Democracy is said to thrive on the principle of "harmony in diversity." As all men have different appearances, each man ought to have different ideas. A community is composed of men who have ideas, ideals, and interests different from one another. So does the United Nations comprise nations of different peoples, religions, cultures, and languages that work for the sake of building a peaceful world. For these reasons, if each man or country should stick to their own demands and interests, no disputes between individuals or member nations could ever be resolved amicably, and we would not be able to expect peace in a country, nor around the world. Reviewing the history of mankind, we may stipulate it a history of continued struggles, disputes, and wars among the peoples. At the same time, we may be able to define it as a history of man's continuing efforts to seek peace among individuals or nations. Korea now seems to face an extremely important turning point to foretell the future of the nation. German President Richard von Weizacker has said that in the Orient there are some environments where democracy appears infeasible to root from the Western standpoints of view, but Korea is one country that has won democracy through many struggles. During the past 34 years, this writer has interviewed as many as some 340 heads of state. Many of the top world leaders have affirmative impressions of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in that she is a very promising country which has displayed an economic wonder to bring herself from a US$100-per-capita nation in the early 1960s, as a result of the Korean War devastation 10 years before, to a more than US$10,000-per-capita state in 30 years. The ROK was born based on a U.N. resolution on Nov. l4, 1947. Surviving a series of political upheavals, she has grown into a world economic giant which boasts the world's 11th largest national exports and 13th largest GDP. Such achievements could be described as miraculous in view of the fact that they were attained in a reasonably short span of time, after the country was nearly demolished during the 1950-53 Korean War. At the same time, politically, she has grown into a democratic country, overcoming her thousands-year-old feudalistic tradition. Against this background, many people in the country felt as if they were thunder-struck when they recently witnessed violence mar proceedings in the National Assembly. They wondered how violence could prevail in the Parliament when violence is one of the most detestable evils in a democracy. The world, too, must have been jolted as the news of violent clashes were reported by foreign media. Political leaders of both camps in the national political scenes are called upon to mend their differences as early as possible, upholding the political principle of harmony in diversity to display political maturity. Likewise, President Lee Myung-bak, who has just celebrated the first anniversary of his administration, is cordially asked to exercise his leadership more effectively to embrace his political opponents into his second year as Chief Executive of the glorious country. By doing so, the ROK could be praised both economically and politically as a mature country by international observers.
Democracy is said to thrive on the principle of "harmony in diversity." As all men have different appearances, each man ought to have different ideas. A community is composed of men who have ideas, ideals, and interests different from one another.
