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Korea
Cause for optimism?
American visits bring hope for Catholics
There was moderate enthusiasm in South Korea for the visit made by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to North Korea in October. The promise made to Albright by North Korean President Kim Jong Il—that he would freeze production of nuclear weapons—was seen by many Koreans as a step towards reconciliation between the hard-line Communist government of the North and the rest of the world. “But Kim Jong Il has still to win the people’s confidence,” a Catholic woman in the southern capital said.
Cardinal Stephen Kim also reflected on prospects for the future of the two Koreas. The 78-year-old retired archbishop of Seoul said: “We hope this visit will result at least in peaceful coexistence. With regard to reconciliation between the two Koreas, it is early yet. If we increase our cooperation, it will take some years . . . how many? God alone knows . . . .”
Cardinal Kim continued, “I think that if North Korea establishes good relations with the United States and Japan, South Korea stands to benefit. Of course the United States will pursue its own interests in the peninsula, but it is also true that they can only make suggestions to Pyongyang and Seoul, they cannot make decisions: it is up to the governments of North and South to take the steps necessary to improve cooperation between the two.”
When asked if the visit by the American Secretary of State would have a positive effect on the situation of human rights and religious freedom in North Korea, the elderly cardinal said, “I see no chance of immediate improvement. Perhaps in the future, but only gradually. North Korea is changing, but only externally. No changes are seen internally. Power is still in the hands of the only party. From this point of view nothing has changed at all.”
Back to Catholic World Report December 2000 Table of Contents