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Seoul -- Liberalism is a political ideology that
advocates liberating the individual from excessive and unnecessary coercion.
Such coercion includes over-regulation and taxation of individuals and private
enterprises, or prohibiting people where and to whom they can freely trade
their goods and services. People who subscribe to this ideology are called
liberals in Europe and Asia. In the US, the term was hijacked to mean the
opposite, the lovers of more state coercion. So they are called libertarians in
the US.
So liberalism is a great ideology. And liberals and
libertarians are generally great people for giving prominence to individual
freedom, individual responsibility, free market, free trade, tolerance of
diversity, and rule of law.
Last night was a great evening billed “Liberals meet
Liberals” organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF)
Korea. It was held at Koreana Hotel in the heart of the capital city of South
Korea. A small but intimate gathering of participants from China, India,
Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Dr. Lars Andre Richter, the Resident Representative of
FNF Korea gave an inspiring introduction of the work being done by his office
to promote freedom. Then Minister and Head of Mission, German Embassy in Korea,
Johannes Regenbrecht, gave a short talk that the German government is
supporting initiatives to promote freedom and democracy worldwide. Jaykun Yoo,
CEO of Christian Global Network TV also gave a short talk on the value of
promoting liberal ideas to the public.
Pett Jarupaiboon, Regional Program Officer of Economic
Freedom Network (EFN) Asia, gave an introduction of EFN Asia and what it is
doing. He showed a video about the network, produced by Asia Freedom TV and the
network, wow.
The main talk was given by Dr. Chung-ho Kim, Professor of
Economics at Yonsei University in Seoul. He used to be the President of the
Center for Free Enterprise (CFE) and is now putting up a new free market think
tank, the Freedom Factory Ltd. See an earlier article about him here.
Dr. Kim’s lecture was entitled “The Challenge for
Liberals in Korea” and he gave a short rap before his talk, to the delight of
the audience. No wonder he is called the “Freedom Rapper” with several
short videos in youtube.
The big challenge for liberals and libertarians in Korea
is that many people have accepted the strong state intervention philosophy,
even among intellectuals and academics. The usual lectures do not appeal much
even to the young people. So what they did, they produced several youtube clips
about freedom and liberty, in rap music with dance component. This has
attracted the attention of many people in Korea, especially among the youth.
He showed that before, there were only about three of
them in Seoul promoting libertarianism. This has changed now as thousands of
people, the young and university students in particular, are now are attending
his lectures about liberalism and the libertarian philosophy. So there is hope.
A few weeks ago, he announced in facebook and other
social media that he is inviting investors from the public to put up a new
independent and free market think tank, the Freedom Factory Ltd. As of last
night, he has received emails from 150 people, many he does not know
personally, expressing support to invest. Their combined pledge has topped
$70,000 already and more should come.
Dr. Kim is introducing new schemes in putting up and
funding a free market think tank. And he is spreading the philosophy to more
and more people. The open forum that followed was very lively, that the event
moderator, Tricia Yeoh of Rakyat Institut in Malaysia, has to stopped more
questions as dinner was becoming late.
Lars Andre gave a toast to freedom before dinner was
served. And over dinner, discussions continued in each table. Food was nice.
When liberals meet liberals, they naturally share ideas
and stories how to further promote freedom and liberty. There is always hope,
there are always new ways and schemes, to advance the philosophy of liberalism.
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See also:
EFN Asia 16: Participation in Jeju Forum for Peace 2013, March 19, 2013
EFN Asia 17: Zubair Malik as President of FPCCI, April 05, 2013
EFN Asia 18: Jeju Forum's Economic Panels, April 19, 2013
Chung ho Kim, Freedom Factory Ltd., May 28, 2013
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