Republic of Korea

South Korea 대한민국
Flag
Capital	Seoul
Official languages	Korean
Dominant mode of production	Capitalism
Government	Unitary Corporatocratic Republic
• President	Moon Jae-in
• Prime Minister	Kim Boo-kyum
• Speaker of the National Assembly	Park Byeong-seug
History
• First Republic	1948 August 15th
Area
• Total	100,363 km²
Population
• 2019 estimate	51,709,098
Currency	Korean Republic won

The Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly called South Korea, is a U.S. puppet state on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. The northern part of the peninsula is governed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly called North Korea.

Since the ROK is a bourgeois republic (a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, in Marxist language) is is riddled with corruption and political scandals. All four living former South Korean presidents have been sentenced to prison for various crimes ranging from abuse of authority to bribery and embezzlement.

History

US Occupation

After Kim Il-sung liberated Korea from the Japanese Empire, a left-leaning nationwide organization established by Koreans known as the Alliance for National government, and later as the People's Committee, enjoyed widespread popular support throughout the country. However, the U.S. Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) declared itself the only legitimate power south of the 38th parallel and did not recognize the new state declared by the People’s Committee. Korea was divided across the 38th parallel by two American officers who had never been to Korea. Due to the People’s Committee enjoying widespread popular support, the USAMGIK forcibly dissolved the committee so that the U.S. forces could effectively rule the country.

The U.S. occupation of the southern half of Korea was announced in Proclamation No. 1 by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur on Sept. 7, 1945: “All powers of Government over the territory of Korea south of 38 degrees north latitude and the people thereof will be for the present exercised under my authority.”

Following the Proclamation No. 1 by General MacArthur, the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body for three years (1945-1948) until the establishment of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) on Aug. 15, 1948. Through this series of events, the Korean Peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel, the South was occupied by the United States, and a fascist dictatorship led by Harvard graduate Syngman Rhee was installed.

Re-appointment of Japanese colonial era officials under U.S. Military Government

The USAMGIK had a policy of rehiring officers from the Japanese colonial era, which it tried to justify by the need to implement effective governance. This failure to prosecute officers who had collaborated with the Japanese and re-instatement of their power increased public resentment against the U.S. regime. Instead of fully enjoying their independence, people were being victimized by the same oppressive police officers and corrupt public officials as under Japanese colonial authority.

USMGIK clashes with People's Committees

Richard Robinson, the chief of the Public Opinion Section of the Department of Information of the USAMGIK, who had been present in Korea and contributing to the official U.S. military historical record at the time, later gave his observations about the People's Committees and the USAMGIK's policy of rehiring officers from the Japanese colonial era:

It was safe to say that for the most part the local People's Committees in these early days were of the genuine grassroots democratic variety and represented a spontaneous urge of the people to govern themselves. . . . They resented orders from the Military Government to turn the administration of local government over to American Army officers and their appointed Korean counterparts, many of whom were considered to be Japanese collaborators. It seemed like a reversion to what had gone before. Bloodshed ensued in many communities as local People's Committees defied the Military Government and refused to abandon government offices. Koreans and Americans met in pitched battles, and not a few Koreans met violent death in the struggle.

Robinson then gives an example of an incident which he refers to as "typical" of this period. According to Robinson, in a small community in North Jeolla province, the Japanese had turned over considerable property to the local People's Committee just prior to the arrival of the Americans. The U.S. military government then demanded the property, but the People's Committee refused to turn it over to the U.S. military government. Robinson states that five leaders of the Committee were arrested by the local Korean police, adding that "the police chief was captured and beaten by Committee members and the police station attacked by a large crowd of irate citizens." He says that the station was guarded by American troops, and that when the Koreans refused to disband, "the Americans advanced with fixed bayonets," resulting in two Koreans being killed and several injured.

Suppressed criticism in official U.S. military history of U.S. occupation of Korea

According to Richard Robinson, the official American military history of the occupation is "highly prejudiced and inaccurate" adding that the official U.S. histories were "written upon explicit orders not even to imply criticism of anything American" and says that "if the truth were known, the American occupation of South Korea was incredibly bungled by an incompetent and corrupt administration—all in the name of American democracy." Robinson, who had been working as a historian for the military during the occupation, had his work suppressed as he expressed criticism of the U.S. military government's failures in Korea and eventually was compelled to leave the country.

First Republic

The First Republic was the government of South Korea from August 1948 to April 1960. Syngman Rhee ruled for the entire existence of the first republic. The first republic was characterized by Rhee's authoritarianism and corruption, limited economic development, strong anti-communism, and by the late 1950s, by growing political instability and public opposition to Rhee.

Jeju People's Committee and Jeju Uprising and Massacre

After liberation from Japanese colonization, the Jeju People’s Committee was formed with the head of the Farmers Guild and the Fishermen’s Guide as its leaders. According to the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation, "In every aspect, the Jeju People’s Committee was the only political party and the only government in Jeju" after liberation from the Japanese. E. Grant Meade, a USAMGIK officer, said, “The Jeju People’s Committee was the only political party in the island and the only organization acting like a government.” The committees had the respect and support from most villagers. Committee members were known in their communities from their long years as school teachers, union leaders and for resistance to Japanese abuses or for their organizing work in Japan. When the USAMGIK arrived on Jeju, it found that the Jeju People’s Committee and all the village and county People’s Committees were functioning successfully as a de facto government with popular support. The USAMGIK did not disturb or challenge this de facto government. This was unusual because the USAMGIK had as its mission to insure that a right leaning government hostile to socialism emerged in Korea.

In 1948, in a series of events known variously as the Jeju Uprising, the Jeju 4.3 Incident, and the Jeju Massacre, an uprising occurred on Jeju Island. Although the People’s Committees in other regions were either dissolved by the USAMGIK or operated under different names, the Jeju People’s Committee remained intact and enjoyed strong support. This was largely due to the pro-Japanese faction being relatively weak in Jeju. Many people who had fought for independence against the Japanese returned to their hometowns and became members of the People’s Committee in Jeju. However, Many Jeju islanders resisted the division of the Korean Peninsula and strongly protested the first election that was scheduled for May 10, 1948, that would confirm the formation of the Republic of Korea south of the 38th parallel. Their resistance to the division of the peninsula and the establishment of the Southern regime triggered a brutal suppression by government forces.

According to The Jeju 4·3 Incident Investigation Report released by The National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju April 3 Incident, "In around the middle of November 1948, uncompromising repression operations were carried out. Under these operations, a curfew was imposed on the residents of the upland areas and if anyone broke it, he or she was executed without exception. From the middle of November 1948 to February 1949, for about four months, the anti-guerrilla expeditions burned down the upland villages and killed the residents collectively. [...] During this period, the casualties were the highest and most of the upland villages were literally burnt to the ground." A combination of government forces and violent far-right paramilitary groups, notably the far-right anti-communist Northwest Youth League, carried out these attacks.

Approximately 30,000 people, or one in every 10 Jeju residents at the time, lost their lives during this period, and according to some estimates, as many as 60,000 people were killed by the end of these events.

Resistance to Southern regime, support for North among South Koreans

In 1950, when the DPRK attempted to reunify the country, Rhee's forces retreated and killed at least another 60,000 supposed communist sympathizers.

In a 1950 CIA memorandum, after the Northern Army had taken over Seoul, Central Intelligence Director and U.S. Navy Rear Admiral R.H. Hillenkoeter reported that "over 50% of Seoul's students are actively aiding the Communist invaders, with many voluntarily enlisting in the Northern Army" and that among Seoul's population, "the working class generally supports the Northern Koreans, while merchants are neutral and the intelligentsia continue to be pro-Southern," adding that the streets of Seoul were "crowded [...] with youths engaging in Communist demonstrations.

According to Kim Sin Gyu, a North Korean correspondent present in Seoul at the time, speaking in an interview: "When the city was first liberated, the citizens of Seoul welcomed the Korean People's Army. I remember hearing people say, 'We heard the North Korean communist soldiers were a monstrous rabble, with the horns of devils and red faces. But seeing them now, they are the same as us. The soldiers are young and brave and handsome.'"

In 1960, Rhee was forced to resign due to mass protests across the nation after the body of a student killed by police was found floating in the harbor.

Military rule

After Rhee's resignation, bourgeois democracy was briefly restored under president Yun Bo-seon. On 1961 May 16, General Park Chung-hee, the father of future president Park Geun-hye and former Japanese collaborator, took power in a military coup. Park ruled as a military dictator for 18 years and sent 320,000 troops to support the South Vietnamese puppet state in the Vietnam War. After Park's assassination on 26 October 1979, Chun Doo-hwan took power. In May 1980, protests against martial law began in Gwangju, which were met with special warfare troops. Up to 2,300 civilians were killed in the Gwangju massacre.

Politics

NATO alliance

On February 26, 2022 (KST), former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Raytheon weapons manufacturer lobbyist, Mark Esper, delivered a speech at the 4th Think Tank 2022 Forum, which is a think tank associated with Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the wife of late millionaire Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder and self-proclaimed messiah of the generally right-wing, anti-communist Unification Church. Speaking at this event, weapons industry lobbyist Esper emphasized the need for full cooperation between the U.S., South Korea, and Japan in the face of challenges posed by North Korea and China, saying:

It is said that the United States does not seek to build a, quote, "NATO for Asia". And I say, "Why not?" We should have lofty goals and high expectations and not let history and distance confound us. America's European allies overcame a brutal history to form a collective security arrangement to deal with Soviet Russia. There's no reason why the same can't happen in the Indo-Pacific as we increasingly face off against a recalcitrant North Korea and aggressive communist China.

Esper stated that he is a "big believer" in the quadrilateral security dialogue known as "The Quad" a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States that is maintained by talks between member countries, which Esper says is "rightly viewed as a unified response to China's rising military and economic power." He states, "I believe South Korea should be the next partner to join the Quad, transitioning it into the Quint."

The former Raytheon lobbyist and defense company Epirus Inc. board member then went on to say that "America's allies and partners need to invest at least two percent of their GDP for defense and invest in the right capabilities," listing long-range precision strike capabilities, air and missile defenses, advanced submarines, and fifth generation fighter aircraft as examples, and noting that the Republic of Korea has already met this two percent mark. Esper describes that these weapons investments will help the region deter Chinese and North Korean "aggression" and states that a "reinvigorated work plan with the DPRK should begin with the complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the North."

In June 2022, the South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol declared he will participate in the 3rd NATO Summit of 2022. The director of the National Security Office Kim Sung-han declared not much later that South Korea will establish a "diplomatic mission" to NATO in Brussels to coincide with President Yoon Suk-yeol's participation in the Summit. According to Sung-han, this mission will make South Korea "able to increase information sharing and strengthen our networks with NATO allies and partners and establish a Europe platform that is worthy of our [global] status".

Rising anti-capitalism

In recent years, the term "Hell Joseon" or "Hell Korea" (Korean: 헬조선) has become popular to describe the social anxiety and discontent surrounding high unemployment and poor working conditions.

South Korean media has also increasingly included narratives of class antagonism which have been poplar successes for Western audiences, with films such as Snowpiercer (2013) and Parasite (2019) and the popular TV show Squid Game (2021)

With increasing economic stratification, social alienation, and lack of opportunity among young people entering the work force, South Korea has a rate of mental health issues and suicide that is among the highest in the developed world. This undoubtedly is resulting in the development of class consciousness.

The bourgeoisie media (in South Korea and in the US) carefully ensures that all criticism of capitalism stops just short of providing concrete solutions, lest people become interested in socialism and its various successes around the world.

Labor militancy is also on the rise as 500k South Korean workers walk off in a one-day general strike, protesting against rampant exploitation by the gig economy, high costs of housing, and the highest annual working hours in the OECD.