South Korea supports protests in Myanmar, remembering its past history for democracy
Since the junta seized power in coup on February 1st, citizens in Myanmar took to the streets. Under the name of rigged election, the military established a dictatorship. By organizing anti-junta protests across the country, people in Myanmar are resisting against dictatorship. The regime in the country commits violence to quell protests. The protests in Myanmar and the military coup remind South Koreans of the pro-democracy movements in the second half of the 1900s.
After the Korean war, strongmen took power in South Korea. Like Myanmar in 2021, South Koreans have fought against strongmen from in the 1960s to the early 1990s. Corruptions and media censorship were rife. The then authoritarian governments silenced dissidents, as well as arresting and torturing them.
Frustrated by strongmen, citizens organized protests, fighting for democracy. Many protests were led by students, and more people fought against the junta. The military shot and killed protestors, rounding up people. Chun Doo-hwan, a strongman who brutally oppressed citizens in the 1980s, mobilized soldiers, randomly killing citizens of Gwangju in South Korea. To hide his atrocities, Chun blocked Gwangju, cutting the telephone line across the city. Later, he claimed that Gwangju is home to North Korean spies, taking advantage of anti-Communism. But, citizens in Gwangju fight against the military, which even used helicopter to murder citizens.
With violences, dictators, including Chun, have tried to distract people from its dictatorship and grafts with the so-called ‘3S policy’, which fostered the following 3 industries: sport, sex and screen. But, Koreans continued to fight for democracy, even with endless violences and the dictators’ thinly-veiled attempts to end protests.Thanks to the pro-democracy movements that were continued for a generation, South Koreans could overthrow juntas.
The modern history for democracy led South Koreans to sympathize with protestors in Myanmar. Local governments in Korea are bemoaning the junta, supporting protests in Myanmar. Lee Jae-myung, the mayor of Gyeonggi province sent a letter to the embassy of Myanmar in Seoul, criticizing the junta, noticing that some Burmese activists, he has recently met, risk being arrested in Yangon. Furthermore, Gyeonggi province decided to aid the country for protestors, thinking that South Korea is likely to see the influx of refugees from Myanmar.
Gwangju, which suffered serious casualties due to the pro-democracy against the military’s murders in 1980, also tries to back protesters in Myanmar. In the city, the local religious groups, human rights groups and civic groups are cooperating with each other, hoping that Myanmar can achieve democracy. And, citizens in Gwangju commemorated people in Myanmar, who were killed by the military.
Myanmar’s 2021 protests are the past of South Korea, that fought against dictatorship, eagering to establish democracy. People in Myanmar say that “Myanmar will be another South Korea, if we succeed in toppling the junta. Or, we will be another North Korea.”
It can be a tough fight. But, as a South Korean citizen, I hope protesters in Myanmar win the tough fight for full-fledged democracy, as my home country did.
