Three challenges from the Korean War

Cho Yoon-je

The author is professor emeritus at Sogang University and a member of the Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Korea.

As bright sunlight follows after summer showers, summer flowers bloomed in Songhyun Park next to Gyeongbok Palace. The peaceful place of gathering was once the residence for the U.S. Embassy employees. It is located between the residential district of Bukchon and Seochon, where families who could not escape lived when the city was occupied by the North Korean forces 73 years ago.

While it is not in the memory of the young people walking in the park today, the scars of the war remain in Seoul and most parts of the country. Bullet marks are clearly seen on the stone walls of Namdaemun, Deoksu Palace, Gyeongbok Palace, Dongshipjagak and the Bank of Korea Monetary Museum. They show how fierce the street battles had been at the time.

Bullet marks are silent, but the internal injuries Koreans suffered still remain unhealed in our society. The number of civilian casualties in the 1950-53 Korean War exceeds 2 million. This amounts to about 10 percent of the population at the time — and far exceeds the total number of soldiers of all nationalities killed in the war. The war and today’s Korea cannot be understood properly without understanding the struggle of the civilians fighting for survival. Anthropologist Kwon Heon-ik’s 2020 book “War and Family: The Korean War through the lens of family” records the deep internal wounds in the hearts of Koreans for the three years. After the war, if a family member is missing and is suspected of going over to the enemy’s side or anyone is suspected of anti-government collaboration, the rest of the family has to endure serious problems. The internal wounds now resurface as the extreme confrontation and discord between the liberals and the conservatives.

The Korean War was a civil war but also an international war. It was a war that broke out in the process of building one nation between the two groups that denied each other after being liberated from colonial rule. At the same time, it was a war where two international powers pursuing different values and systems clashed, marking the beginning of the Cold War. Also, it is the first fight between the United States and China, which are competing for hegemony today. Just as the result of the Battle of Baekgang in 663 between the Baekjae restoration forces and Japanese forces on the one side and the Silla and Tang forces on the other did, this war determined the fate of the Korean Peninsula.

When ideological confrontation and chaos escalated before and after the liberation and the establishment of the government, the Korean War led to the firm establishment of anti-communism, liberty and democracy as the national identity. As a result of the war, the Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty was signed and enormous military and economic aid came from the United States, enabling compulsory education and quick stabilization despite Korea’s poor tax revenue and production bases. The U.S. aid authorities constantly pressured the Korean government in desperate need of the U.S. dollars to take the path of market economy, helping Korea to progress to the private-led open economy it is today. The paths of South and North Korea after the war affirm how important the system of free, democratic, market economy is for national prosperity.

But the Korean War still leaves us with important tasks. First, it is the issue of unification. The internal injuries that the South and North Koreans had suffered from the war further alienated the possibility of unification of the Korean Peninsula. The external factor of the recent intensifying U.S.-China conflict also casts a dark shadow. Nevertheless, efforts should be made to continuously expand human exchange and information flow between the two Koreas. Inter-Korean unification is a global issue, and when the chance of reunification comes, the decisive factor would be the desire of North Koreans willing to unite with the South. Compromise and cooperation between the camps are necessary for this.

Second, it is the future of the Korea-U.S. alliance. Marking its 70th anniversary this year, the alliance has served as the pillar of South Korea’s rise to the world’s 10th largest economy and the backbone of its diplomacy. Keeping the clear frontline between the South Korea-U.S.-Japan group and the North Korea-China-Russia group in the middle of the peninsula is not a welcoming factor for the future of the peninsula. Korea should enhance its alliance with China, India and Europe as well, and with the U.S., Korea must expand cooperation not only in security but also in technology, knowledge and economic cooperation, and it must widen mutual understanding on Korean diplomacy’s efforts to create independent space.

Third, it is the interpretation of the value of freedom. The perception and acceptance of the concept of freedom have also changed according to countries and times. Liberal democracy and capitalism are challenged all over the world today. The value of freedom should always be pursued in balance with the value of equality. More consideration and search are needed to achieve the harmony of economic freedom and equality — two core values that often clash in South Korea society. Without reflection on this, it will be hard to guarantee a stable future and continuous prosperity of the country.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.