Stephen Cho | Coordinator of the Korean International Forum
The storm of World War 3, ignited by imperialism, is sweeping from Eastern Europe to the Middle East (West Asia) and now to East Asia. Recently, military tensions in these three theaters have increased dramatically.
Since Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on November 5, imperialist forces have been provoking wars more frequently, more intensely, and more recklessly to turn the tide of World War 3 into an irreversible trend. Although Trump is not part of the anti-imperialist forces, he has opposed the imperialist forces’ war policies. On July 13, an assassin’s bullet grazed Trump’s ear.
In Eastern Europe, the long-range missile restrictions were lifted. After the US and Britain removed the restrictions on long-range missiles they supplied to Ukraine, ATACMS missiles were launched to Russia on November 19, and Storm Shadow missiles on November 20. In response, Russia launched the Oreshnik missiles on November 21. Due to the overwhelming superiority of Russia’s hypersonic missiles, this confrontation is resulting in a victory of Russia―a victory of the anti-imperialist camp.
In East Asia, on December 3, the president of the “Republic of Korea (ROK)” Yoon Suk-yeol declared emergency martial law, which was essentially a coup d’état in favor of the regime. However, within two hours, the National Assembly voted to lift it, and the government followed suit, rescinding martial law after just six hours. On December 7, a massive protest with one million participants took place, and on December 14, the number swelled to two million. Eleven days after the coup, the National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon, leading to his suspension from office. This pro-government coup, orchestrated by the US, was thwarted, leading to a victory of the people of the “ROK”―a victory of the anti-imperialist camp―in this confrontation.
On December 8, the Assad regime in Syria collapsed. This marked the loss of a key link in the “Axis of Resistance,” including Iran, endangering Russia’s military bases in West Asia. Thus, in this confrontation, the anti-imperialist camp is at a disadvantage.
In the fierce confrontation over the past month, the anti-imperialist camp has been advancing in the Eastern European and East Asian theaters while retreating in the West Asian theater. It is important to note that, in World War 3, Eastern Europe and East Asia are strategic theaters, while West Asia is a tactical theater.
The theaters of East Asia and Eastern Europe are the main ones where the leading anti-imperialist countries directly face off with the major imperialist powers, such as the US and Western Europe. The fate of World War 3 will be determined in these theaters.
The collapse of the Assad regime in Syria is undoubtedly a significant blow to the anti-imperialist camp and has strategic aftereffects in the West Asian region. However, it should not be overlooked that, from a global perspective, its repercussions are primarily tactical rather than strategic.
In Eastern Europe and East Asia, there are nuclear missile powers like Russia, DPRK, and China, while in West Asia, Iran is a missile power but not yet a nuclear missile power. Nuclear weapons were the decisive factor in ending World War 2. It is not unreasonable to predict that at least tactical nuclear weapons might be used in World War 3.
The DPRK and China, having observed the war in Ukraine has been going on for over a thousand days, have already devised plans to end potential wars in the “ROK” and Taiwan, which will be provoked by imperialism, within three days by using tactical nuclear weapons. They have long completed training for such operations.
Russia has also declared that, as the US and NATO have lifted missile restrictions, it will lift restrictions on tactical nuclear weapons. Following the US and NATO’s announcement in June of this year to gradually ease missile restrictions, they have proceeded to do so. The advantage of Russia’s “Oreshnik” missile is that it can achieve effects comparable to tactical nuclear weapons with conventional explosives alone. Of course, if launched with a tactical nuclear weapon, it would unleash 45 times the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, making it truly a game-changer.
It is noteworthy that the imperialist camp began a new offensive starting in August of this year. This occurred after the Washington NATO Summit on July 10 effectively declared the “Pacificization of NATO.” From July to August, the imperialist forces carried out military drills and war exercises on an unprecedented scale across multiple domains in the Pacific to ensure the “Pacificization of NATO.”
In Eastern Europe, they invaded Kursk, Russia in August, began to disseminate propaganda regarding the “dispatch of the DPRK troops” in October, and eventually lifted the restrictions on long-range missiles in November. In West Asia, Israel started to intensively attack Hezbollah in Lebanon in August, bombed Iran in October, and then HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham), controlled and supported by the US and Turkey, was mobilized to collapse the Assad regime in Syria in December. In East Asia, Kim Yong-hyun―part of the ringleaders of the coup in the “ROK”―was appointed as the new Defense Minister, and unprecedented provocations for localized conflicts against the DPRK were launched many times from September to November, and finally, emergency martial law was imposed in December.
Looking back, from the very beginning, the US and NATO had a plan to invade Russia. This started with Ukraine’s attempt to join NATO, and the invasion of Kursk and the lifting of long-range missile restrictions were merely part of a successive step-by-step process. Alongside this, the Moscow terrorist attack, drone strikes, and the “DPRK troop deployment” rumors were meticulously combined, all contributing to the gradual escalation of military tension.
The same is true in West Asia. Starting with the war against Hamas in Gaza, it expanded into a conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon and eventually led to the collapse of Assad’s regime in Syria. This series of events signals that, by destroying the “Axis of Resistance,” including Iran, the imperialist proxy Israeli Zionists are aiming to not only control Palestine but to expand their dominance across the Levant region, including Lebanon and Syria, with their “Great Israel” strategy being really pursued.
The coup in the “ROK” was initiated by the Yoon Suk-yeol fascist clique, who had been discussing martial law in their internal meetings since the 2022 March presidential election. As loyal puppets of US imperialism, being influenced by the atmosphere of the 2022 war in Ukraine and the 2023 war in Palestine internationally, and by their corruption and incompetence, which put them in the greatest political crisis domestically, they began preparing for the coup in earnest in December 2023, eventually executing it in December 2024.
Between January and October this year, the US has conducted as much as the war drills against the DPRK as they did in the previous 20 years combined, and in this process, the fascistization of Yoon Suk-yeol’s clique and preparation for a coup have been accelerated.
In August 2023, the leaders of the US, Japan, and ROK met at the Camp David summit to establish the “Northeast Asian NATO”. Then, in June 2024, they conducted the “Freedom Edge” joint military exercises for the invasion of the DPRK around the Korean Peninsula. During the “Freedom Shield” joint exercises between the US and ROK military in March 2024, Yoon’s coup faction conducted martial law training under the name “Loyalty 8000”. These were all unprecedented events and serve as undeniable evidence that both war and coup preparations were carried out meticulously.
It is fortunate that the DPRK strategically endured and did not respond militarily to any of the “ROK”’s local conflict provocations from September onwards, otherwise martial law would have been declared earlier in September, October, or November. And since such martial law had the justification of being “wartime martial law,” the National Assembly would not have been able to vote to lift it, and the coup would have succeeded. It is not an overstatement to say the DPRK’s “strategic patience” prevented the coup in the “ROK” and led to the victory of the anti-imperialist camp in the East Asian theater.
The “ROK” is a complete colony of the US, and the “ROK” army is nothing more than a puppet force under the US army’s control. The idea that a pro-US puppet president could mobilize a pro-US puppet army to carry out a pro-US coup without the US knowing is nonsensical. Of the 17 coups in the “ROK”’s history, including 1961 Park Chung-hee’s military coup and 1980 Chun Doo-hwan’s military coup, not a single one occurred without US manipulation. The coup in 2024 involved 1,500 elite soldiers, helicopters, and even the HID, a “special force sent to the DPRK,” and it is truly naive to think that the US was unaware or merely watched it.
Pro-US reformist and social democratic forces in the “ROK,” opposing anti-USA, alignment with the DPRK, and world anti-imperialism, are keen to deny the fact that the US is behind Yoon Suk-yeol’s coup. However, during Chun Doo-hwan’s coup in 1980, reformist leader Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death for “insurrection.” The US’s decision to allow Kim Dae-jung to exile to the USA was part of its traditional puppet-control strategy, placing the fascist forces and reformist forces on opposite sides of a seesaw to keep them in mutual check. Although 45 years have passed, just as the “ROK”’s colonial character has not fundamentally changed, neither has the method of imperialist domination.
In the meantime, the People’s Democracy Party was established in the “ROK,” the people’s awareness of independence and democracy has grown, and the DPRK has emerged as a nuclear missile power.
The people in the “ROK” have historically defeated various forms of fascist rule: the civilian dictatorship of Rhee Syng-man through the April 1960 Uprising, the military dictatorship of Park Chung-hee through the October 1979 Uprising, and the military fascism of Chun Doo-hwan through the May 1980 Uprising and the June 1987 Uprising, and most recently, the December 2024 Uprising brought an end to Yoon Suk-yeol’s fascist dictatorship.
When the people’s struggle in the “ROK” evolves from anti-fascism to anti-imperialism, they can go beyond a reformist government to establish a revolutionary government.
This necessity stems from the character of the “ROK” society as a colonial and semi-capitalist society and the character of the “ROK” revolution as a national liberation and democratic revolution.
To advance the anti-fascist uprising into an anti-imperialist uprising, a national democratic front must emerge, surpassing the current anti-fascist democratic front. At the heart of the political struggle to transform the anti-fascist democratic front into a national democratic front, stands the People’s Democracy Party, the sole vanguard force of the revolution in the “ROK.”
The darkest hour comes just before dawn.
To prevent war and defend peace in East Asia, to realize a people’s democracy in the “ROK,” and to secure victory for the anti-imperialist camp in World War 3, the People’s Democracy Party remains steadfast in its unyielding struggle and resolute in advancing toward ultimate victory.
