"Why does everyone say the world has changed for the better? The National Security Law still wields the same authority, and farmers and laborers still die in accidents..." So asks Park Jeong-gi, who once or twice a month visits the site where his son, Jong-cheol, died while being tortured by public security authorities at their infamous facility in Seoul’s Namyeong-dong in early 1987. Park had been a junior at Seoul National University. At the time of Park’s death, the police said an investigator hit with his fist the desk he and Jong-cheol were sitting around, and he just suddenly died on them, right then and there. Those were times when the military dictatorship could be completely relaxed about making such announcements. But Park’s tragic death fueled the already-burning fire of the democracy movement and eventually led to the June Struggle later that year. Today, that notorious building houses the human rights protection center of the National Police Agency. The April Nineteenth Revolution of 1960, in which students and citizens demanded then-president Syngman Rhee to step down for having rigged the election, was the point of departure for the Korean democracy moment, and the June Struggle of 1987 was its climax. The waves of citizens who filled the streets were globally unprecedented in terms of their size and intensity. Since then, and in the course of several peaceful transfers of power, Korea has come to be seen by the international community as an exemplary case study in simultaneously attaining democracy and economic development. This would be the first reason we must never forget the name Park Jong-cheol, and the June Struggle. At the present time, however, Korean democracy is a far cry from what it should be. Even if we assume that endless political conflict is one of the inevitable costs of democracy, the increasing socioeconomic disparity and class segmentation is threatening the very basic conditions for democracy. This is because we have paid attention only to procedural democracy and not taken enough interest in socioeconomic and substantive democracy. Where you should be able to feel citizens alive and active, you instead have the forces of the market and neoliberalism acting as if they own the place. Currently, the situation is such that even the principle of solidarity, essential in maintaining community are being threatened, as well. Korean democracy needs to move to a higher level. We need to realize a democracy where no members of society are excluded, a deeper democracy that contributes to a higher quality of life for the nation and that advances peaceful reunification, a more beautiful democracy that makes relations between all individuals and groups shine even brighter. It is time for a new, grand democratic march that is intense without being violent. Just as all that has been accomplished in the course of democratization is the exclusive property of no one individual, the democracy that has yet to be achieved is by definition going to have to be the product of a healthy awareness and effort on the part of all citizens. This is the greatest reason we must remember and honor the name Park Jong-cheol and the June Struggle. Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]