SEOUL (UCAN) - South Korea's President Kim Dae-jung has pledged to devote himself to work for human rights in a message laced with religious references, citing Buddha, Jesus and Mencius, a Chinese Confucian scholar.
"From this day on for the rest of my life, I will devote myself to furthering human rights. I am grateful to all my friends around the world who are fighting in the defense of human rights," Kim said in a message on April 3 marking the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The recorded video message was aired worldwide from Geneva along with messages from President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic and Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar. All four political leaders have experienced political persecution. In his message, Kim said that he was persecuted for 40 years and has fought for human rights undauntedly, surviving five brushes with death and experiencing six years in prison and 10 years of exile or house arrest.
Citing the last judgment passage of Saint Matthew's Gospel, Kim said, "Jesus Christ said that those who served 'the least important of these my brothers' who were suffering and ill-treated served God, and those who did not serve them, did not serve God and would be rewarded or punished accordingly."
South Korea's first Catholic president also cited Buddha, who he said taught that an individual's personality is the most noble thing in the universe.
Kim also cited Mencius, a Confucian scholar, as asserting that people have the right, given by Heaven, the transcendent power, to expel a tyrannical king who infringes upon their rights against the will of Heaven.
Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights came into existence 50 years ago, many countries of the world have recognized human rights to be universal and fundamental, and numerous human rights organizations, including the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, have defended those rights, Kim said.
Human rights advocates have made noble sacrifices and strenuous efforts in the defense of the rights of distressed people throughout the world, he added.
"I firmly believe that so long as such sacrifices and efforts for mankind continue, the human rights of all suffering people will expand day by day," he concluded.
UCAN 15. april 1998