Uri Party’s senior official lauds ALDE-CALD Meeting, notes growth of liberalism amidst severe global challenges

(November 22, 2004/ Seoul, Korea)  Dr. Kim Myung-Ja, Member of the Korean Parliament from the ruling Uri Party and former Minister of Environment, lauds the recently concluded meeting between the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and the Council of Asian Liberals & Democrats (CALD) in Brussels, Belgium, through a letter sent to the Seoul office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.     

Dr. Kim, who was a delegate and speaker of the event, has expressed her pleasure in being part of the meeting of reform-minded lawmakers from Asia and Europe. The first meeting between the two groups was held in the Seoul National Parliament last November 2002. In her letter, Dr. Kim recounts her experiences as environment minister of Nobel laureate Kim Dae Jung whom she notes as having co-founded CALD in 1993.  “Serving as the Minister of Environment for four years during his administration, I had the honor to witness firsthand his liberal political philosophy at work,” Dr. Kim states. She continues that the fact that the ruling democratic party captured a majority in the general election last June for the first time in Korea’s constitutional history, bears witness to the firm ground on which liberal philosophy stands in today’s Korea.  Thus, she emphasizes that “it was particularly meaningful for me to attend the meeting as a participant and witness to Korea’s visible democratic progress.”     

Dr. Kim underscores the challenges of the new millennium, noting that the survival of human species depends on how people and states address such enormous problems. She explains that “in spite of the dazzling material development, the human race has yet to come up with a viable conceptual paradigm that can truly harmonize diversity and plurality.  In some worse moments, I get to wonder if the world is teetering on the verge of regressing into the ancient worldview, in which wars were waged at the behest of gods and members of other tribes worshiping different gods were treated as if they had belonged to different species. 

“It is my belief that solutions to these problems should be built on the sense of togetherness and openness, along with a heightened awareness of mutual interdependence.  At the meeting, I discussed two prominent areas that underscore the fundamental interconnectedness and mutual interdependence in our global village: trade and environment, focusing on the linkage between the two.

“I also believe that cohesive principles of society, and by extension, the international community in this era of globalization, must be based on tolerance and respect of diversity and plurality, which according to Dr. Maurice Strong, the UN Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General, are also indispensable for ensuring the healthy most healthy and sustainable natural ecological systems.  As enlightened participants of the 21st century, it is critically important that progressive parties of Europe and Asia work closely together with the shared vision of common prosperity.”

Dr. Kim adds that liberal Asian and European parliamentarians need to work on shifting to the new paradigm of sustainable development.  “There is much talk about integrating its three pillars- economy, society, and the environment- but it is yet to be realized.  The need for efficient governance in addressing major challenges like poverty and the widening gap between haves and have-nots is also being emphasized, but tangible improvement is yet to come.  Countries have issued many joint political declarations but the level of actual willingness and determination to implement those declarations has remained disappointedly low.” 

Dr. Kim argues that “more systematic approaches are necessary to foster a sense of solidarity between the liberal politicians of Asia and Europe and to devise concrete action plans for constructive change.  If the two regions can come up with ways to strengthen governance and facilitate sustainable patterns of life through interactive discussions, global efforts toward sustainable development would surely make a big step forward.” 

Upon her return in Korea from Brussels, Madam Kim  reported to Dr. Kim Daejung about the meeting. The former president and CALD co-founder expressed his pleasure  to hear that Asians and Europeans have found a common ground on which to share views and discuss ways to cooperate.

Categorised in: News Article

This post was written by CALD