How to deal with the heritage of dictatorship

In October 1990 Germany overcame its division, whereas the Korean Peninsula is still divided. Whenever Korea reflects its status quo or discusses the range of scenarios of unification, Germany is the point of reference.

This year the world commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. On this occasion FNF Korea recently received Lutz Rathenow as a special guest in Seoul. Mr. Rathenow, a well-known German author and journalist born in 1952, spent his formative years in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). He was arrested twice due to his criticism on the political situation in his county. In the eighties he joined the Civil rights and Peace movement in the GDR. Since 2011 he has been serving as commissioner for the Stasi records of Saxony, a state of Germany in the East. 

Mr. Rathenow met with representatives of institutions focused on unification issues. He gave a special lecture amongst others at Hanyang University and the Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES), Kyungnam University, two of FNF Korea’s main partner institutions in Seoul. The focus was on the Ministry for State Security, its history and the way Germany has been dealing with its heritage after the unification.

Mr. Rathenow met with representatives of institutions focused on unification issues. He gave a special lecture amongst others at Hanyang University and the Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES), Kyungnam University, two of FNF Korea’s main partner institutions in Seoul. The focus was on the Ministry for State Security, its history and the way Germany has been dealing with its heritage after the unification.

Moreover there was an evening event co-organized by FNF Korea and Goethe Institute Seoul with Mr. Rathenow and former longtime Member of Parliament Dr. Yoo Jay Kun, who was a human right lawyer and activist back in the eighties as well.

Mr. Rathenow has been a close friend of FNF in Germany for many years. It was his first visit to Korea.