Havel’s inspiration honored in Seoul

The legacy of Vaclav Havel should inspire commitment to promoting human rights and democracy in North Korea, the director of South Korea’s Human Rights Special Committee has said.

Kim Tae-hoon praised the former Czech president, who died in December, at a memorial in Seoul on Friday.

“Havel’s life was a most noble one, dedicated to democracy and human rights, and I lack the words to give it due honor,” said Kim at the ceremony on the 35th anniversary of Charter 77. The leader helped author the Czech human rights declaration and was a leader of the Velvet Revolution, which ended Czechoslovakia’s communist regime in 1989.

Kim contrasted the democracy activist with Kim Jong-il, who also died last month.

“At this time, when the death of a dictator who is responsible for the human rights crisis in North Korea calls for a new initiative in the North Korean human rights movement, we should continue to uphold Mr. Havel’s unwavering commitment to democratization and human rights,” he said.

Havel was the last Czechoslovakian president from 1989-1992 and the first president of the Czech Republic from 1993-2003. He died on Dec. 18 at age 75.

He also repeatedly criticized North Korea for its political prison camps and for “committing crimes against humanity against its own people.”

Kim said that while Havel and the former Pyongyang leader were of the same era, “one man is universally revered while the other is condemned.”

He pointed out that both used art in their political activism ― the Czech through his communism-attacking absurdist theater, and the North Korean through regime-glorifying propaganda.

Also speaking at Friday’s event, Czech diplomat Ivan Vlcek recalled meeting Havel while posted in India in 1994.

“When I officially welcomed him to India, I spent a blessed three hours with him during a technical landing of his Air Force One. He humbly asked me if we could leave the comfortable and up-to-standards secured VIP airport complex and go for a ‘walk to India’

“So, much to the dismay of the Indian presidential security service, we enjoyed time before departing struggling through hot, humid, dusty, busy and noisy Indian streets around the airport meeting passersby and chatting with shop owners,” said Vlcek, who is currently charge de affaires at the Czech embassy in Seoul.

“When you say the Czech Republic, people around the world immediately recall Vaclav Havel and his humanist message: ‘Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred.’”

Founder and chairman of the Citizen’s Alliance for North Korean Human Rights Benjamin Yoon, who helped organize the event at the 4.19 Revolution Library, said Havel’s legacy as the “conscience of Europe” will live on after death: “No matter how much time will pass, he is a timeless figure whose influence will continue to shine.”

And co-organizer Young Yoon of the April Society called for a continuation of Havel’s humanitarian legacy.

“Just as we witnessed the democratization of the Eastern European countries and the Jasmine Revolution in North Africa and the Middle East, we know the oppressed people’s hope for human rights and democracy will triumph all over the world, especially in Asia and including North Korea,” he said.

By Kirsty Taylor
(kirstyt@heraldcorp.com)