[USFK Forums] Professor Questioned Over Pro-NK Remarks [Korea Times]

[C. Y. Lee]

[Uploaded by C. Y. Lee, Saturday, November 26, 2005] An article of the Korea Times is uploaded as follows:
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Professor Questioned Over Pro-NK Remarks

The Korea Times, Friday, November 25, 2005

By Kim Tong-hyung, Staff Reporter

The prosecution summoned Dongguk University professor Kang Jeong-koo Friday for questioning over his alleged pro-North Korean remarks on the Internet. The summons came after then Prosecution General Kim Jong-bin resigned on Oct. 14 in protest against a directive from Justice Minister Chun Jung-bae not to detain the sociology professor.

The directive touched off a heated debate on whether the government had compromised the prosecution’s independence. ``The first step of our investigation will be focused on confirming whether Kang violated the National Security Law by making pro-North Korean remarks,’’ said a prosecutor said.

He said that investigators are trying to determine the motives of Kang’s Internet writings and whether he was involved in having some articles posted on a pro-North Korean Web site based in Japan. ``Cases regarding the possible violation of National Security Law normally require extensive investigation. We will inevitably need to summon Kang again several times,’’ he said.

Kang, 60, stirred controversy when he defended North Korea’s invasion of the South during the 1950-53 Korean War as a unification movement following the division of the two countries after World War II. He also called for the altering of the strategic alliance between Seoul and Washington, saying that it stands in the way of reunification, and claimed that the U.S. intervention during the Korean War increased civilian casualties and solidified the division between the two Koreas.

Conservative groups had been calling the prosecution to indict Kang, claming that he violated the National Security Law. However, progressive groups claimed that Kang’s basic rights to express his ideas should be protected. The prosecution may indict Kang over the violation of security law but not arrest him unless they find evidence for new charges.

The possibility of arresting Kang seems remote at this point, considering the heated debates over whether or not to apprehend him. The investigation over Kang erupted into a major dispute last month, when Minister Chun issued directives to the prosecution not to arrest Kang, overruling the prosecution’s earlier plans to take him into custody.

It was the first time for a justice minister to exercise ministerial power over the prosecution in an individual case, although the Constitution mandates the ministry’s command over the prosecution in certain cases. Then-Prosecutor General Kim resigned in protest against the directive which many prosecutors claimed infringed on the prosecution’s independence and political neutrality.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr 11-25-2005 17:40

[mike]

And we wonder why the university students are so brainwashed in South Korea?

This brings up an interesting question. Why are so many university professors so anti-government or lean to the left politically?

In the U.S. there is no question that universities lean to the left. In the 60s, it was the university students (led by the professors) that organized the anti-war movement. I have seen many polls showing U.S. professors lean left 9 to 1. This is also true regarding the war in Iraq. Many of our Ivy League universities won't even allow military recruiters on campus.

Want to know my theory? I graduated college and feel I have many of my professors pegged. It's all in the ego or they are failures in life!

Why do people go to high school then to college for 6-8 years and then immediately start to teach in a university? Because they can't make it in the real world and love the power over students. Honestly, what could a professor actually know about the real world if is entire world experience is from what he/she learned in a book?

For instance, I had many young business teachers and some older ones. The younger ones never owned a business and worked just a few years for a company if any. So, basically they were teaching me from a book and had no real experience. In my view they were either failures in business or had a psychological need to be a teacher.

I am not saying this about all teachers. I had many excellent and wonderful teachers in college. I am just psycho-analysis some of the anti-government professors a.k.a. baby seals.