Quote:Originally Posted by
puunui 
We discussed this before. The short of it is that Dr. Kim (who longer signs the Kukkiwon certificates) was only doing what the Korean government told him to do.
And the Nazi army were only following instructions from government officials too.
While your point is true, I would like to say that what the Nazis did under Hitler was really unprecedented in history in depth & brutality. To be clear the south Korean govt was not like this & Dr Kim was not asked to do anything remotely similar to the atrocities of Hitler & the Nazi govt.
When we look at the all important history we will see that the south Korean govt broke their own laws that they had in place, often for dealing with the north & managing the threat from them. It is probably more analogous to the example of how Gen Choi broke their laws when he 1st went to the north, even though he had a Canadian passport & they could not touch him as he was now Canadian. But it still violated their laws. Another possibly more fitting example that history gives us is the US govt doing this "under the radar" or "under the table", which is a softer way of saying against the law, was when they dealt with arms & drugs as a covert way of dealing with terrorists & other anti-American interests like the Reagan administration did, (which I am sure most do or have done things like that). While some may argue & they do, that it may have been the right thing to do & the cause was a noble one & not a profit motivated criminal one, it was still against the law, hence the need to "go under the radar or table" in order to circumvent the laws, which is exactly what they did. They broke the law.
Pardons are actions taken by executives that are empowered to do same. Depending on the laws broken & the place where the law was broken, that executive may be a governor or president, etc. Pardons are in place as a vehicle to rectify injustices, as no justice system is completely perfect. However pardons are also political. When a pardon is granted, the motivation for said pardon is open to interpretation & as such also becomes a matter of debate.
Like Gen Choi, Dr Kim used TKD as a political tool. So have the govts of both Koreas. There is no doubt that the "nasty Korean politics" have played a role in the history of TKD & the context of the times its development took place in. Like all politics, it really often depends on where you stand in the mix, that often influences or even dictates one's response or take on what happened & why.
What happened to Dr Kim was emblematic of what often happened to Gen Choi all throughout his lifetime career in promoting TKD both in Korea & around the world. There are many that simply resented any use of TKD in politics & using TKD as a political tool, even though some or many of the motives may have been noble. These feelings & perceptions will of course always be shaped by ones depth of knowledge, what side of the aisle or political divide they are on, how political or partisan they themselves are & how open their minds are to learn more, especially when it is complex & often boring, innate & esoteric details that I am sure no one ever joined TKD for.
What we can & should do is learn more, keep an open mind & give credit to people who deserve it, as it was their hard work that gave such a wonderful & positive activity to so many around the world. In essence they often made people's lives better, be it by learning to protect oneself, losing weight, winning competitions, building character & friendships etc. This is the way of the martial arts. While we are all less than perfect, (by definition we all are) we all deserve thanks & credit for the good that we all do. As the powers to be have their powers fade over time, (nasty Korean politics), which is inevitable, the motivations to slur & abilities to embellish are softened & people are more free & able to put forth more information. This is what is happening now & will continue to occur over the passage of time, especially when freedom of speech, of the press expands & more independent people, like historians are able to record minus the pressures & restrictions that were previously in place. This is true through out history with the recording of history. It is no different with TKD.
What we can & should do as martial artists, is to both remain open minded & refrain from both impolite discourse & the my dad is better than your dad.
