|
The
Nobel Peace Prize for 2000
The Nobel Lecture given by The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2000,
Kim Dae-jung(Oslo, December 10, 2000)
General permission is granted for the publication in newspapers
in any language. Publication in periodicals or books, or in
digital or electronic forms, otherwise than in summary, requires
the consent of the Foundation. On all publications in full
or in major parts the underlined copyright notice must be
applied.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation, Stockholm, 1999.
Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Human rights and peace have a sacred ground in Norway. The Nobel Peace Prize is
a solemn message that inspires all humanity to dedicate ourselves to peace. I
am infinitely grateful to be given the honor. But I think of the countless people
and colleagues in Korea, who have given themselves willingly to democracy and
human rights and the dream of national unification. And I must conclude that the
honor should go to them.
I also think of the many countries and friends around the world, who have given
generous support to the efforts of my people to achieve democratization and inter-Korean
reconciliation. I thank them very sincerely.
I know that the first South-North Korean summit meeting in June and the start
of inter-Korean reconciliation is one of the reasons for which I am given the
Nobel Peace Prize.
Distinguished guests,
I would like to speak to you about the breakthrough in South-North Korean relations
that the Nobel Committee has judged worthy of its commendation. In mid-June, I
traveled to Pyongyang for the historic meeting with Chairman Kim Jong-il of the
North Korean National Defense Commission. I went with a heavy heart not knowing
what to expect, but convinced that I must go for the reconciliation of my people
and peace on the Korean peninsula. There was no guarantee that the summit meeting
would go well. Divided for half-a-century after a three-year war, South and North
Korea have lived in mutual distrust and enmity across the barbed-wire fence of
the demilitarized zone.
To replace the dangerous stand-off with peace and cooperation, I proclaimed my
sunshine policy upon becoming President in February 1998, and have consistently
promoted its message of reconciliation with the North: first, we will never accept
unification through communization; second, nor would we attempt to achieve unification
by absorbing the North; and third, South and North Korea should seek peaceful
coexistence and cooperation. Unification, I believe, can wait until such a time
when both sides feel comfortable enough in becoming one again, no matter how long
it takes. At first, North Korea resisted, suspecting that the sunshine policy
was a deceitful plot to bring it down. But our genuine intent and consistency,
together with the broad support for the sunshine policy from around the world,
including its moral leaders such as Norway, convinced North Korea that it should
respond in kind. Thus, the South-North summit could be held.
I had expected the talks with the North Korean leader to be extremely tough, and
they were. However, starting from the shared desire to promote the safety, reconciliation
and cooperation of our people, the Chairman and I were able to obtain some important
agreements.
First, we agreed that unification must be achieved independently and peacefully,
that unification should not be hurried along and for now the two sides should
work together to expand peaceful exchanges and cooperation and build peaceful
coexistence.
Second, we succeeded in bridging the unification formulas of the two sides, which
had remained widely divergent. By proposing a "loose form of federation" this
time, North Korea has come closer to our call for a confederation of "one people,
two systems, two independent governments" as the pre-unification stage. For the
first time in the half-century division, the two sides have found a point of convergence
on which the process toward unification can be drawn out.
Third, the two sides concurred that the US military presence on the Korean peninsula
should continue for stability on the peninsula and Northeast Asia.
During the past 50 years, North Korea had made the withdrawal of the US troops
from the Korean peninsula its primary point of contention. I said to Chairman
Kim: "The Korean peninsula is surrounded by the four powers of the United States,
Japan, China and Russia. Given the unique geopolitical location not to be found
any other time or place, the continued US military presence on the Korean peninsula
is indispensable to our security and peace, not just for now but even after unification.
Look at Europe. NATO had been created and American troops stationed in Europe
so as to deter the Soviet Union and the East European bloc. But, now, after the
fall of the communist bloc, NATO and US troops are still there in Europe, because
they continue to be needed for peace and stability in Europe."
To this explanation of mine, Chairman Kim, to my surprise, had a very positive
response. It was bold switch from North Korea's long-standing demand, and a very
significant move for peace on the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia.
We also agreed that the humanitarian issue of the separated families should be
promptly addressed. Thus, since the summit, the two sides have been taking steps
to alleviate their pain. The Chairman and I also agreed to promote economic cooperation.
Thus, the two sides have signed an agreement to work out four key legal instruments
that would facilitate the expansion of inter-Korean economic cooperation, such
as investment protection and double-taxation avoidance agreements. Meanwhile,
we have continued with the humanitarian assistance to the North, with 300,000
tons of fertilizer and 500,000 tons of food. Sports, culture and arts, and tourism
exchanges have also been activated in the follow-up to the summit.
Furthermore, for tension reduction and the establishment of durable peace, the
defense ministers of the two sides have met, pledging never to wage another war
against each other. They also agreed to the needed military cooperation in the
work to relink the severed railway and road between South and North Korea.
Convinced that improved inter-Korean relations is not enough for peace to fully
settle on the Korean peninsula, I have strongly encouraged Chairman Kim to build
better ties with the United States and Japan as well as other western countries.
After returning from Pyongyang, I urged President Clinton of the United States
and Prime Minister Mori of Japan to improve relations with North Korea.
At the 3rd ASEM Leaders' Meeting in Seoul in late October, I advised our friends
in Europe to do the same. Indeed, many advances have recently been made between
North Korea and the United States, as well as between North Korea and many countries
of Europe. I am confident that these developments will have a decisive influence
in the advancement of peace on the Korean peninsula.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the decades of my struggle for democracy, I was constantly faced with the refutation
that western-style democracy was not suitable for Asia, that Asia lacked the roots.
This is far from true. In Asia, long before the west, the respect for human dignity
was written into systems of thought, and intellectual traditions upholding the
concept of "demos" took root. "The people are heaven. The will of the people is
the will of heaven. Revere the people, as you would heaven." This was the central
tenet in the political thoughts of China and Korea as early as three thousand
years ago. Five centuries later in India, Buddhism rose to preach the supreme
importance of one's dignity and rights as a human being.
There were also ruling ideologies and institutions that placed the people first.
Mencius, disciple of Confucius, said: "The king is son of heaven. Heaven sent
him to serve the people with just rule. If he fails and oppresses the people,
the people have the right, on behalf of heaven, to dispose of him." And this,
2,000 years before John Locke expounded the theory of the social contract and
civic sovereignty.
In China and Korea, feudalism was brought down and replaced with counties and
prefectures before the birth of Christ, and civil service exams to recruit government
officials are a thousand years-old. The exercise of power by the king and high
officials were monitored by robust systems of auditing. In sum, Asia was rich
in the intellectual and institutional traditions that would provide fertile grounds
for democracy. What Asia did not have was the organizations of representative
democracy. The genius of the west was to create the organizations, a remarkable
accomplishment that has greatly advanced the history of humankind.
Brought into Asian countries with deep roots in the respect for demos, western
democratic institutions have adapted and functioned admirably, as can be seen
in the cases of Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Bangladesh,
Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In East Timor, the people went to the polling stations to
vote for their independence, despite the threat to their lives from the savage
militias. In Myanmar, Madam Aung San Suu Kyi is still leading the struggle for
democracy. She retains wide support of the people. I have every confidence that
there, too, democracy will prevail and a representative government will be restored.
Distinguished guests,
I believe that democracy is the absolute value that makes for human dignity, as
well as the only road to sustained economic development and social justice.
Without democracy the market economy cannot blossom, and without market economics,
economic competitiveness and growth cannot be achieved.
A national economy lacking a democratic foundation is a castle built on sand.
Therefore, as President of the Republic of Korea, I have made the parallel development
of democracy and market economics, supplemented with a system of productive welfare,
the basic mission of my government.
To achieve the mission, during the past two-and-a-half years, we have taken steps
to actively guarantee the democratic rights of our citizens. We have also been
steadfast in implementing bold reforms in the financial, corporate, public and
labor sectors. Furthermore, the efforts to promote productive welfare, focusing
on human resources development for all citizens, including the low-income classes,
have made much headway.
The reforms will continue in Korea. We are committed to the early completion of
the current reform measures, as well as to reform as an on-going process of transformation
into a first-rate economy of the 21st century. This we hope to achieve by combining
the strength of our traditional industries with the endless possibilities that
lie in the information and bio-tech fields.
The knowledge and information age of the 21st century promises to be an age of
enormous wealth. But it also presents the danger of hugely growing wealth gaps
between and within countries. The problem presents itself as a serious threat
to human rights and peace. In the new century, we must continue the fight against
the forces that suppress democracy and resort to violence. We must also strive
to deal with the new challenge to human rights and peace with steps to alleviate
the information gap, to help the developing countries and the marginalized sectors
of society to catch up with the new age.
Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, ladies and gentlemen,
Allow me to say a few words on a personal note. Five times I faced near death
at the hands of dictators, six years I spent in prison, and forty years I lived
under house arrest or in exile and under constant surveillance. I could not have
endured the hardship without the support of my people and the encouragement of
fellow democrats around the world. The strength also came from deep personal beliefs.
I have lived, and continue to live, in the belief that God is always with me.
I know this from experience. In August of 1973, while exiled in Japan, I was kidnapped
from my hotel room in Tokyo by intelligence agents of the then military government
of South Korea. The news of the incident startled the world. The agents took me
to their boat at anchor along the seashore. They tied me up, blinded me, and stuffed
my mouth. Just when they were about to throw me overboard, Jesus Christ appeared
before me with such clarity. I clung to him and begged him to save me. At that
very moment, an airplane came down from the sky to rescue me from the moment of
death.
Another faith is my belief in the justice of history. In 1980, I was sentenced
to death by the military regime. For six months in prison, I awaited the execution
day. Often, I shuddered with fear of death. But I would find calm in the fact
of history that justice ultimately prevails. I was then, and am still, an avid
reader of history. And I knew that in all ages, in all places, he who lives a
righteous life dedicated to his people and humanity may not be victorious, may
meet a gruesome end in his lifetime, but will be triumphant and honored in history;
he who wins by injustice may dominate the present day, but history will always
judge him to be a shameful loser. There can be no exception.
Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, ladies and gentlemen,
Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, the honoree is committed to an endless duty.
I humbly pledge before you that, as the great heroes of history have taught us,
as Alfred Nobel would expect of us, I shall give the rest of my life to human
rights and peace in my country and the world, and to the reconciliation and cooperation
of my people. I ask for your encouragement and the abiding support of all who
are committed to advancing democracy and peace around the world.
Thank you.
|
|
