Video #15 - South Korea: Election Issues (and Later Developments)

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

sources | lesson plan

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

When ruling liberal party candidate Roh Moo-hyun won South Korea's presidential election in December of 2002, it was a victory for the country's younger voters, in one of the tightest presidential races in that country's history. Mr. Roh reiterated his pledge to maintain the former administration's policy of engaging communist North Korea despite recent difficulties with that nation's nuclear program. He voiced hope that trade and dialogue could encourage North Korea to set aside its "militaristic tendencies and Cold War rhetoric."

The policy of "sunshine" toward North Korea was begun by Mr. Roh's predecessor, President Kim Dae-jung, who had served for the previous five-year term. The main election issue in the election campaign-between Roh and the opposition candidate Lee Hoi-chang-was the future of the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea. The other major concern in the upcoming December election was North Korea's nuclear weapons.

On the issue of U.S. troops, Mr. Roh had stated that the bilateral agreement defining the legal status of the American military needed to be revised. Some of his supporters called for a withdrawal of the troops. In the weeks before the election, anti-American protests proliferated in South Korea due to the acquittal of two U.S. servicemen whose armored vehicle ran over and killed two South Korean schoolgirls.

After the election, the United States, South Korea and Japan held talks in early January to discuss how to pressure North Korea to adhere to the 1994 anti-nuclear treaty in which Pyongyang agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons program in return for aid from the United States, Japan and South Korea. The conference followed the admission by North Korea (in October 2002) that it was assembling equipment that could reprocess uranium into weapons-grade material, in violation of the 1994 agreement. Since then, the North Korean government has also restarted a small nuclear reactor to produce plutonium, which can be used for nuclear arms, and kicked out U.N. nuclear inspectors. David Swatzentruber of the Bangkok Post suggested this move may be an attempt to gain respect from the U.S.-and could be a sign that North Korea wants to be treated as a worthy negotiator rather than an enemy.

On February 25, 2003, on the eve of Mr. Roh's inauguration as South Korea's president, North Korea fired a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan. Both South Korea and the U.S. downplayed the event and agreed that it was a military training exercise. The event occurred while Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Prime Minister Junichiro Lizumi of Japan arrived for the day's ceremonies. The missile originated at a site from the north of the Korean Peninsula and traveled east in the general direction of Japan.

In 1998, North Korea fired a ballistic missile that passed over Japan. Subsequently, North Korea pledged to maintain its moratorium on missile tests. Japan cautiously responded that this vow had not been broken by the recent launch. However, many view this action as one of a series of provocations from the North. "Strictly speaking, this is a violation of the missile moratorium," said Yasuhiko Yoshida, a North Korea expert at Osaka University for Economics and Law.

Additionally, on April 10, North Korea became the first country to quit the 33-year-old global treaty banning the spread of nuclear weapons. There are indications that it is continuing preparations to become a serial producer of nuclear bombs. Because North Korea has a long history of selling weapons, U.N. officials fear that could lead to the selling of bombs to rogue states or terrorist groups. When the Security Council met on April 9, China and Russia were reported to have blocked even the issuance of a non-binding statement by the Security Council president condemning North Korea's behavior. U.S. ambassador John Negroponte also reassured Pyongyang that the U.S. would seek diplomatic solutions to the crisis. In a March meeting with Maurice Strong, a special adviser to the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, North Korean leaders warned that any U.N. action against it would be considered an act of war. The North Koreans claimed the U.S. invasion of Iraq confirmed its fear that it would be next. It threatened to use "tremendous" deterrent force to avert a U.S. attack. South Korea's response came from Lee Ji-yeon, a spokeswoman for President Roh Moo-hyun. She said, "North Korea should abide by the NPT to make the nation nuclear-free. We will keep up close consultations with interested countries to cope with these problems."

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SOURCES

"U.S. agrees to talk with North Korea." CNN.com, January 7, 2003. Bickers, Amy, "South Korea Elections Results." December 19, 2002. Struck, Doug, "North Korea Fires Missile on Eve Of Transition In the South." washingtonpost.com, February 25, 2003. Swartzentruber, David, "South Korea's reaction to North Korea's nuclear threat." Bangkok Post, October 2002. www.bangkokpost.com

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LESSON PLAN

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:

10-12 grade Economics, International Relations, World History, Geography, International Baccalaureate Programs (IB), Current Events.

PURPOSE:

To present activities to be used in a variety of classroom situations in order to enhance student understanding of the Asian economy and its significance globally.

OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to:

1. Locate North and South Korea on a map of Asia.
2. Describe relations between North and South Korea during the course of their history.
3. Analyze common concerns between the two peninsular nations.
4. Evaluate the role of the United States, Russia, Japan and China in the history of these two nations.
5. Speculate about the future of these relationships.

MATERIALS:

1. Background information provided.
2. Resources on South and North Korea available at your school's Media Center and the Public Library System in your area.
3. Background information available through Internet "search engines".

ACTIVITIES:

May be assigned as group activities or as individual tasks. They may also be designed as preparation for related presentations either by individuals or groups.

1. Illustrate North and South Korea on a map of Asia.
2. Create a time line of historical events linking the two nations.
3. Write weekly updates of the unfolding events on the issue of North Korea's nuclear proliferation.
4. Hold a mock United Nations Security Council meeting on North Korea's policies.
5. Hold a mock summit meeting between South Korea, U.S., Russia, China and Japan dealing with the North Korean issue of nuclear capability.
6. Write an editorial expressing your recommendations on the issues presented.

EVALUATION:

Individual assignments should be graded by the teacher using established criteria.

Group activities, presentations and projects may be evaluated by teachers and students using the following criteria and scale: Content 1 = Superior (A) Creativity 2 = Excellent (B) Clarity 3 = Good (C) 4 = Fair (D) 5 = Poor (F)

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