2019 July SU:P Newsletter (Vol.50)
Table of Contents
2. Korea’s Road to Democracy:
3. “Men and Citizens:” What it Means to be a Conscientious Objector in South Korea
1. Cuba: Where Si Se Puede
My first visit to Cuba was in July 2017. Like the millions inspired by its revolutionary spirit and history, I fell in love with this powerful place and its people. Since then, I’ve organized several delegations and educational exchanges to Cuba with Black and Brown organizers, farmers, artists, educators, and healers from the United States. After each trip, people have approached me with concerned looks and some variation of the question: “Isn't Cuba changing?” It’s a strange question and riddled with layers. Often, I reply, “Should it not be?” Cuba is not the same as it was sixty years ago. (click to read)
2. Korea’s Road to Democracy:
On June 16 and 29, the International Strategy Center had two events exploring Korea’s Road to Democracy: A Film Screening with Music Event around the 1980 Gwangju Uprising and a visit to the Democracy and Human Rights Memorial Hall around the democratization movement that followed and then culminated in the 1987 June Democratic Uprising. The following are reflections from the participants.
On the Other Side of Another Wall
The social movements from the late 1970’s to the 1980’s were marked by labor rights issues, democracy movements, and called for an end to the military regime. This was the era in which the Gwangju uprising was quashed by military force, and a military rule blanketed Korean society. In the name of economic expansion, the country’s industry expanded at the expense of human rights concerns. The administration lacked legitimacy and Koreans demonstrated to express their demands for progress on a myriad of issues. The anti-Communist investigation division [currently the Democracy and Human Rights Hall] was one of the places used by the state to suppress social movements by detaining their leaders and activitists.(click to read)Learning Our Still Present Past
Park Jong Chul died from being tortured for fighting for democracy. How scared must he have been. He might even have yearned for a calm and happy life like any other. However, sacrificing it all, he died for democracy. We must continue forward. But, we mustn’t forget. Lest this repeat. Those that gave the orders are not asking forgiveness, nor do they feel its need. They are just waiting for time to pass and people to forget. We mustn’t forget. (click to read)
3. “Men and Citizens:” What it Means to be a Conscientious Objector in South Korea
Conscription has shaped South Korean manhood, citizenship, and society. As mandatory military service is reformed by the Moon government and conscientious objectors make headlines, and notions of manhood and citizenship are challenged in Korea. (click to read)