"CEAC Commentary" introduces news analyses andopinions in Japan on topics related to regional
cooperation and integration in East Asia, but they do
not represent the views of CEAC as an institution.

February 14, 2012

President Václav Havel as a Symbol of Good andKim Jong-il as a Synonym for Evil
By IRIYAMA Akira
The news of the death of two world leaders was reported in succession at theend of last year. One was a symbol of good and hope, and the other was labeled as asynonym for evil and destruction. These two figures were Czech Republic PresidentVáclav Havel and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
The Velvet Revolution of 1989 is now a past event in history. However, theCivic Forum and Václav Havel, the playwright who led the group, bravely stood up tothe former Soviet Union that possessed a dominant power according to the principle ofnonviolence. Those courageous people could be described as living witnesses to theconscience of humanity for their great moral nobility and lofty ideals. I had a fortunate
opportunity to meet Václav Havel in person through my occasional involvements inseveral “democratization” projects in Central Europe during the same period of time.
This personal experience made me a strong impression of him as an extremely
unforgettable person. In addition to being a fiercely compulsive smoker, he was far frombeing harmonious and amiable in disposition. His character and remarks often caused africtional sound everywhere. However, he never tried to cover things up and always
behaved in a straightforward and honest manner. Ordinary people loved him for hiscandidness. Lech Walesa, who also played a central role in the Polish democracymovement as the leader of the trade union “Solidarity,” was a typical “laborer,” whereas
Mr. Havel was an “intellectual” to the core for better or worse.
Meanwhile, the enigmatic image of Kim Jong-il associated with anythinganti-democratic, such as successional socialist state, military-first politics, brinkmanshipdiplomacy, dictatorial politics and personality cult, had long appeared on the worldstage. It was nearly impossible to speculate about and forecast the real intentions ofwhat he said and did. His behaviors and remarks were sources of income for people whocriticize and speculate about their intentions like this or that. As these suggest, he wasbeyond rational reasoning. The intentions of his behaviors and remarks were impossible
to understand. Even if his intentions were possible to understand, the causality behindhis behavioral patterns to realize those intentions was well above understanding.
However, it would be extremely problematic and confusing to think that he was totallyinsane and was completely incomprehensible by rational judgment. Therefore, I suspectthat people tried to figure him out based on the assumption that he made decisions withthe minimum rationality. This kind of characteristic is not exclusive to Kim Jong-il only
but is also more or less applicable to the behaviors and remarks of Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Sadly, it is true that a synonym for evil and destruction can attract people’sattention more easily than a symbol of good and hope. Probably, this is partly because
for a symbol of good and hope, it is predictable how people will react to it, while for asynonym for evil and destruction, people’s reaction is unpredictable and its language
system is different. It shows the true nature of human beings that they find something
unknown attractive, but I do not want to see any general or leader like the dead North
Korean any more.
(This is the English translation of an article written by Mr. IRIYAMA Akira,Visiting Professor at Cyber University, and Executive Research Advisor of theInternational Development Center of Japan, which originally appeared on the BBS"Hyakka-Somei" of CEAC on December 21, 2011.)