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N. Korea must learn lessons from democratization of Myanmar

N. Korea must learn lessons from democratization of Myanmar

Posted November. 11, 2015 09:05,   

한국어

The 53-year-long military dictatorship in Myanmar is nearing the end. While one third of the votes for a total of 491 elective offices have been counted, it appears the National League for Democracy, the main opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi (70), is going to win landslide victories across the country. The spokesperson of the NLD claimed on Monday, “The election management commission is deliberately delaying announcing the result of the general elections with deceptive intention.” While the military junta nullified the election results in 1990, this time, it will not be easy to go against the public enthusiasm for democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi, the laureate of the Nobel peace prize, will stand tall in the history of democracy as the heroin of the democratization of her country.

The victory is attributable to the new "Myanmar Model," an idea conceived by the administration in the process of pushing for the "revolution from above" and reform and openness for the past four years. Being a member of the military regime, President Thein Sein took office in March 2011 yet made a bold decision to alter the path of Myanmar based on his behind-the-scenes meetings with the female leader of the NLD. The president lifted the house arrest order on Aung San Suu Kyi in 15 years and freed hundreds of political prisoners. He also allowed nuclear inspections of the IAEA, paving the way for lifting sanctions. U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Myanmar in November 2012, served as a turning point for the country to become a member of the international community again. The visit was followed by major economies racing to invest in Myanmar, transforming the country from one of the poorest countries in the world into the epicenter of economic growth in South East Asia.

The democratization of Myanmar will shock other countries ruled by dictatorship such as North Korea. During his visit, President Obama urged North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and follow the Myanmar Model. The transition into democracy in Myanmar was possible thanks to the president’s strong will for reform and the female opposition leader’s true leadership. Also, the cronies of General Than Shwe, the former chief of the military junta, were ensured their survival and some of their vested rights.

It would not be easy to remove the military from power entirely, but the case of Myanmar proposes a new model of a country that pursues the twin goals of economic recovery and public well-being after being freed from international sanctions peacefully without undergoing subversion of its political system. North Korea will have to ask itself if it is willing to refuse to follow the Myanmar model and choose to go down the path to isolation and poverty.

In May 2012, then South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited Myanmar for the first time in 29 years since Aung San terror bombing, and since then, South Korea continued to strengthen cooperation with Myanmar to contribute to its democratization process. The successful elections in Myanmar should serve as an opportunity for us to open channels for dialogue with North Korea. As the same nation, it is our duty to share the news of Myanmar’s democratization with the 24 million people in North Korea and awaken them to the relevance of the global political trend.

While Aung San Suu Kyi cannot run for presidential office owing to the constitutional clause reading "one cannot become president if he or she is married to a foreigner or has children of a foreign nationality," but if the military agrees, she can become the president of her country through constitutional revision.