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Editorials
Monday, January 1, 2001

South Korea muzzles
criticism of North

The issue: South Korean President Kim Dae-jung is suppressing critics of North Korea.

Our view: This policy could discredit his efforts to improve relations with the North.

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THE summit meeting last June between President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was one of highlight events of 2000. Certainly the prospect of increased cooperation and reduced threat of war between the two Koreas was an immense relief.

Kim Dae-jung, with U.S. support, has reversed South Korea's long-standing policy of hostility toward the North. After failing initially to respond, Pyongyang accepted the South Korean leader's overtures. Some steps have been taken since the summit to improve relations, although much remains to be done.

Unfortunately, Kim Dae-jung, in his eagerness to improve relations with the North, has been repressing criticism of the Pyongyang regime. This is ironic in view of the president's own history as a victim of repression by previous South Korean governments.

A report in the Far Eastern Economic Review details several incidents of repression:

A Korean who teaches at a university in Japan and is a prominent critic of the North Korean regime was told by a South Korean consular official to forget about visiting Seoul to attend a conference on human rights in North Korea. The professor said the consular official "appeared worried that my presence will hurt President Kim's Sunshine Policy."

The highest ranking official to defect from North Korea was told by the South Korean intelligence service to soften criticism of North Korea. The official was almost evicted from a safe house -- which could have exposed him to attacks by North Korean agents -- until he agreed to tone down his remarks.

North Korea demanded the resignation of the chairman of the South Korean Red Cross committee because he was quoted in a magazine article describing North Korea as "poor, lacking freedom and controlled." The South Korean Ministry of National Unification sent a letter in the chairman's name expressing his regrets.

Pyongyang briefly detained a visiting correspondent from a leading Seoul newspaper, blaming him for an article criticizing North Korea. The South Korean government did not protest the detention.

Some newspapers and television stations limit coverage of the North to appeals for reunification. Hard-hitting analysis of the North has largely vanished. A journalism professor and former editor said, "A kind of reverse McCarthyism is now sweeping over our media."

North Korea is one of the most repressive regimes anywhere. It has starved and beaten its people into submission and threatened South Korea with attack for decades, recently extending its threats by developing missiles and nuclear weapons. It's essential that the effort to improve relations with Pyongyang be made without illusions as to the nature of this government.

Kim Dae-jung is making a serious mistake by suppressing the truth about North Korea in the South. Unless it is changed, this policy could discredit his peace program.

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Eliminating U.N. debt

The issue: An agreement between the Clinton administration and the United Nations would wipe out most of the U.S. debt while reducing future assessments.

Our view: Approval of the agreement would go far to improving relations with the world organization.

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THE departing Clinton administration had one notable success in foreign policy -- and it's not Northern Ireland, or the Middle East, or Russia. It's the United Nations.

The administration has made a deal with the U.N. that should result in the payment of most of Washington's past dues -- some $920 million -- in return for reductions in future U.S. assessments.

It took months of haggling to reach agreement, and much credit is due to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who has been at his post for just 16 months and devoted much of it to this problem. Previously he was the chief architect of the Dayton accords that ended the conflict in Bosnia.

Credit is also due to Ted Turner, who agreed to put up $35 million to cover the difference between the old and new U.S. assessment in the transition year. The media magnate previously pledged $1 billion over 10 years for U.N. humanitarian programs, making him the U.N.'s most generous private contributor, but the comparatively small amount of $35 million may have been crucial to sealing this deal.

Holbrooke succeeded in getting U.S. dues reduced from 25 percent to 22 percent of the U.N. administrative budget. In addition, the U.S. share of financing for peacekeeping operations was cut from 30 percent to 27 percent.

The U.N. decided to change the formula for assessments, raising dues for countries that have become richer and reducing them for countries that are having economic problems, such as South Africa.

The United States has also been pressing for administrative reforms at the world organization, which is notoriously overstaffed and inefficient. Holbrooke pointed out, for example, that there are 800 employees in the U.N. public information office. Secretary-General Kofi Annan seems to be cooperating with Washington's proposals in this regard.

The agreement gives the United States much of what Congress has demanded and should be approved by both that body and the incoming Bush administration.

Clearing away Washington's debts would remove a significant source of friction with the U.N. and America's allies, and ease the world organization's administrative problems. At the same time, the American taxpayer should not be asked to foot an exorbitant bill from the U.N. Twenty-two percent of the U.N. administrative budget is quite enough.

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Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership

Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

Frank Bridgewater, Acting Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor