On the 24th, 83 days after the military coup in Myanmar, at the ASEAN (Southeast Asian Union) Summit, five agreements to resolve the Myanmar crisis were announced.
It was said that the violence was immediately stopped in Myanmar, the anti-coup camp and the military government started dialogue, and ASEAN would mediate this dialogue.
The ASEAN leaders as well as the Myanmar democratic camp expressed their welcome to the agreement.
The National Unification Government (NUG), a provisional government for the democratic camp of the rebels in Myanmar, said, "We look forward to the follow-up measures according to ASEAN's decision, and decisive measures to restore democracy and freedom for our people and regions."
At first glance, it seemed that the beginning of the solution to the Myanmar crisis was laid, but Wenoe Hnin So, 35, an activist who promotes the Myanmar democratization movement in South Korea, says he is not suspicious.
He believes that bloody suppression can be resumed at any time, as this agreement is only a drag on the military's time to calm the anger of the Myanmar people.
In fact, on the day of the ASEAN talks, the Myanmar military raided settlements of ethnic minorities in Kachin, while in Mandalay, a young man was shot and killed.
Even so, We Noe says the people of Myanmar are holding a string of hope.
In particular, he said he sees hope in the fact that Korea achieved democratization through the people's aspiration for democracy, such as the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980.
Mr. We Noe said, "Korea also suffered great sacrifices, but finally achieved democratization. This fact gives the people of Myanmar hope that we can do it too."
We Noe also said, "If the Korean people who achieved democratization continue to support and watch the Myanmar democratization protest, it will be a great force in itself."
The following is the full text of an interview with Wenoe held in Gangseo-gu, Seoul on the 26th.
International students who like to write poetry become'fighters' to inform military atrocities
Q. Please introduce us first.
A. I graduated from Yonsei University as a scholarship student invited by the Korean government in 2019, and now I have completed my Ph.D. program. These days, I am mainly doing interpretation and translation for public officials trainees. He likes to write poetry and writing. After the military coup in Myanmar in February, the'Active Myanmar Youth Solidarity' was organized with four other co-representatives to promote democracy. Although it is not a large organization, it is working with the heart of pursuing a grassroots democracy movement.
Q. Is the'Active Myanmar Youth Solidarity' actively engaged in activities to inform the Myanmar military atrocities?
A. Yes, I haven't been able to take a day off since February. A coup broke out on February 1st, and it was on February 3rd that the'Actional Myanmar Youth Solidarity' was created. Currently, a total of 20 people, including Myanmar girls and workers living in Korea, are participating. I go to Korea's high school history class to explain the military coup in Myanmar or go to the National History Teachers' Meeting to hold a meeting. These days, we mostly meet with burns because of the corona, but the passion of Korean history teachers is great. And I am trying to inform the situation in Myanmar through special lectures at each university, media interviews, or contributions. They also bowed and marched forward for the victims of the Myanmar coup, and built an incense burner for mourning.
▲ A gathering of the Myanmar Youth in Action, led by We Noe with other leaders. On the 24th, the Myanmar Youth Solidarity in action held a rally in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Korea with KOCO and Asian Residents' Organizations Alliance (LOCOA) and called for the cancellation of the invitation of the ASEAN Summit by Commander-in-Chief Hlaing. (Photo = courtesy of Wenoe)
"Support of the Korean people's struggle for democratization, great strength... Collect 200 million with the help of 2,400 people"
Q. When did you feel the sense of solidarity from the Korean people?
A. The support of the Korean people is really great. The Myanmar Youth Alliance in action consisted only of foreigners, so it was difficult to open a bank account. That is why we are raising funds to deliver to Myanmar through a Korean civic group called the Overseas Residents Movement Alliance, which has been raised until the fourth round. A whopping 2,400 people participated, and a donation of nearly 200 million won was collected. The fact that interest in the 4th fundraising was able to continue without fading is a great help to the people of Myanmar, who are threatened by the military.
The funds collected in this way are delivered to civil society organizations in Myanmar. In the early days, we provided funding to purchase protective devices such as hard hats for citizens participating in the protests, but recently, we are sending donations to the victims of Kachin-ju and Karen-ju, who suffered a lot of fire damage.
Not only our fund, but also various online campaigns, we continue to express our support to the people of Myanmar. The people of Myanmar are also aware that the Korean people are helping out so hard. So three days ago, a campaign called Thanks to Korea was held in Myanmar to express gratitude for the solidarity of Koreans.
▲ Gwangju citizens demonstrating with Taegeukgi on a bus during the Gwangju Democratization Uprising in May 1980. The photo was collected for information activities by the military during the May 18 Democratization Movement, and was released after Park Ji-won, a member of the Alternative New Party, confirmed the existence of this photo album on November 26, 2019, and urged continuous disclosure. (Provided by Park Ji-won's office at the time of Daehan Shindang)
"Korea's democratization, Myanmar's hope... The May 18 Democratization Movement gives a big lesson"
Q. Myanmar people's struggle for democracy reminds me of Korea's May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.
What does the Gwangju Democratization Movement mean to We Noe and the people of Myanmar?
A. I was amazed to see the movie'Gorgeous Vacation' in 2007 about the Gwangju Democratization Movement. Korea, which was the envy of not only me but also many Myanmar youth, was already an advanced country realizing democracy, but Gwangju in 1980 was not. There was a brutal military slaughter, and I saw citizens resisting it. From that look, I learned that democracy in Korea was never done for free. I was deeply impressed by how they consoled each other without giving up even though they were knocked down by bullets from the military coup forces and trampled by military boots while being blocked from the outside. However, the brutal massacre of the military in Gwangju 40 years ago is also taking place in Myanmar in 2021. Myanmar's military is selling and slaughtering Myanmar citizens who protest peacefully, shouting anti-dictatorship and anti-coup with a mob. Not only me, but also the people of Myanmar around me say how the situation in Gwangju and the situation in Myanmar can be so the same. I think that the military dictatorship coup transcends times and places, and cruelty and ruthless repression of the people is the same.
I am desperate about the reality of numerous victims due to the brutal killing of the military, but on the other hand, I see hope in that Korea has finally achieved democratization based on the Gwangju Democratization Movement.
I think that the fact that the drivers and their forces that caused the coup in Korea are still living well is another challenge for us.
Myanmar has a more complex political landscape than South Korea, especially a cartel of military dictatorship that is stronger and deeper than South Korea in the past.
So, it will never be easy to eradicate the military power of Myanmar, but I think the awakening people and the world press will lead Myanmar to a true democracy.
"ASEAN invited'The Killer' to the conference…I will see if the agreement will be implemented."
Q. ASEAN leaders invited Supreme Commander Min Aung Hlaing, who is in charge of the military coup in Myanmar, to the ASEAN Summit and announced five agreements, including'stop violence'.
How do you rate it?
A. On behalf of my personal opinion, I would like to share a phrase from the Myanmarian community.
"If you kill one person, you go to prison, if you kill ten, you go to a mental hospital. If
you kill many people, you are invited to the ASEAN Summit."
It can be said that this sentence implies the anger of the people of Myanmar.
Q. At the ASEAN Summit, a five-point agreement was reached to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, including cessation of violence and constructive dialogue, mediation of dialogue with ASEAN, provision of humanitarian aid, and visits to the envoy.
Do you think this agreement was meaningful?
A. The first agreement was that there should be an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, and all parties should refrain as much as possible, and the second was that a constructive dialogue between all involved parties is a peaceful solution for the benefit of the people. I have to start looking for'. But even now, the sacrifices of the Myanmarians continue. It's still an emergency. Even on the night of the summit meeting, Commander Hlaing committed another crime. But can we find a peaceful solution with no one else, but with Commander Hlaing, the main culprit of the massacre? The fact that there was no mourning for the nearly 800 victims is why this agreement is inevitably seen as skeptical.
The fourth agreement was that ASEAN should provide humanitarian assistance through the ASEAN Disaster Management Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center (AHA Center). Now, in Myanmar, many people are dying from military coups rather than natural disasters. Will humanitarian aid be the only solution to the problem? How effective this humanitarian aid will be, I think that not only me, but also many Myanmar people will have to question.
The fifth agreement was that a special ambassador and delegation would visit Myanmar to meet with all relevant parties. By the way, I don't know exactly what kind of content will be drawn out through the interview.
Honestly, from the beginning, I knew that ASEAN had a principle of non-interference in internal affairs, so I had nothing to expect. But not surprisingly, on April 16, the NUG and the National Integrated Government were also established, and they invited the main criminals of the slaughter without inviting their personnel. I don't know why he called the killer.
Q. Are you worried that the actions of the ASEAN leaders inviting Supreme Commander Hlaing will continue to recognize him as head of state, right?
A. Yes. The majority of Myanmar's people, a government recognized by more than 95% of the people, took place on April 16, because they left him and invited a killer. The National Integrated Government also has a separate Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and if you invite the Minister of Foreign Affairs, you should do that, but you didn't.
Q. How do you view support from the international community other than ASEAN?
A. The people of Myanmar didn't expect much about ASEAN.
To be honest.
However, we appealed to the UN's'Resposibility to protect' (R2P).
(※R2P: A principle that allows the international community to intervene through the UN Security Council if a country does not or cannot protect its citizens from the four major crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, racial cleansing, and crimes against humanity. ) But there was no action.
So far, there have been three Security Council meetings convened due to the Myanmar outbreak, but China and Russia have made no results.
So the people of Myanmar are in despair, and we are saying that we have nothing to lose.
Even if there is a civil war.
Street protests are shrinking recently, but not as much as the heart.
I think that the hearts of the people will be united at any time, and this mind can lead to massive protests again.
“Everyone is surprised by the voluntary struggle of Generation Z…and spreading flyers to inform military brutality”
Q. Gen Z is at the center of the Myanmar democratization movement. Why is the participation of Gen Z more prominent than the participation of the middle-aged and religious leaders who led the Myanmar democratization movement in the past?
A. The most unfortunate thing right now is that there are no'adults' such as politicians, activists and religious people. As of April 10, among those who were detained and arrested, there were 1,846 ordinary citizens. Among them, 409 students are estimated to be students, Generation Z. And there were 159 politicians, 135 members of the NLD, 64 public officials participating in the strike, 62 journalists, 39 social activists, 24 celebrities, and 8 monks. Even based on these statistics, I don't think there is that much participation of religious leaders or politicians.
On April 17th, it was the New Year in Myanmar, and the most iconic monk in Myanmar joined hands with the killer, the supreme commander of Hlaing County, and appeared on state broadcasts. The military is using religious leaders like this to disturb citizens. Even during the 2007 democratization movement, the monks went directly to the streets, but at that time, the young monks were not even representative monks.
In fact, neither did I think that Gen Z would do this kind of resistance movement systematically and systematically. Previously, when it comes to Gen Z, there was a perception that'children who only follow K-pop concerts and only enjoy games', but from the start of the coup, it has changed completely. Despite the absence of leaders such as politicians, civic activists, and religious people, Generation Z is leading this resistance movement in the way of the 21st century, using social media that are familiar to them. Perhaps Hlaingdo didn't think that the young people would be so active. Of the 800 victims so far, Gen Z accounts for 40.9%, we count.
Q. I know that the local Internet situation is very bad right now. How are you communicating and sharing news with each other?
A. From March 14th, the military has cut off all other optical cables except for three locations: Yangon, Manlei, and Naepido. So, my sister, who is currently evacuating to other regions, cannot communicate through social media such as Facebook Messenger and intermittently contact me by international phone call. My sister is now closing her eyes and closing her ears. When I turn on the TV, the state broadcasts come out and only fake news is delivered. That's why when news comes out that's too important, I make an international call to my sister from Korea to let her know that this is happening.
And Gen Zers are trying to make flyers for fact checks so that they can be delivered not only to the metropolitan area, but also to other regions.
And I usually get news through the radio.
For example, news is being delivered through BBC Radio News, DVB, MIZZEMA, and other radio media.
I recently got in touch with a citizen in Yangon and asked how much Myanmar people's approval ratings for the National Integrated Government were.
The citizen said,'Everyone did not hear the news of the launch of the National Unified Government.
Probably, if you hear all this news, you will get more support than you are now.'
There are many people who do not know that an integrated national government was created on the 16th, which is a force against the military forces in Myanmar, as social media is not available.
"Thank you for the inauguration of the National Unified Government of the Rebels...
Q. As you said, the National Unification Government (NUG), a provisional government for the democratic camp of the rebels in Myanmar, was launched two weeks ago.
What do you want from this unified government?
A. First of all, I was grateful for showing the intention of the Integrated National Government to fill the cabinet in a very diverse and comprehensive manner.
There are not only legislators elected last year, but also national leaders and representatives of minority armed groups.
An expert in each field and one of Gen Z women also became vice ministers.
In order for the integrated national government to be recognized and supported by the international community as a single government, there must be an allied force and a constitution must be created within it.
There will be many difficulties to even operate such an organization while carrying out the guerrilla movement, but as the number of victims is increasing in recent years, I would like to make efforts to end this situation as soon as possible.
"Continuous interest of the Korean people, great strength for the people of Myanmar"
Q. Do you have any last words you would like to convey to the Korean people?
A. I don't know how long the Myanmar Democratic Uprising will last. If this is prolonged, maybe the media can become passive. However, even if this situation is prolonged, I hope that the Korean people will continue to show the same interest as they are now. The strong sense of solidarity of the Korean people as it is for the people of Myanmar, who are exhausted in mind and body, is in itself a driving force.
After the coup, the lives of the people of Myanmar were destroyed by violence and slaughter. Even when the country is restored again, hard work will be required. In particular, education and psychological treatment for Myanmar children who have experienced this tragedy will also be in desperate need. If Korea provides educational support and medical support in the future, it will greatly help Myanmar stand as a normal democratic country.