Recently, two events in the news shook the world. One was the tragic disaster in Itaewon that took away the lives of 156 people, including 26 foreigners from 14 countries, who died in a crowd crush while celebrating Halloween in Seoul. The other one was the violent assault on Paul Pelosi, husband of the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, by a man with a hammer. Pelosi is now recovering from a skull fracture.
After the Itaewon tragedy, many people are taking to the streets in anger and grief. A number of opposition party politicians were quick to blame the Yoon administration for the disaster. Others blamed the police for not preparing for the accident properly. There are also those who blamed the people celebrating Halloween for the tragic accident.
However, while it is important to learn from this tragedy how to better prepare in the future so that similar catastrophes will not happen again, there is a limit to how much sense some of these accusations make. Some of the accusations can be the logical equivalent of blaming BTS, or the entire country of South Korea, when a similar stampede happens during a K-pop concert. Moreover, there is a danger that the zealous drive to find somebody or something to blame threatens peace and stability in our society, bringing socio-political disruptions only.
In truth, we all bear some responsibility for the Itaewon tragedy because we had failed to provide a safer environment for the victims. In that sense, we all should humbly apologize to those who had died in the disaster. We should also express our profound condolences for the foreign victims. They came to South Korea because they liked Korean culture and people. Yet, we failed to protect them while they were in our country.
Instead of faultfinding, therefore, we should mourn for the deceased and pledge that we prevent such a disaster from happening here in the future. Instead of deriding other countries for their strict manuals, we should have emergency manuals ourselves. Instead of repeating disasters endlessly, we should do something this time to put an end to such catastrophes.
The brutal attack on Paul Pelosi, too, worries us because it seriously undermines democracy. According to the press, the perpetrator’s initial target was Nancy Pelosi, a leading figure of the Democratic Party and Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Physical assault on someone who has different opinions directly defies the principle of democracy and free speech. The attacker turned out to be an undocumented illegal Canadian on an expired visitor visa. Ironically, however, he supported the Republican Party, which supports a strict anti-immigration policy.
Recently, the website of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington carried a blog by Jacob Ware with a comment, “Violence during the election season undermines the United States’ democracy, its relationship with allies, and its strength against adversaries.” Under the title, “Elections, Violence, and the Future of American Democracy,” Ware writes that today “experts and government bodies alike are increasingly warning of (mostly far-right) violence before and after the 2022 midterms, with a number of issues often painted in existential terms -- such as abortion and gun violence -- on the ballot.”
It is disheartening that the United States, which has long been an emblem of democracy, is experiencing a crisis of democracy. The Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol already appalled not only Americans but also the people of the world. Through this outrageous, disgraceful incident, the whole world witnessed and was dismayed by the deterioration of American democracy.
In Korea, too, democracy is at stake due to the skirmishes between the ruling Democratic Party and the opposition People Power Party. Another thing that is undermining Korean democracy is the daily scuffles in Gwanghwamun Square between the extreme left and the extreme right, led by two radically different church pastors. The problem is that political ideologies, when combined with religious beliefs, can easily become a dogmatic lethal weapon that endangers democracy and peace.
Hopelessly watching these political melees as they undermine Korean democracy every day, moderate Korean people silently despair. Recently, a newspaper columnist lamented that Korean politics had fallen into a sinkhole. Historically, the fall of a country always begins from within, not from outside threats. We should keep that in mind.
It is deplorable that in the 21st century, we are still witnessing the decline of democracy and peace on earth. It is embarrassing and disheartening that new dictators emerge, wars break out, and people assault others who are different from them. It is also lamentable that people die due to our carelessness. Indeed, we are now living in difficult times in every sense. Still, we should do our best to sustain human decency, defend democracy, and maintain peace on earth.
By Kim Seong-kon
Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are his own. -- Ed.
