The following is an excerpt from an article by Takashi Suzuki, a Korean observer, former Nikkei newspaper correspondent, and head of the economics department. It appeared in the monthly magazine WiLL on September 26th in a three-column format on pages 279 to 285.
This article should be read by people worldwide, not only by the Japanese.
It is the depth of the crime of the mass media, including the Asahi Shimbun, which has yet to convey the reality of Korea as revealed by his exertion.
The crime of the Komei Party and pro-Korean factions, or the legislators with vested interests in Korea, who have even begun to provide guidance and announcements in the country's language in Japanese public institutions, is profound.
Korea will disappear - why?
We will get to the actual situation in Korea that the media is not reporting on.
Despite having the world's worst birthrate,
the preamble is omitted
arrogance has brought about its own destruction.
So why did the Koreans not feel a sense of crisis even as they fell into the world's worst situation of low birthrate and aging population?
The new book "The Demise of Korea" (Shinchosha Publishing) answers this question.
The answer can be summed up in one word: "arrogance."
From around the start of the 21st century, the Koreans became increasingly confident that their country was "the best in the world."
Even though the birthrate was declining at an alarming rate and the population was aging, there were no warnings that the country would disappear if things continued.
One of the Korean journalists who had worked as a Tokyo correspondent wrote an article saying that Korea would follow Japan into an aging society, but it was completely ignored.
At a time when the whole country was celebrating its victory over Japan, no one wanted to hear talk of "falling into the same trap as Japan."
It wasn't just the "abnormally low birth rate" that Korean society ignored.
The same was true of "the regression of democracy" and "diplomatic isolation."
Koreans celebrated "democracy that surpasses Japan" and were intoxicated by "genius diplomacy that manipulates the US and China and strikes Japan."
The strangeness of Korean politics is well-known in Japan.
It has become customary in Korea for successive presidents to be arrested or commit suicide after leaving office.
It has not changed since the democratization of 1987.
Under the left-wing Moon Jae-in administration, two conservative former presidents, Lee Myung-bak, and Park Geun-hye, were imprisoned.
The current conservative administration of Yoon Seok-yeol is also extending its investigations to the family of former President Moon Jae-in.
It has already tried to detain Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the left-wing Democratic Party of Korea, who was his opponent in the 2022 presidential election, on corruption charges.
However, Lee Jae-myung avoided arrest by using the immunity of parliament members.
Japanese political journalists write about "intense opposition between the ruling and opposition parties" in their articles, but compared to South Korea, the opposition in Japan is minimal.
Losing an election doesn't mean you go to jail.
In South Korea, the losing side in a presidential election is thrown into jail regardless of whether they are politicians, bureaucrats, judges, or military officers.
This absurdity happens in South Korea because the judiciary, including the prosecutors and courts, is not neutral.
When the president changes, the prosecutors go all out investigating the political enemies of the new president, and the courts hand down their verdicts to the new president's wishes.
There is no separation of powers.
Interestingly, there are no voices from the public pointing out this abnormality.
On the contrary, many Koreans boast that "our country's high standard of democracy is something that even the Japanese are envious of."
To put it bluntly, people who have never experienced judicial neutrality, the separation of powers, or a country governed by law need to understand how fortunate they are, and they don't aim to become a country governed by law.
Ultimately, I don't think South Korea will ever become a democratic nation like Japan or Western Europe. Western and Japanese-style democracies flourish on the rule of law.
China is the same in that it will never become a democracy and doesn't even try to become one.
When I say this, people ask me, "Why do Koreans think that Korea is a democratic country?
One answer is that they are confident that 'Korea is the best in the world.'
Another is that 'Korea is a Confucian country.'
In countries like China and Korea, which Confucianism has governed, the basic principle is 'to govern with virtue.'
The law is secondary and not absolute.
From the perspective of China and Korea, "a Confucian democratic nation has already been realized."
While working in Seoul, a close Korean friend told me, "This country applies the law arbitrarily. Even if you do the same thing as other people, if the authorities see you, you will be caught, so be careful".
He also said, "Japanese people from a country wIt is something to keep in mind when dealing with the country of Korea.
This is true not only for individuals but also for the country as a whole.
I have already discussed the superficial democracy of Korea in depth in Chapter 2 of 'The Demise of Korea.'
This article continues.
2024/10/1 in Umeda
