Stephen Cho | Coordinator of the Korean International Forum
This article is in response to an interview requested by the comrades of the Café Marxiste.
Q1: On December 3 last year, President Yoon Suk-Yeol attempted a coup d’état with his attempt to introduce martial law in the country (a first since 1980). Fortunately, martial law was lifted just a few hours later.
Why and how did the president of the “Republic of Korea (ROK)”(South Korea) try to impose martial law?
The imposition of martial law on December 3, 2024, was a pro-American self-coup. The direct reason for this was the “Myeong Tae-kyun Gate” affair, whereby Yoon was threatened with impeachment proceedings and his wife Kim Keon-hee could be imprisoned for fraud and various corruption cases during the last presidential elections. In reality, this was US imperialism’s preparation for the war in the “ROK”, for which a preliminary stage of fascization and the establishment of “anti-communist advanced base” were necessary. Martial law was prepared for over a year: in particular, during the joint US-“ROK” military exercises to invade the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) (North Korea) “Freedom Shield” in March 2024, Yoon’s clique intensively prepared martial law exercises, Operation “Loyalty 8000”. Had the drone attack on Pyongyang in October 2024 not failed, martial law would have been declared and justified under the pretext of a “local war against the DPRK”.
Q2: We know that the “ROK” is something of a US colony. The “ROK” is home to the largest US base outside its territory, as well as a contingent of almost 30,000 US troops. What role did the United States play in this coup attempt?
The “ROK” is a colony in its own right, totally subordinate to US imperialism in military, political, economic and cultural terms. The US military base in Pyeongtaek is the world’s largest US military base, and is fully funded by the “ROK”. The 28,500 US troops stationed in the “ROK” exercise operational control not only in wartime, but also in normal times. In 1945, the US army entered Korea and declared itself an “occupying force” in its “Proclamation No. 1: To the People of Korea”. The previous 16 coups in the “ROK” were all orchestrated by the US military. I would point out that preparations for the 17th coup intensified during the US army’s war exercises against the DPRK. In particular, they were closely linked to the war preparations between September and November 2024, including the drone attack on Pyongyang in October. The fact that the US knew about the coup in advance was confirmed in an interview by US Representative Brad Sherman with a media outlet in the “ROK”. Brad Sherman revealed that the “ROK” army was preparing for a false-flag operation against the US army. This was evidenced by testimony that the Headquarters Intelligence Department (HID), a unit specializing in infiltration operations in the DPRK under Defense Intelligence Command of the “ROK” Army, was preparing an operation to bomb US military bases and then attempt to blame the DPRK for the attack.
Q3: Can you give us an historical reminder of US imperialism’s use of fascism and military juntas to maintain its imperialist domination of the “ROK”?
(Rhee Syngman during the Korean War, Park Chung-hee’s coup in 1961, Chun Doo-hwan’s crushing of the Gwangju Commune in 1980, etc.).
Unlike the history of fascism in Germany or Italy, fascists in the “ROK” are opposed to nationalism and are pro-Japanese, pro-American and are traitors to the fatherland. This is because they emerged as a tool of imperialist colonialism, not of national monopoly capital. From pro-Japanese collaborators, a puppet of Japan during the 36 years of Japanese occupation, they became a puppet of the USA, which invaded Korea as an occupying force after Japan’s defeat in 1945. These pro-Japanese, pro-US forces were at the origin of Rhee Syngman’s fascist group and became the stormtroopers of the Korean War in 1950, then the backbone of the fascist military regime for some thirty years, marked by the military coups of Park Chung-hee in 1961 and Chun Doo-hwan in 1980. The “ROK” has always been under fascist rule, as shown by the fact that the main provisions of the “National Security Act” (NSA), a fascist law based on the “Peace Preservation Laws” promulgated by the Empire of Japan, which repress freedom of thought and expression, remain effectively in force. The fascist system remained unchanged even after Rhee Syngman, Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan, under civilian governments: not only socialist forces, but also democratic and progressive forces were harshly repressed, with many deaths under torture and many dubious deaths. The discovery of the “notes of a leading acolyte, Noh Sang-won” of the coup clique, published after a judicial inquiry, came as a shock. These revealed the plan drawn up by the coup forces after the introduction of martial law on December 3, 2024: they would have arrested almost 10,000 people belonging to democratic and progressive forces and murdered them by a “barracks explosion” and “chemical poisoning” worthy of what happened at Auschwitz.
Q4: How did the militants of the democratic camp, and in particular the comrades of the PDP, manage, despite the repression, to mobilize the people to counter this fascist coup d’état?
In the final analysis, all this is the fruit of a scientific conviction and discipline acquired over a long life of organization and practical struggle. As you know, there is no other way but to develop this kind of training to promote the democratic, progressive and social transformation movement. For more than 3,000 days, members of the People’s Democracy Party (PDP) have been holding pickets and vigils, 24 hours a day, in front of the US and Japanese embassies in Seoul, which are symbols and bases of imperialism. I’ve been told that in Cuba, you have to protest for a year in front of Guantánamo before you can become a diplomat, which I completely understand. Furthermore, PDP members have long been involved in trade unions, peasant organizations and student associations. Thanks to its kinship with the masses, the party has been able to shore up its organization and mobilize the masses even in the face of prolonged and relentless fascist repression. Last December’s uprising, with sometimes 2 million people mobilized, which ended martial law and suspended Yoon’s presidency, was obviously not the result of a single PDP effort, but it is true that the PDP waged a major struggle, distributing 100,000 copies of its newspaper and leaflets every day. The PDP is not only the most progressive party in the “ROK”, it is also the most powerful in terms of propaganda.
Q5: What are the consequences of this failure for the political situation in the “ROK”? Has the issue of defending peace changed as a result?
The failure to impose martial law on December 3, brought about by the popular uprising, dealt a fatal blow to the fascist clique in the “ROK”. If the arrest and imprisonment of the coup leaders, the political isolation of the fascist and reactionary clique and the Constitutional Court’s confirmation of Yoon’s impeachment go well, regime change will be inevitable at the early presidential elections to be held two months later. If this happens, not only a “special investigation into the rebellion”, but also a “special investigation into Kim Keon-hee” and a “special investigation into Myeong Tae-kyun” will be launched, along with the opening of legal proceedings for corruption. If this is the case, fascist, reactionary and conservative forces in the “ROK” will suffer a political blow that will prevent them from even dreaming of seizing power for at least 30 years. In addition, the attempt to start a local war against the DPRK with the drone attack on Pyongyang in October was thwarted, as was the attempt to complete war preparations with the imposition of martial law and the coup d’état on December 3. However, the insurgent clique, the fascist and reactionary group, which is on the brink of death, is now attempting to unleash a civil war as a last resort. Although the “ROK” avoided the worst-case scenario of conflict after the introduction of martial law, the risk of war remains present due to the increasing provocations of the insurgent clique. This is because US imperialism’s determination to provoke war has not changed.
Q6: Can it be said that the “ROK”’s regime is such that there is no hope of seeing it evolve into a truly progressive, peace-loving democracy?
In the “ROK”’s political history, reformist forces have come to power three times, but they have all lost popular support due to their economic failure and the collapse of people’s livelihoods. This is because the “ROK” is a full-fledged colony of US imperialism, and the reformist forces in the “ROK” are pro-American, petty-bourgeois and social-democratic. They are the right-wing equivalent of France’s Socialist Party. The most representative reformist party in the “ROK”, the Democratic Party (DP), is neoliberal and has failed, even during its three terms in power, to amend even a single clause prohibiting freedom of thought and expression in the “National Security Act”. History has shown that as long as politics in the “ROK” remains a seesaw game between pro-US, pro-imperialist fascist forces and pro-US, pro-imperialist reformist forces, true democracy, progress and peace will never be possible. The only political hope lies with the PDP, the only party in the “ROK” promoting a program opposed to the United States and imperialism, upholding people’s democracy, peace and progress. The PDP is also the only party whose program envisages the country’s reunification through a federal system, whereby the socialist DPRK and the capitalist “ROK” would transcend the differences of their respective systems to achieve reunification under the banner of independence, peace and people’s democracy. The only path to peaceful Korean reunification is the federal system. As a reminder, the “ROK”’s “National Security Act” prohibits and represses both the program for the withdrawal of US military baes (i.e. opposition to the USA and imperialism) and the federal system (i.e. peaceful reunification of the country).
Q7: Can you tell us about the “ROK” economy’s subordination to American monopoly capital?
(The economy of the “ROK”, which is subordinate to imperialist monopoly capital and structurally deformed, is highly vulnerable to external shocks. Its vulnerability has been compounded by the IMF crisis of 1997 and the US financial crisis of 2008, and has reached the brink of explosion with the unprecedented “COVID-19 pandemic” and the “three-peak panic” of high oil prices, high interest rates and a high dollar. It’s no coincidence that, among industrialized societies, workers in the “ROK” work in workplaces where there is endless competition and exploitation, where they work the longest hours and have the lowest wages, and where most of them are temporary workers, record the highest suicide rate in the world).
The “Republic of Korea” is a complete colony, not only militarily, politically and culturally, but also economically. Although current economic development has been achieved through the hard work of the educated, serious and conscientious workers and people in the “ROK”, subordination, which has historically worsened since the US army entered the country as an occupying force in 1945, is integrally structured. According to the concepts and system of Marxist-Leninist political economy, every stage in the process of capital reproduction is vertically subordinated to US imperialism, and every area of industry is fragmented and deformed. The subordination of the process and the deformation of the sector assume, respectively, a colonial and a semi-capitalist character. The “ROK” society is described as colonial and semi-capitalist because it is subordinated and deformed not only militarily, politically and culturally, but above all economically. As a result, the “ROK”’s economy is always vulnerable and unstable, fluctuating wildly in response to external shocks. I repeat: this is due to the subordination of capital, raw materials, fuels, equipment, technologies and markets, as well as a disconnected, fragmented, hypertrophied and deformed heavy and light industry and agriculture. During the East Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2008, the “ROK” suffered a veritable “shearing of the sheep”, and US imperialism was able to perfect all the systems conducive to overexploitation, such as market opening, financial openness and the implementation of a system based on precariousness and layoffs. This is how the “ROK” is referred to as an “ATM”. In other words, compared to France, Koreans work twice as hard and are paid half as much, and there is virtually no social security system. The world’s highest suicide rate is no coincidence.
Q8: What is the situation for workers in the “ROK”?
(Very long working hours (Yoon wanted to increase the working week from 52 hours to 69 hours), strikes at Samsung, very strong union and political repression).
Half of the country’s 50 million inhabitants are part of the working population, and half of them are precarious workers. They are paid less than half the wage of regular workers and are treated very badly. Although the “ROK” is an industrialized capitalist country and a model for the “Third World” in its thirst for education and the diligence of its workers and population, the fact that they are paid less than half the wages of European workers, despite the longest working hours in the world and the absence of a social security system, is at the root of very serious social problems such as the highest suicide rate among young people, and problems linked to the pension system and social protection. Moreover, Samsung’s policy of banning unionization is known the world over. Where there is oppression, there is resistance, and at Samsung, unions have been formed and strikes have begun to develop. However, the insidious repression exercised by the Samsung group, under the protection of the state, still makes it very difficult for workers to organize. Yet workers are fighting back and forging ahead. In the “ROK”, Yoon’s fascist government is trying to destroy the KCTU, the equivalent of the French Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), by creating fabricated incidents and repressing it. The KCTU fought hard and launched an indefinite general strike after martial law was declared on December 3.
Q9: What are the prospects for the popular movement and the PDP, the latter being the victim of major repression?
(Anti-communism and the National Security Act, etc.).
On August 30, 2024, the DP (Democratic Party), the most right-wing party on the political spectrum of the “ROK” if we exclude the party of the fascist Yoon clique, and the PDP, the most left-wing party, were simultaneously repressed. The PDP immediately reacted by denouncing the raids on PDP offices and the home of the country’s former DP-affiliated president as a “sign of martial law”, which was effectively confirmed as martial law on December 3, 2024. Although the December 3 martial law has been officially lifted, insurgents still control state power, and far-right reactionaries are calling daily for fascist riots and attempting to provoke unrest in front of the Constitutional Court in early March, following an assault on January 19 (supporters of the deposed president entered the Seoul court, which extended his detention by 20 days). In short, the situation in Korea is evolving from civil unrest to civil war, and if a confrontation with bloodshed, riots and shootings were to occur, as the fascist and reactionary clique intends, it would be a full-scale civil war, similar to the Maidan coup in 2014. Under the control of US imperialism, the reactionary fascist clique is stepping up agitation against the DPRK and China under the guise of anti-communist ideology, pushing for civil war, local war and war in the “ROK”. Korea already experienced a civil war in 1948 with the Jeju-Yeosu incident and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 after more than 2,600 local confrontations against the DPRK from 1949 onwards, and the current situation reproduces exactly this process. After their 30-year struggle against oppression by the fascist military dictatorship, the people in the “ROK” experienced a victorious uprising in June 1987, which led to the formation of a broad and powerful anti-fascist front. However, to transform the “ROK”’s colonial and semi-capitalist society, a democratic revolution of national liberation must be carried out, and for this an anti-fascist and anti-imperialist front is needed. The PDP is the only legal revolutionary party at the center of the political struggle to transform the anti-fascist front into an anti-imperialist, anti-fascist front. History has shown that all repressions against the PDP, including those based on anti-communist ideology and national security laws, have failed. The day is not far off when the only driving force for the transformation of the “ROK”, the PDP, and the workers’ and people’s soviets, will be united. The fascist, bellicose and extreme situation, which went from rebellion to civil war to war in the “ROK” after the martial law of December 3, has awakened the consciousness of the workers and the people, fostering a fundamental transformation. In the “ROK”, the deeper the darkness of the fascization of society, the brighter the dawn of transformation. It is a scientific fact that our workers and our people will prevail in the end.
