Ronald Meinardus - The Japan Times

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Ronald Meinardus

For Ronald Meinardus's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY

Feb 3, 2002

A rare glimpse into the hermit kingdom

Ever since I came to Seoul some 5 1/2 years ago, I had wanted to go to North Korea. Numerous efforts to arrange a visit failed, but just a few days before leaving South Korea for good in early January I received an invitation to join a tour to Kumgangsan, the scenic mountains just north of the Demilitarized Zone.

COMMENTARY

Dec 24, 2001

Challenges for Korean civic education

SEOUL -- Consensus is growing in the family of democratic nations that democratic civic education constitutes a pillar of democracy. I use the term "democratic civic education" because we know there exist less benevolent intentions behind "political education" than the promotion of democratic principles and the encouragement of citizens' participation in the political process.

COMMENTARY

Dec 12, 2001

Pyongyang's lure as a U.S. terror target

SEOUL -- The success of the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan has triggered debates about the next target in the worldwide war against terrorists and their helpers. At the epicenter of this debate, which is not confined to opinion pages of the press, stands Iraq, whose regime many Americans perceive as a permanent provocation.

COMMENTARY

Dec 3, 2001

A year on, Kim's dream still unrealized

SEOUL -- South Korean President Kim Dae Jung will enjoy his trip to Europe. For 11 days, until Dec. 12, he can turn his back on merciless domestic politics, which have been causing him so many headaches. South Korea's president is far more popular beyond the borders of his country than among his own people. In Europe, appreciation and admiration for the statesman from Seoul is unconditional, making the journey to the "old continent" a political pleasure trip.

COMMENTARY

Nov 24, 2001

German lessons for Korea

SEOUL -- Koreans have come to cherish Germany's experiences, as many see this country's unification saga as an important, if not the most important, point of reference. Korea's unification will probably be more difficult and complex than Germany's unification in October 1990. Koreans have one major advantage, however -- they can study German unification developments and avoid mistakes that were committed.

COMMENTARY

Nov 11, 2001

North Korea guards its antiterror card

SEOUL -- The message conveyed in a newspaper interview was crystal clear: "The North Koreans are missing an opportunity to play a responsible role by not joining us," said Thomas Hubbard, the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea. "We'd like to see North Korea join in international concrete actions to stamp out terrorism." The North Koreans have not been as forthcoming in the antiterrorism campaign as Washington would like.

COMMENTARY

Nov 4, 2001

NGOs poised to invigorate Korean politics

SEOUL -- Nongovernmental organizations and local political autonomy have both contributed greatly to the advancement of democracy in South Korea. Both have been instrumental in checking centralized political power, bringing political decision-making closer to the people and increasing the political awareness and participation of many citizens in public affairs. But while NGOs and local political autonomy may be termed complementary, tensions are increasing between members of South Korea's vibrant NGO society and local politicians as next June's local elections move closer.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 25, 2001

Why Dear Leader isn't going to Seoul

SEOUL -- "All contacts have stopped. We had expected North Korea to take up the process again, but they haven't," says South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung Soo. Since Pyongyang left negotiations last March, not much has happened diplomatically between the two estranged Koreas.

COMMENTARY

Jun 29, 2001

Bush's Korea policy: old wine, new bottle

SEOUL -- "Things have begun moving slowly," South Korea's President Kim Dae Jung recently said in reaction to the Bush administration's announcement it will open negotiations with Pyongyang. No doubt, the government in Seoul is trying hard to sound upbeat. Foreign Minister Han Seung Soo added, "Bush's decision will help form a favorable atmosphere for the holding of a second summit" with North Korea.

COMMENTARY

Jun 12, 2001

Cloudy outlook for Kim's Sunshine Policy

SEOUL -- One year after the historic Pyongyang summit, euphoria has disappeared on both sides of the 38th Parallel. Following the news of the past weeks, one gets the impression that with North-South relations having returned once more to a climate of confrontation and accusation, the two Koreas are back to square one.

COMMENTARY / World

May 27, 2001

S. Korea's local councils are weak link

SEOUL -- Anniversaries are a good time to pause and ask: Where have we been successful and where have we failed? Looking at the past critically is a precondition for avoiding mistakes in the future.

COMMENTARY / World

May 19, 2001

Koreans' dream of unity is still remote

SEOUL -- In less than a month, Koreans will commemorate the first anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit. In mid-June last year, the leaders of the divided country met for the first time and vowed to open a new chapter in peninsular relations. Numerous political and academic events will take place in commemoration of the epochal Pyongyang summit. The North-South Joint Declaration signed by the two leaders will undoubtedly be a focal point of many deliberations. Every one of the five paragraphs of that declaration contains a program for shifting away from a hostile past to a more amicable future. "The South and the North have agreed to resolve the question of reunification independently and through the joint efforts of the Korean people," the opening paragraph stipulates, demonstrating the desire of both leaders to work out solutions to the problem of division without foreign interference.

COMMENTARY / World

May 12, 2001

Europe's Korean venture reaps good will

SEOUL -- One of the Europeans' first concerns after their successful diplomatic mission to Pyongyang and Seoul was to dispatch emissaries to Tokyo and Washington to inform the main allies about the results of the visit. On more than one occasion, the EU delegation emphasized that what it was doing was closely coordinated with the U.S. government's activities. "We will not replace the United States. It is not possible," stressed Swedish Prime Minister and current head of the European Union Goran Persson. The aim of the unprecedented mission (the highest-level Western delegation ever to travel to North Korea) was anything but modest. According to an official fact sheet, "the EU would like to encourage the search for a solution bringing lasting peace between South Korea and [North Korea]. This mission is intended to support the momentum created by the Pyongyang summit."

COMMENTARY / World

May 2, 2001

South Korea weighs a constitutional revision

SEOUL -- In private, even his friends acknowledge that South Korean President Kim Dae Jung has passed the peak of his term. With the opposition increasingly less inclined to cooperate, it has become ever more difficult for the "government of the people" to enact domestic reforms.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 22, 2001

Europe seeks a greater role in Korea

SEOUL -- Whatever their personal opinions about U.S. President George W. Bush may be, supporters and foes must agree that his foreign policy has not received good grades in European capitals.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 14, 2001

Korean impasse is U.S.' fault

SEOUL -- "Sooner or later, the North Koreans will return to the negotiating table," said South Korea's former Foreign Minister Lee Joung Binn in an interview on the eve of his resignation. At this moment, political realities on the Korean Peninsula don't seem to justify his optimism. As the government in Pyongyang cancels one inter-Korean event after another, some analysts wonder whether it's time to declare the Korean peace process DOA. I don't share the pessimism, but it is obvious that the process has suffered a major setback.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 29, 2001

Reform out of reach for Kim Dae Jung

SEOUL -- Some weeks ago, I attended an academic conference that attempted a critical evaluation of the performance of administration of South Korea President Kim Dae Jung three years after its inception. I sat on a panel with probably the most prominent liberal political scientist in South Korea today, Professor Choi Jang Jip. For many years Choi, who teaches at Korea University in Seoul, was a close personal adviser of Kim. After Kim was elected president, Choi was appointed head of the Presidential Commission on Policy and Planning, an influential position in the inner circle of power.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 11, 2001

History will affirm Kim's heroism, vision

SEOUL -- A classical drama consists of five acts. Usually, the key part occurs in the third act. In this regard, the North Korea policy of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung may have something in common with classical theater.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 3, 2001

South Korea's media and transparency

SEOUL -- As so often, one opinion stands against another: South Korea's opposition party has leveled an accusation against the government that by launching a tax investigation of the media it is in effect waging a war against the press. The government retorts that the tax investigation is a routine matter, and the National Tax Service is only doing its job. Many things have been said in this seemingly endless debate regarding the role of the media and its relationship with the government. One of the more shocking remarks was made by a prominent politician with presidential ambitions. This minister was quoted as telling reporters, "It is time for the politicians to wage war on the press." I had to read this sentence several times to actually believe what I saw printed there in black on white. This is an unacceptable statement from a fundamental democratic point of view, and one must ask whether the politician was in full control of his senses when he spoke.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 28, 2001

Challenges for South Korean democracy

SEOUL -- Nov. 28 was a black day for local autonomy in South Korea. On that date a group of lawmakers introduced a bill in the National Assembly, aimed at abolishing the democratic election of lower-level mayors. The 42 lawmakers from different political parties who presented the bill argued that the financial situation of local administrations had deteriorated so much since the introduction of the popular vote that it was high time to reintroduce a system that appointed seasoned government bureaucrats to fill mayoral posts.

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[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

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The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces

By Stephen Mansfield

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