Thought control -- (EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Oct. 28)

YONHAP - Though few outside military barracks were aware of it, the Defense Ministry has occasionally designated "seditious books," and removed them from soldiers' shelves as well as from the libraries on military bases. The selection of 23 such books by the ministry last July has raised controversy, as seven armed forces judge advocates
have filed separate petitions with the Constitutional Court to judge whether the book ban violated soldiers' basic rights.

We trust the court will come up with an appropriate judgment, but we believe that
the time has come for the military authorities to discontinue the practice of book
banning in the barracks. As far as we know, the extraordinary measure started during
the military dictatorship in an attempt to suppress pro-democracy movements.

Ministry officials say the banned books were chosen because they contain "pro-North
Korean, anti-(Republic of Korea) government, anti-American or anti-capitalistic"
ideas. However, the inclusion of publications by Korean-born Cambridge University
Prof. Chang Ha-joon's "Bad Samaritans: Rich Nations, Poor Policies, and Threat to
the Developing World," and two books by American linguist and social critic Noam
Chomsky makes us doubt the judgment of whoever selected them.

Prof. Chang's book, with its critical review of relations between developed and
developing nations, and Chomsky's publications, which urge people to be wary of the
superpower role of the United States, are widely read among Korean students and
intellectuals. Following the ministry's ban, sales of Chang's "Bad Samaritan ..."
and Chomsky's "Year 501: the Conquest Continues" and "What Uncle Sam Really Wants"
went up in local bookstores.

Chomsky joined in the criticism of the Defense Ministry measure. In his answer to a
questionnaire by a local group advocating free thinking, he regretted that Korea's
Defense Ministry joined "those who fear freedom, and want to restore controls over
thought and expression." He sarcastically suggested that the ministry be renamed the
Ministry of Defense against Freedom and Democracy.

The ministry says it will not clarify the process of selecting the banned books and
we can only imagine that the ministry's troop education bureau might be doing the
job, possibly with the help of an advisory group. Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee came
in defense of the measure, which he claimed was necessary and justified in the armed
forces, and indicated disciplinary actions against the military law officers who
filed the constitutional suit.

We are of the opinion that the ministry's ban is neither necessary nor justified.
The military authorities may apply the National Security Law if they should seek to
control pro-North activities among soldiers. The authorities who fear the spreading
of anti-Americanism in the barracks should know that the freely watched local TV
programs of anti-U.S. beef import demonstrations throughout the summer must have had
a far worse impact on soldiers than Chomsky's or Chang's publications.

The military judge advocates are doing the right thing by protecting the rights of
soldiers, who are entitled to enjoy as much freedom of thought as those outside the
Army bases.
(END)

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