in Ostasien
In Memoriam: KIM Keun-Tae (2)
Die Deutsche Ostasienmission gedenkt in Dankbarkeit des großen Kämpfers für Demokratie und Menschenrechte in Korea.
In Memoriam: KIM Keun-Tae
Am 3. Januar um 7:50 hielt der Beerdigungszug für KIM Keun-Tae vor dem Christian Building in Chongno, Seoul kurz an. Der Zug war auf dem Weg zur kath. Myongdong Kathedrale, wo die Trauerfeier stattfinden sollte.
KIM war früher Mitglied einer wichtigen Kommission der Demokratischen Partei. Am Christian Center hielt der Trauerzug an, weil in der Demokratisierungsbewegung der 70er und 89er Jahre hier das Zentrum des Widerstandes gegen die Militärdiktatur von Park Chung Hee und Chun Doo Hwan war und KIM hier sich für Demokratie, Menschenrechte, Gerechtigkeit, Frieden und Wiedervereinigung eingesetzt hat.
Kims christliche Freunde, die sich mit ihm für die Demokratisierung eingesetzt haben, versammelten sich an frühen Morgen dieses 3.1.2010 im Christian Center zu einem kurzen Gedenken.
1977 hatte KIM Keun Tae Pfarrerin CHO Hwa-Soon kennen gelernt und mit ihr unter den Arbeitern von Incheon gewirkt. Das war seine erste Zusammenarbeit mit christlichen Mitstreitern und Beteiligung an der Demokratisierungsbewegung. In den 80er Jahren deckte er auf, wie er vom Militärregime brutal gefoltert worden war. Die Christen, die sich damals für Demokratie einsetzten, gründeten daraufhin das Komitee gegen Gewalt und Folter und leisteten zusammen mit ihm Widerstand gegen die Regierung.
Pfarrer KIM Sang-Geun (auch er war Vorsitzender jenes Komitees gewesen) erinnert sich: „Damals erkannte ich, dass er ein Knecht Gottes für Gerechtigkeit und Menschenrechte ist".
Pfr. Dr. Malte Rhinow informierte uns für den KNCC (7.1.2012)
Kim Geun-tae's torture probaby led to his death
Medical professionals say Kim had Parkinson's disease and the effects of electrical torture could have compromised his health
The Hankyoreh, Dec.31,2011
Park Chan-soo, Chief Editor of the Hankyoreh, pays tribute to Kim Geun-tae
at the funeral home of Seoul National University Hospital
in Seoul, Dec. 29. (Photo by Kim Bong-gyu)
The general view among medical professionals is that Unified Democratic Party standing adviser Kim Geun-tae passed away from the aftereffects of torture after years of suffering from Parkinson's disease.
The direct cause of death was cerebral venous thrombosis, with a clot blocking a blood vessel in the brain, leading to the death of brain tissue. However, medical professionals said the effects of torture were likely to have had a major impact on the condition's development.
Parkinson's disease patients suffer from rigidity and muscle tremors as brain cells are lost over a long period of time, with symptoms of slowed movement and posture difficulties.
"We aren't certain as to what causes Parkinson's disease, but Kim suffered electrical torture, which delivers a severe shock to the brain," said family medicine specialist and Anapa Hospital director Gang Yong-ju, who is active with the Truth Foundation, a group that aids torture victims.
"He may have come to suffer from Parkinson's disease, where brain tissue is gradually destroyed, as a result of this [torture]," Gang added.
Some experts said the danger of Parkinson's disease increases when a person is subjected to several shocks to the head while being tortured. The argument is that suffering such shocks through torture could cause as much damage to the brain as a boxer would suffer from being hit in the head with a gloved fist.
One South Korean case is that of Song Geon-ho, who was subjected to sever torture at the hands of the New Military in 1980. Before his death, Song suffered from Parkinson's disease, which some said could have been a result of the effects of torture.
Kim Hong-il, the oldest brother of the late former President Kim Dae-jung, and the poet Chun Sang-byung both developed Parkinson's disease after being subjected to severe torture as well. Former lawmaker Kim Tae-hong, who was tortured severely after exposing the New Military's press reporting directives in the mid-1980s, died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which analysts said may also have been an aftereffect from his torture.
Mit freundlicher Erlaubnis der The Hankyoreh.
Flower of reflection
The Hankyoreh, Jan.2,2012
A bouquet of flowers to pay tribute to the late Kim Geun-tae, a martyr of South Korea's democracy movement and United Democratic Party standing adviser, stands in front of the Human Rights Protection Center in the Korean National Police Agency where Kim was tortured in the 1980s.
A senior police officer said, "I put the bouquet as there was a consensus among officers to commemorate him." Another officer on a police intranet suggested setting up a memorial altar for him.
(Photo by Kim Bong-gyu)
Mit freundlicher Erlaubnis von The Hankyoreh.
Kim Geun-tae's last way
The Hankyoreh, Jan.4,2012
Above, mourners gather to say goodbye to the late Kim Geun-tae, a martyr of the South Korean democracy movement and standing advisor to the main opposition Democratic Unity Party, at a funeral mass for him held at Myeongdong Cathedral on Jan. 3.
Below, mourners lower the coffin holding Kim Geun-tae into the ground at the cemetery for democracy martyrs at Maseok Moran Park in Namyangju, Gyeonggi.
(Photo pool and Yonhap)
Mit freundlicher Erlaubnis von The Hankyoreh.