans are divided ideologically and blindly hate each other. Living in the whirlpool of ideological war in today’s Korean society, I often wonder, “Why do we not have such great political leaders as Balian and Saladin, or Richard and Al-Adil? And when can South Korea finally become the kingdom of heaven in which everybody can coexist in peace despite the ideological differences?” 

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. ― Ed.