The similar histories of Taiwan and South Korea

By Lee Min-yung 李敏勇





After A scandal erupted around South Korean President Park Geun-hye, millions of South Koreans took to the streets in protest, demanding that she step down. Her presidential powers have been suspended following her impeachment by lawmakers, and the South Korean Constitutional Court is to make the final decision.

Park, now president only in name, had promised to devote herself completely to the country as a “three-no woman”: no parents, no husband and no children. She was able to extend the legacy of her father, former South Korean president Park Chung-hee, but the legacy ends here, as the Park family rule has proven unable to resist democracy.

Park Geun-hye’s tragedy lies in her decision to run for president when she should not have; and then winning the election. Following the split between North and South Korea, Seoul has moved right. Her anti-communist father left a spiritual legacy that made it possible for her to continue his authoritarian rule — the result of a military coup in the wake of World War II. After the old military system’s reform and the following democratization, this spirit should not be allowed to rear its ugly head again.

The myths of Park Chung-hee and Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) echo each other. Invited by Chiang, Park Chung-hee visited Taiwan in the 1960s. Many high-school students were mobilized to welcome him wherever he went just to boost his ego. Flying the anti-communist banner of past authoritarian regimes, military dictators were able to control everything by using their anti-communism stance to monopolize power. The Martial Law era under the Chiang family and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was no different.

Park Chung-hee was accused of serving as a military police officer during the Japanese colonial era, a part of history that still has not been dealt with in North or South Korea. He undertook his military coup in the name of justice for the nation, although in practice it was a simple power grab. This is the fundamental essence of all military coups.

Chiang also grabbed power within the KMT before taking control of everything. Graduating from a Japanese military academy, he even had a personal background similar to Park Chung-hee’s.

The divided Koreas still have not become normalized countries. Ambitious North Korea is trying to annex South Korea, which is working hard to maintain its political system of free capitalism. The resulting confrontation has hurt the normal development of both.

This is similar to the situation of Taiwan and China, although the former never really separated from the latter. Rather, Taiwan used to be occupied by China and is now dealing with the mess left by the exiled Republic of China (ROC), a fragmentary remainder of China.

A greater difference is that, as a UN member states, North and South Korea enjoy equal international status, while Taiwan is stuck with the ROC, an international orphan expelled from the UN under constant pressure from the People’s Republic of China.

Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula were both colonized by Japan. The two Koreas have become divided countries, while Taiwan has been hijacked by China and held hostage by the ROC and is more like an incomplete nation.

Chiang’s saga has ended, but his bronze statues still litter the nation. The spirit of his son and successor, late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), also continues to fill the air.

It seems the path to the normalization of a nation is rough. How can Taiwan overcome all of these obstacles? This is the test facing President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), in addition to all the problems accompanying a transfer of government power.

Lee Min-yung is a poet.

Translated by Eddy Chang