Former President of South Korea, and long time advocate for democracy there and throughout Asia, Kim Dae-jung, died today. His was not the perfect political career but his persistent defense of democratization in Korea certainly stands out in world historical significance. He was, we might say, on the right side of history on that score.
I also think be was basically right on how to deal with North Korea, however perverse and entrenched the regime there has been.
In 1994, Kim published an article in Foreign Affairs (which seems to be available in full on line), "Is Culture Destiny? The Myth of Asia's Anti-Democratic Values" It was a rebuttal to an earlier interview in the same journal with the then Prime Minister of Singapore, and infamous defender of East Asian authoritarianism, Lee Kuan-yew (which seems not to be freely available - oh the irony!).
Kim argued, pace the facile culturalist assertions made by authoritarians everywhere that democracy is somehow alien to a particular society, that within Asian culture and history precursors of democratic thought and practice could be found. One of his examples is Mencius, which he refers to by his Chinese name, Meng Tzu:
...It is widely accepted that English political philosopher John Locke laid the foundation for modern democracy. According to Locke, sovereign rights reside with the people and, based on a contract with the people, leaders are given a mandate to govern, which the people can withdraw. But almost two millennia before Locke, Chinese philosopher Meng-tzu preached similar ideas. According to his "Politics of Royal Ways," the king is the "Son of Heaven," and heaven bestowed on its son a mandate to provide good government, that is, to provide good for the people. If he did not govern righteously, the people had the right to rise up and overthrow his government in the name of heaven. Meng-tzu even justified regicide, saying that once a king loses the mandate of heaven he is no longer worthy of his subjects' loyalty. The people came first, Meng-tzu said, the country second, and the king third. The ancient Chinese philosophy of Minben Zhengzhi, or "people-based politics," teaches that "the will of the people is the will of heaven" and that one should "respect the people as heaven" itself.
There is a lot in that paragraph, some of which I would reject (i.e. Mencius did not really suggest that the "people" had the right to overthrow a bad ruler; rather, other elite political actors had such a right). But his basic thrust conveys a key point: the political philosophy articulated by Mencius, while perhaps not democratic (at least in a modern sense) in and of itself, is certainly compatible with modern democratic sensibilities and, thus, can be seen as a cultural resource supportive of democratic development in East Asian countries.
To answer the question of the title of his article, then: no, culture is not destiny. Culture is multifaceted and malleable. It contains elements that can be used to hinder democratization, and it includes aspects that can be used to support democratization. Human agency continually remakes "culture" - and that is true for any culture, American, Korean, Chinese, whatever. When authoritarian rulers say "we are not culturally oriented to democracy," they are not telling the whole story. Kim demonstrated with his life's work, which ultimately succeeded in promoting the democratization of South Korea, that apparently authoritarian cultures can hold within them democratic possibilities, nurtured from deep indigenous cultural springs. Korean culture, could be and is now authentically and uniquely democratic.
So, let's leave off here with his own words, drawn from that same article:
The movement for democracy in Asia has been carried forward mainly by Asia's small but effective army of dedicated people in and out of political parties, encouraged by nongovernmental and quasi-governmental organizations for democratic development from around the world. These are hopeful signs for Asia's democratic future. Such groups are gaining in their ability to force governments to listen to the concerns of their people, and they should be supported.
Asia should lose no time in firmly establishing democracy and strengthening human rights. The biggest obstacle is not its cultural heritage but the resistance of authoritarian rulers and their apologists. Asia has much to offer the rest of the world; its rich heritage of democracy-oriented philosophies and traditions can make a significant contribution to the evolution of global democracy. Culture is not necessarily our destiny. Democracy is.
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