[E-rundbrief] Info 50 - CCEJ: No Korean Troops for Iraq

Matthias Reichl mareichl at ping.at
So Okt 26 23:55:19 CET 2003


E-Rundbrief - Info 50

Bad Ischl, 26.10.2003

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
www.begegnungszentrum.at

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CCEJ: No Korean Troops for Iraq

(Porträt - siehe unten und "Info 38")

Korea Should Send Not Combat Troops, But Civil Support Teams

Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice/ CCEJ

19.9.2003

At present, Korean society is in turmoil over the request from the US to 
dispatch additional troops to Iraq. The situation in March when the Korean 
government decided to send troops was quite different from this time; the 
troops that the US is asking for are combat troops, a possible loss of 
lives would be more and more likely and 200 billion Korean won per year 
might be needed at Korea's own expense. However, it is difficult for the 
Korean government to reject the request from the US for no good reason 
because this time our long-time ally which is now in a difficult situation 
because of the Iraqi war, is asking for help. Moreover, if the rejection 
may ruin the relationship between Korea and the US, it will bring negative 
effects on the economic benefits possibly accruing from Iraq and on the 
situation of the American troops stationed in Korea.

However, the problems regarding the sending troops are much larger. First, 
if Korea enters the unreasonable Iraqi war at this time, the international 
society would harshly criticize our decision. Second, there is the high 
possibility that the Islamic society might be upset with our decision to 
send troops and this could damage the Korean business as a whole in Islamic 
countries. Therefore, in a pragmatic point of view, sending combat troops 
has more negative effects than positive ones.

Furthermore, sending combat troops will not generate positive results 
always, even for the US, because Korea is a country that can carry out a 
more important role in Iraq than as a security keeper. It is time for the 
US to pay attention to the birth of a democratic society with assistance 
from the Iraqi civil society as well as a restoration of the nation. And, 
if Iraq is reborn as a democratic country, not like the case of Iran, all 
actions taken by the US will be evaluated as a historic movement by the 
Iraqi people. For accomplishing this, the US should assist the birth of 
civil society in Iraq by awakening the people of Iraq who do not like the 
US or military dictatorship. If the US continues to make effort to 
establish the US favored power in Iraq, it will result in the strengthening 
of another military dictatorship.

However, to lay the foundation of democracy as mentioned cannot be done by 
the U.S. which is the occupating force but by countries like Korea.  There 
is no rejection by the Iraqis of Koreans.   In addition, Korea ended their 
military dictatorships of the last 27 years and has reached the full growth 
of civil society through an active civil movement.  It is Korea which has 
the experience to help Iraq the most, a country who should develop 
democracy by promoting civil society after the 35 years of Hussein 
dictatorship.  Korea is one of the Asian countries whose NGOs have 
participated in the greatest number of restoration works in the war-torn 
Iraq with great interest.  Korea should develop her specialities and work 
for the revitalization of Iraqi civil society by promoting an economic 
reconstruction movement like the Saemaul Movement, by stressing education 
for democracy, and by developing civil movements.  These could bring Iraq a 
hope of democracy.

However, if Korea will be defined by the Iraqis as a perpetrator of U.S. 
policies, she cannot do anything.  The most valuable Korean contribution 
could be ruined by sending troops as public security keepers only.

If Korea spends a large sum of money for the activity of Iraqi civil 
society, Iraq can be stabilized soon thanks to Korea.  To achieve this 
stabilization quickly, the need to fight against the U.S. must be eliminated.

We want the Korean government to send civil support teams to assist the 
activity of Iraqi civil society, not to send additional combat troops.  In 
order to do that, the Korean government should work hard to persuade the 
U.S. of this course of action.  This is the only way to prevent the 
division of public opinion and also for the U.S. and Korea to win together.

http://www.ccej.or.kr/english/news_view.html?num=57

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CCEJ HISTORY

The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice was formed in response to the 
extremely unjust structure of Korean economic life today. Rapid economic 
development over the past 30 some years has brought wealth to the giant 
"chaebol" business groups singled out by the government for preferential 
treatment, and has raised the per capita GNP to more than $10,000. In this 
process, however, equitable distribution has been forgotten, the 
environment gravely damaged, and democratic development postponed. The 
priority on industrialization and urbanization has alienated large groups 
and areas and created wide structural gaps, even risking collapse of the 
economic system.

Above all, the "chaebol" monopoly system has brought undeserved suffering 
to many citizens: small-business owners, workers, farmers, fishing people 
and all the others who were the main producers of the "economic miracle." 
Regardless of the impressive GNP, these ordinary citizens see their 
economic capacity shrinking day by day.

Before CCEJ came into being, there was no organization to point out the 
structural problems in the Korean economy and to engage citizens in a 
movement for economic reform. There was, however, a base of critical 
consciousness developed through the people's resistance to three decades of 
military dictatorship, and it was this awareness, brought to a focus in the 
nationwide demonstrations of June 1987, that turned the nation to civilian 
political rule.

CCEJ was founded in 1989 by 500 some persons representing various walks of 
life: economics professors and other specialists, lawyers, housewives, 
students, young adults and business people. Their slogan, "Let's achieve 
economic justice through citizens' power," reflected their belief that the 
deep-rooted economic injustices could not be cured by government alone, but 
ultimately must be solved by the organized power of citizens. They believed 
that the fruits of economic development should be shared by all the common 
people, not just the small group of "haves;" and they proposed a new 
methodology of gradual but thorough reform of the economic system. They 
founded CCEJ as a movement that would 1) be led by the ordinary citizens, 
2) use legal and nonviolent methods, 3) seek workable alternatives, 4) 
speak for the interests of all people, regardless of economic standing, and 
5) work to overcome greed and egoism in order to build a sharing society.

While still young, the CCEJ movement has achieved several important 
successes, most notably the establishment of the "real name system" for all 
financial transactions and for the registration of property; and its active 
program of forums, seminars and public discussions has elevated public 
awareness about economic issues.

Since 1989, CCEJ's movement has grown to include also the areas of 
environmental protection, democratic development and national 
reunification. According to the issue at hand, it has lobbied government 
officials for policy changes, pressed for amendment of related laws, issued 
statements, demonstrated and held press conferences.

Many of its activities have been carried out in cooperation with other 
citizens' organizations. For example, in 1993-4, CCEJ helped to form the 
"People's Coalition to Protect Korean Agriculture," a network of 190 
organizations which pressured the government to impose conditions on the 
agricultural market opening to protect Korean farmers and the Korean food 
system from the negative effects of the Uruguay Round.

Another important area of networking has been the Fair Election Campaign, 
which mobilizes dozens of civic groups at each election time to promote 
voter awareness about the candidates' policies and to press the candidates 
themselves to present good social and economic reform platforms.

Following the reinstitution of local democratic structures in 1995, the 
nationwide network of CCEJ branch organizations has played an active role 
in educating local political leaders and citizens for effective political 
participation and sustainable local development.

At the end of the '90s CCEJ enjoys a membership in the tens of thousands, 
but recognizes the need to educate and activate its members for better 
support of its goals. Thus more emphasis is being placed on localization of 
the CCEJ movement through citizens' autonomous organization around their 
own specific community needs, while maintaining the highly effective 
strategy of alternative policy development for national-level reforms.

During the 1990s, Korean citizens' movements have contributed greatly to 
the development of civil society and democratic order through the expansion 
of citizens' participation in the public sector. Through the presentation 
of rational alternatives they are shaping the popular consensus to meet the 
needs of the times, constructively monitoring and criticizing the existing 
social systems and applying pressure for the sound development of all areas 
of Korean society.

http://www.ccej.or.kr/english/ccej.html

Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice/ CCEJ
Peirson Bldg, 201
89-27, Sinmoonro 2-ga, Jongro-gu
Seoul 110-761, Korea
Email: mmm at ccej.or.kr
www.ccej.or.kr

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Matthias Reichl
Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Wolfgangerstr.26
A-4820 Bad Ischl
Tel. +43-6132-24590
e-mail: mareichl at ping.at
http://www.begegnungszentrum.at




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