KCPAC 2020 ROK-USA Conference
4.15 General Election Analysis
Grand Hyatt Hotel, Seoul, South Korea
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honor to have you at KCPAC 2020. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all of you who are here. It is my honor to be in your presence.
Today, there are two countries on the Korean Peninsula. They have the same starting point since liberation from Japanese Occupation on August 15th 1945, but the results in each country are far different. In North Korea we have a failed communist country. In South Korea, a prosperous liberal democracy.
Over the past 75 years, North Korea has become a one-man dictatorship that ruthlessly oppresses its people. All freedoms are suppressed through its totalitarian system. Meanwhile, South Korea has become one of the world’s most successful economic powers in the 5,000-year history of the Korean Peninsula with a free market economy.
North Koreans suffer constant poverty and hunger, while South Koreans enjoy economic affluence.
North Koreans are deprived of basic freedoms. They live within a prison-like system. Meanwhile, South Koreans travel the world freely.
North Koreans have no freedom of expression, living amid constant oppression. They cannot express themselves within North Korea, or beyond it. Meanwhile, South Koreans freely express themselves in South Korea and around the world.
North Koreans are enslaved by the regime. Yet, South Koreans live as owners of their government, they live with constitutional rights.
The historical and contemporary tragedy on the Korean Peninsula serves as an example and a warning to the world. The results are totally conclusive. It is clearly proven that the Republic of Korea made the right choice.
South Korea, devastated by the Korean War in 1950, achieved miraculous growth and development because of its free market economy and because of its liberal democratic system. It respects the universal values of mankind.
There were also great leaders. Rhee Syng-man, chose this system. Park Chung-hee, laid the foundation for the nation’s economic prosperity.
But there is one more important fact when talking about South Korea’s success and development. It is the existence of the U.S.-South Korea alliance formed in blood.
Seventy years ago, more than 36,000 U.S. soldiers died for Korea. More than 100,000 were badly wounded. All to prevent the invasion by North Korea, China and the Soviet Union. Without those American heroes, today’s liberal democracy of South Korea would not exist.
Without the U.S.-ROK alliance, which keeps South Korea’s security strong to this day, South Korea could not have join the ranks of the wealthiest nations of the earth.
We honor the heroes who dedicated everything to the freedom of the Korean people and the American soldiers who continue to firmly protect South Korea from the nuclear threat of the North Korean dictatorship.
Today, South Korea faces its biggest crisis since North Korean invaded the South in 1950, turning the Korean Peninsula into a waring bloodbath.
In South Korea, a land defended by countless heroes with their blood, there are admirers who praise the Chinese Communist Party. There are admirers who praise the North Korean dictator. They praise leaders who violate people’s basic rights and freedoms through tyranny, fascism and oppression. These admirers of the Chinese Communist Party and North Korea’s dictator are shaking the foundation of liberal democracy in the Republic of Korea.
The values and rights of liberal democracy which we believe in and hold dear, are threatened by those who follow and praise socialism, communism, and murderous dictators.
They manipulated South Korea’s April 15 2020 elections using dishonest methods. They took away the rights and freedoms of the South Korean people. The National Assembly elections held in South Korea clearly showed that the rights of the people are violated.
The citizens’ vote, which must be fair and transparent, became a means of power abuse by those in collusion with China and North Korea.
They are working to destroy 70 years of achievements and liberal democratic institutions that the Republic of Korea and the United States have built on the Korean Peninsula.
My fellow Koreans,
Let us not forget this historical fact: the system of freedom chosen by the South Korean people was the correct choice.
Freedom and democracy are as precious as our very lives. If freedom and rights are lost, the nation will fall victim to dictatorship. South Korea will become like the slave state of North Korea.
If we give up, there is no future for the Republic of Korea. We, ourselves, must unite to protect the country and its institutions.
Antagonism and divisions will lead to the collapse of a liberal democratic system.
With a singleness of purpose and vision, we must regain our freedom; regain justice; catch hold of our rights; and work toward fairness. We must rebuild the trust that has been taken away.
Let us step up for the future of a prosperous Korean peninsula.
I firmly believe that each individual’s passion and patriotism will protect our future and that of our children.
Thank you.
