The U.S. imperialists and others, including Canada, used the issue
of the Berlin Wall and the division of Germany to push their
ambition to re-establish capitalism in the former Soviet Union and
countries of eastern Europe. They demanded that the wall be brought
down and made doing so the "symbol of freedom," "human rights,"
"unity of the German nation," "democracy," and so on. But when it
comes to the concrete wall which divides Korea into two at the 38th
parallel, they remain silent and treat it as a joke, as an occasion
to make a mockery of the sacred demand of the Korean people for the
reunification of their nation. In this way, they seek to dismiss
the demand of the Korean people for the U.S. imperialists to get
out of Korea, for the elimination of nuclear weapons from the
Korean peninsula and for national reunification. They spread
maximum disinformation about the situation in Korea, claiming that
the "north" is responsible for the tension on the Korean peninsula,
while the foreign imperialists are for "peace."
A most despicable role is played in this by Canada which not
only participated in the U.S. aggression against Korea from 1950 to
1953 under the U.N. flag, but remains silent about the crimes being
committed in south Korea today. The official position of the
Government of Canada as concerns the flagrant violations of human
rights in south Korea and the division of the Korean nation is to
remain silent! This shows that their opposition to the Berlin Wall
was self serving promotion of anti-communism so as to establish
their own dictate over the former Soviet Union and countries of
eastern Europe and had nothing to do with "democracy," "human
rights" or "peace." The same is the case in terms of their
anti-communist stand vis-a-vis the situation on the Korean
peninsula.
In this regard, the performance put on by Canadian Prime
Minister Jean Chretien and his entourage during their "visit" to
the Demilitarized Zone during "Team Canada's" junket to south Korea
was disgraceful. According to news reports, "Prime Minister Jean
Chretien and nine premiers played tourists at the demilitarized
zone between North and South Korea January 12. The PM
and premiers lined up to buy souvenir sweatshirts and mugs and
posed for the TV cameras when their UN military hosts gave them
hats emblazoned with their names. In return, Chretien gave his
dumbfounded South Korean hosts copies of his book, Straight From
The Heart, which was translated into Korean. None of the politicians
mentioned the fact that 26,791 Canadian soldiers fought here in the
Korean war between 1950-53. A total of 517 Canadians died in the
battlefield. ... Chretien seemd to enjoy the day off from the Team
Canada sales mission as he joked with reporters and gawked at North
Korean soldiers who, no doubt, wondered what all the fuss was
about. 'If we all stay here there will be a lot of byelections in
Canada,' he quipped after stepping onto the north side of the joint
security zone. The premiers got their pictures taken beside South
Korean guards as they laughed and bantered with each other. Asked
if he had learned anything from seeing Asia's Iron Curtain,
Chretien replied: 'We never had a war in Canada. That's it. It's a
great thing when we see the situation here.'"
Does the Prime Minister consider himself a joker? Is the DMZ
where 1.5 million soldiers of the same nation face each other a
laughing matter? Are the division of Korea, the concrete wall, the
desire of the entire Korean nation for reunification, the
stockpiling of nuclear weapons in the south by the U.S.
imperialists and the perpetual tension they create through the
deployment of thousands of U.S. troops, their command of the puppet
troops of south Korea, the maintanance of the National Security
Law and other things, a laughing matter? Are they a matter for
"tourism," "joking" and "bantering?"
It is true "we never had a war in Canada." It is also true
that since it was formed, Canada has participated in wars of
aggression and intervention all over the world, first as part of
the British empire and then on its own behalf on the side of the
U.S. imperialists. The death and destruction caused by the
aggressors in Korea, of which Canada was an integral part, are
chilling. The very existence of the DMZ and the concrete wall are
amongst the most sobering facts of the final decade of the
twentieth century. The National Security Law and flagrant abuse of
human rights carried out by Chretien's hosts in South Korea today,
about which Canada remains silent, are crimes against humanity.
The performance of the Prime Minister and his entourage at the
DMZ profoundly shows the base character of Canada's current
leadership. The Liberal Party of Canada is trying to manipulate the
situation in Canada so as to get re-elected and "take Canada into
the 21st century." The truth is that the kind of things which the
Liberal Party of Canada is doing will not prevail in the 21st
century. War and aggression do not go unpunished. The vengeance of
history has its own cunning.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
