#Korean government

[goodbyeapathy8]

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the Sewolho Tragedy (세월호). 10 years since the day I have so many thoughts still, and the grief and anger that bubbles up but... there is one thing that I cannot forget and that still causes me incredible amounts of anger.

In the aftermath, it became clear that there were multiple fuckups on multiple levels by the government in the rescue operations as well as the accident happening itself.

Grieving parents began hunger strikes.

And somehow... somehow the grief over their dead children became a political issue, not a humanitarian one.

A group of conservatives called the ilbe, took it upon themselves to demonstrate some of the worst hatefulness I've seen from people. TW below for hate against grieving parents.

During the hunger strikes, they ate in front of the parents.

If that wasn't bad enough, they specifically ate fish cakes.

Why fish cakes?

The ilbe "joked" that fish ate the dead schoolchildren and that now they were a part of these fish cakes.

And it never stopped.

Ilbe members continue to harass parents who (rightfully) continue their activism to this day.

Most people outside of Korea don't know or remember this. What they remember is only the beauty of Korean people, protesting in the millions and successfully impeaching President Park Geun Hye who was missing for 7 crucial hours after the accident. ("Fun" fact? A lot of 4B movement activists regard her as their role model. Yes. Still. In 2019, feminist group WOMAD even took out an ad in Times Square to demand her release from prison.)

The fish cake incident was why I wasn't shocked when I saw various videos online of Zionists doing or saying similarly hateful things about Falasteen and Palestinians.

To take a humanitarian issue and twist it into a political one.

I have a lot of feels when people praise the efficiency and technological "forwardness" of Korea when I think of the Sewolho. Because it wasn't the first or last tragedy created by corruption and greed - it is one of MANY manmade disasters (Seongsu bridge collapse, Sampoong Mall collapse, Daegu subway fire, Itaewon Halloween crush, etc etc).

Korea is always one misstep away from yet another infrastructure disaster.

It is a complex country, like any other. There's no conclusion to this post because I struggle with complicated feelings regarding my home country and my own family but I wish people acknowledged the nuances more than look at it with rose colored glasses.

[whatisonthemoon]

Catholic mass in South Korea demanding President Yoon to resign for "selling out Korea to Japan"

[nando161mando]

▶️ Activists held a pro-Palestine demonstration in the South Korean capital Seoul, condemning the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.

#GazaGenocide

[gaylenin]

general dprk discourse is genuinely insane when you've stepped out of the whole western brain rot that views the country as fucking mordor. its genuinely depressing too because the dprk's history isn't hard to learn or understand, i learned about how millions of civilians were bombed and killed in my conservative history class age 15

but its still so easy to find videos or tiktoks with millions of views saying how the dprk has this scheme to lure people into the country for vaguely nefarious means, or whatever insane diatribe yeonmi park went on in a conservative podcast - that's not just cycled round by people who are just not political, but leftists who are fully educated in all of this but still refuse to re-evaluate their understanding of a foreign country

its such a terrifying and annoying testament to capitalist brainwashing that a lot of conceptions of north korea that can easily be explained by logical facts of its readily available history (sanctions, after effects of the korean war, foreign relations) are ignored for instead the most fantastical explanation like kim jong un's the grinch or something

[hoodienanami]

if youre the kind of person who talks about how liberation movements dont need to be progressive about lgbt issues or women's rights bc all that can be worked out after the ppl they are fighting to liberate get their basic human rights yet whines and cries about south korean feminists being 'transphobic' then honestly i think you should die

im not denying that transgender ppl face extreme hardship in south korea. that absolutely is smth thats occurring and it must be addressed. but if youre criticizing the south korean feminist movement, which is a crucial liberation movement that is fighting to end the epidemic of extreme violent oppression of women within the nation, for transphobia and not the korean men who are the ones doing basically all of the violent transphobia against trans women over there then idk what to tell you besides that youre a misogynist

the situation in south korea for cis women is so dire. its beyond dire. its liberation or death/rape/torture for them right now. they can work out any transphobia they may or may not have within their feminist movement after they win back cis women's rights not to be raped by their brothers and fathers and neighbors bc at the moment thats pretty much the only thing on their minds considering how widespread its become

[pjharvey]

do people not know that heritageposts like. reblogs stan posts on their main blog about the dprk

[communistkenobi]

does anyone have reading recommendations that clarify the difference between liberalism and fascism? I’m having trouble distinguishing what is just like normal levels of imperial/colonial violence conducted by a liberal state and what pushes it over the edge into a fascist state. Is fascism simply mature liberalism? Is it liberalism in crisis? Can we only make historical, reactive judgements about what is fascist, which is to say, can we only know if fascism occurred after it has come and gone? I take the general point that calling all liberal states fascist can let them off the hook for types of violence considered normal or “just doing business,” invisibilising the daily violences they conduct as part of the regular maintenance of a liberal capitalist state. People are calling the US fascist for its direct participation in and funding of the genocide in Palestine - a diagnosis I don't disagree with, but if that’s the case, where do you draw the distinction between the US being merely a liberal state with aggressive global imperial ambitions and the US being a fully fascist state? Perhaps more bluntly, what’s the difference between a liberal drone strike and a fascist one? I’m struggling to understand the value of the fascist label, because everything it describes (ultranationalism, a theory of racial and cultural degeneracy/decline, paranoia about an imminent external threat expressed as violence against internal populations deemed to have insufficient loyalty to the country, a turn towards a mythologised tradition of the past, imperial expansion, genocidal projects against minority populations, etc etc) just seems to me like a description of United States in general lol

[itstokkii]

issues with calling or headcanoning sk as america’s child

 or, a deep dive and evaluation of sk-us relations over the years as a south korean

Recently, I saw a post where someone gave their hcs of america pursuing a relationship with nk, which resulted in sk’s “birth.” then nk was afraid this new child would usurp their title and basically cause them to die, and so wanted to kill this new child before that happened. then america intervenes and “saves” sk. I believe this is the quick version of that headcanon. 

I’m not trying to make this a callout post, I’m just giving my own thoughts based on experience living around US bases(Yongsan specifically)

As many have pointed out, this reeks of stereotypical “evil asian mom and chill/cooler white dad,” as well as us imperialism apologia. It also reminds me a lot of madame butterfly in a way? Additionally, it basically ignores the fact that South Korea has its own culture and existence long before US imperialism. 

If the US is like sk’s “dad” in a sense, then wouldn’t that ring true for other cold war states, like south vietnam, or west germany? 

I’ll leave my thoughts under the cut. This is the longest thing I’ve ever written.

CW, TW: war, colonialism, imperialism, SA, rape, murder

Primary issues with the headcanon

Throughout Korea’s history, there were times where Korea was unified, and times where Korea was not. There have also been splits of different states, north and south. I point to the Kingdoms of Goguryeo and Silla during the Three Kingdoms Period, and even before then with Gojoseon and Jin. So this split is not exactly new, and this is why I personally disagree with the headcanon that North and South Korea were babies around the time of the split, and rather that they represented Goguryeo and Silla. 

The Korean War had stemmed from a desire to reunite the two states. Kim Il-Sung had pursued this and that started the war, and even Syngman Rhee pursued this ideal as well after the UN forces recaptured Seoul, resulting in that further push to invade North Korea. But this desire would have never existed if they weren’t split to begin with and remained whole as they did since 700 years ago with the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty. The Korean War was not willingly fought by both South and North Koreans. 

It was a result of imperialist states splitting us up and then pitting us against each other(even the split was quite hasty, with families being split across the border), so it’s also wrong to draw parallels of SK fighting for its existence in the Korean War and the US during the Revolutionary War. One was fought to stay alive as a nation, and of which can be traced to outside forces laying their influence on the Peninsula, and one was fought willingly and of their own accord. 

So it’s important to remember that the War was not because of an attempt to kill a “child” made by North Korea and America, it was the result of a nation that has been unified as one for 700 years being split suddenly, and the desire on both sides to reunify, albeit under their own management. Additionally, the idea of South Korea being “a child” of the US ignores the centuries-worth culture and history that was not influenced by the US and propagates the idea that we belong in the US’s shadow, and that without them, we have no identity. 

South Koreans affectionately refer to the US as our “brother state,” but never think of the relationship as a parent and child. Remember that.

Next, we’ll talk about the role of the US in this. 

While doing some research into the split, I found that after Korea was liberated in 1945, a socialist government(People’s Republic of Korea) was organized and supported by the majority of the population. This made the most sense. There was a vast gap of inequality between the Korean peasants, and the Korean nobles(who were given/maintained that power by betraying their Korean identity and working with the Japanese), so they advocated for social reform, such as land reform. However, the US wanted to set up their own military government(which for some time had actually supported the Japanese colonial government). So the US censored and then outlawed the popular government, putting themselves in charge and keeping advisors such as former Japanese colonial officers, wealthy landowners, and businesspeople. You know, the exact people the popular government was against?

This government then set up elections. The majority of Koreans didn’t want that, because they knew that these elections would divide the country and leave no hope of unifying. So they protested, but they were put down by police and the US military. It might also be worth it to read about the Jeju Massacre, in which Jeju people protesting the UN-backed elections were brutally suppressed by Syngman Rhee and the US Military. This killed about 10% of Jeju’s population. Though the South Korean government has issued an apology, we have yet to hear from the US. 

So the US set up a government that supported a military dictator(it started with Syngman Rhee) and continued to support a long chain of these military dictators(who sent pro-democratic people to concentration camps) even during the Gwangju Massacre, when many pro-democratic students protested against the dictatorship and the then-president Chun Doo Hwan responded by commanding the military and police to fire on citizens. Though official government figures place the deaths at 200 people, citizens of Gwangju say it’s closer to 2000 people. 

I only found out about the concentration camps this year, and it’s because the South Korean Government, who wants to stay on the US’s good side, actively represses the role of the US in the military dictatorship. I’m pretty sure the US’s role is also barely taught in Korean history textbooks, since the government has tried to rewrite and issue textbooks themselves. 

Recently, the grandson of Chun Doo Hwan(the president that ordered the military to shoot on the protesters, and also was supported by US Presidents Carter and Reagan), apologized on behalf of his grandfather and family, who had constantly told him it was just a riot when he was a kid. He also took the time to expose his family, friends, and even his own money laundering crimes. He personally visited Gwangju and gave a full floor-level bow in apology. This was a first step in the correct direction. However, the government, especially with Yoon Seok Yeol’s pro-US and anti-NK sentiment, is trying not to shed light on these issues, and it’s why I believe a lot of people tend to continue to favor the US, because they don’t really know or are aware of the US’s full part in our military dictatorship. 

Another interesting read would be the Namyeong-Dong Anti Communist Investigation Office, a former prison facility and torture room for pro-democracy protestors.

Now for the existing US impact on South Korea: The USFK

The USFK(short for United States Forces Korea) is the Korean branch of the US Military. They have an active presence in South Korea since 1957, which is about 65 years ago. 

Not many Koreans have an Anti-American sentiment, but the USFK has consistently caused it to resurge throughout the nation. 

In 2000, it was found out that the US military had dumped about 20 gallons(75L) of formaldehyde into the Han River, which at the time was a main drinking source for about 12 million people in Seoul. 

They carelessly ran over two 14-year old girls(Shin Hyosun and Shim Miseon) with one of the US military’s armored vehicles in 2002. What made things worse was that the US Military Court found them not guilty. In response to the incident and other grievances with the US military, PSY actually rapped a song called “Dear American” written by a South Korean band criticizing them, mostly regarding the US military and their involvement in the Iraqi War, which he later had to apologize to the US military for rapping after he got famous singing Gangnam Style.

The US military was also involved in forced prostitution and human trafficking. In 1992, Yoon Geum-i, a military sex worker, was raped and killed brutally by Private Kenneth Markle. He was tried and initially received life in prison, but then later his sentence was reduced to 15 years in prison after Yoon Geum-i’s family received $72,000 as compensation from the US government. In 2006, he was released on parole and then deported to the US. @tianshiisdead further goes into detail on this on her post about these headcanons.

In 2020, it was found that the major camp of the USFK, Camp Humphreys, was hosting a no mask COVID party while the Korean government was urging locals to limit in person gatherings as the cases were surging. The party was on a Friday, and on Monday it was found that 408 USFK-affiliated individuals tested positive for COVID.

The South Korean government pays them to stay here... and do what? Cause trouble? 

The USFK and US funding the ROK military has led to the ROK military being one of the strongest. However, we are not allowed our own weapons, and the US constantly attempts to provoke North Korea through any presidential remarks, or actions. This keeps South Korea reliant on the US, and allows for a continued presence in South Korea.

Conclusion

All of this is why it’s so important to keep checking back on how you see Korea and America’s relationship in Hetalia. As positive as current relations may be, it’s important to remember the many failures on the US’s part to keep their military acting like decent human beings at times, and that they literally caused the split along with the USSR, and made it permanent through the suggestion and implementation of elections, which Koreans on both sides largely did not support. 

South Korea has one of the highest positive perception rates towards the US. This may be due to their hand in helping us develop as a nation and also providing aid during the Korean War, but it may also be due to the suppression of the full extent of activities the US has partook in South Korea, and due to the Anti-North Korea sentiment that was also propagated by the US. 

Also, the fact that Americans also call the Korean War “The Forgotten War” is so frustrating to me. Did we just... not matter in the long run? We’re just a pawn, or a strategic location, right? The separated families, the civilian casualties(which was a higher rate than WW2′s and the Vietnam War), the devastation of so many cities... just didn’t matter? Maybe you forgot, but it’s impacted us and our decisions for years. Just goes to show how selfish the US can be...

As much as I do wish one of my favorite ships were one of complete happiness where nothing is wrong, this is not the case, and I am trying my best to express that in art or headcanons. It is important to acknowledge that the 70-year long relationship, though sharing some positive, unproblematic moments through cultural exchange and joint collaboration in the modern era, is characterized by a lack of trust on South Korea’s end, largely due to how the US has wronged us over the years. 

[broadpreedglobalnews]

📰 Paetongtarn Shinawatra Becomes Thailand's Youngest Prime Minister

On Friday, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a newcomer to politics, was chosen as Thailand's youngest prime minister by the nation's parliament 🏛️. Her election comes shortly after a turbulent power struggle among the country's elite ⚔️.

The 37-year-old daughter of the controversial political figure Thaksin Shinawatra easily secured a majority in the parliamentary vote 🗳️, taking on the role just two days after the judiciary dismissed her ally, Srettha Thavisin, as prime minister. This puts her in a pivotal position, with the future of the influential Shinawatra family's political legacy at stake 🔗 after their first electoral defeat in over two decades 📉.

Paetongtarn will be Thailand's second female prime minister 👩‍⚖️, following in the footsteps of her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra and her father Thaksin, both of whom previously held the position. In her first statement as prime minister-elect, she expressed her resolve to lead the country forward 🌍, despite the recent upheavals ⛈️.

Winning with 319 votes, nearly two-thirds of the house 🏠, Paetongtarn shared her joy on Instagram 📱 by posting a picture of her lunch 🍗, symbolizing her first meal after the successful vote ✅.

Her appointment marks a risky move for the Pheu Thai party 🎲, led by her 75-year-old father, Thaksin. She will face immediate challenges, including a struggling economy 💸, growing competition from rival parties 🥊, and unmet promises from her party's cash handout programme 💰.

The political environment remains tense, with Thailand's history of coups and judicial interventions ⚖️ that have repeatedly disrupted governments. Paetongtarn's leadership will be closely watched 👀 as she navigates these turbulent waters 🌊, with the Shinawatra family's influence and political alliances at the center of the ongoing power struggle.

[squidkidnerd]

the biggest reasons i hate the “all octolings in the military were hypnotized by their goggles!!!” thing is that it robs the octolings of their agency.

think about it. if all the octolings in the octarian military are hypnotized, then they have no choice but to follow octavio. they aren't even capable of doing something else. and then, callie and marie have to "save" them in order to give them even the option of leaving. they kind of have to not because of anything THEY did, but because no longer being brainwashed puts them in danger. them leaving is ENTIRELY caused by other goddamn people. THEY don't have a single goddamn choice in the matter. and that's boring.

this is why it's absolutely, truly, positively, genuinely, SO much more interesting if the octolings in the military AREN'T hypnotized. because then, them leaving is a CHOICE. sure, the inkantation may influence that choice, but they still decide, OUT OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL, to leave. they CHOOSE to defy octavio, they CHOOSE to leave everything they've ever known. they CHOOSE to think, to believe, to hope, that maybe inklings aren't all bad, that maybe they were lied to. and then they leave. BY THEMSELVES. and they have to contend with that.

i don't get it. why do the octolings have to be dragged along in their own story? why does octavio have to be a monomaniacal villain who brainwashes his own people? why don't they get to have a choice? if it's choice, then they have to make it. then, they have to deal with it.

[rotten-gal13]

I lied, put your clothes back on. I'm giving you a 4 hour long presentation on the North Korean government.

[whatisonthemoon]

Bo Hi Pak - Did you join the Unification Church in February 1957 or February 1958?

From Bo Hi Pak’s “The Truth is My Sword Vol. 11″:

Before I met Professor Young Oon Kim in 1957, I had been a Christian for five years. But I must confess that even after I converted to Christianity, my heart was still empty and my religious fervor was not ignited. There were so many questions in the Bible which no minister was able to answer for me, such as: What is the meaning of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? How could man’s eating of a fruit become a hereditary sin? Is Christ God or man? When would Christ return? And a thousand others.

One day in the cold month of February, Prof. Kim, working in the same military compound as I, wrote to me about a “new truth” which would answer all the questions that I had. She didn’t mention Father’s name; she didn’t even mention the Church’s name. She simply invited me to come one night to hear about this great truth. I was in such a thirsty condition for truth that I immediately accepted. I listened to the Divine Principle lectures for two nights. At that time, I didn’t even know that it was Divine Principle. But the important thing was that I learned more in two nights about the Bible than ever before and all my deeply held questions were answered. It was liberation and a joy. This was a powerful truth. I had absolutely no hesitation to say to Prof. Kim that, “I have found the truth. Please bring me to your leader. I want to become a teacher of this truth. I want to learn more.”

Dr. Young Oon Kim introduced me to Father two days later in a humble church where there were no chairs, and no stove in winter. But I was moved by the fervent devotion of the members. I automatically became a member without even questioning whether I should join or not. No such question ever came to me. I was only thankful to God that he had led me to the truth; my search was over. Now only the job was ahead of us. I thanked God a million times.

In ‘The Truth is my Sword,’ Pak claims he met Kim in February 1957, after she wrote to him about a “new truth.” He joined the Unification Church soon after. He also said that in 1957, when he joined the Unification Church, his wife and him had been "completely one." In a speech in this book, Pak said, “I came and mingled with the early pioneering church members in 1957.”

The 1957 date was cited in court by Pak in 2011 (Hyun Jin v. Bo Hi Pak).

And yet in ‘Messiah’, another testimonial memoir, Pak says that he joined in February 1958. 

From Bo Hi Pak's "Messiah: My Testimony to Rev. Sun Myung Moon":

Then, one day, a letter was delivered to me. The sender was someone with whom I was not directly acquainted, a Miss Young Oon Kim who worked as a secretary in the KMAG chaplain’s office, which was located in the same compound where I worked. The letter’s contents were quite short, saying only, “There is a place where they discuss matters that are important to human life. Would you like to go there with me sometime?”

I telephoned Miss Kim at her desk in the chaplain’s office and told her that I was willing to go with her to this place sometime when it would not interfere with my official duties. I checked General Matthews’ calendar and made an appointment to accompany Miss Kim in the evening two days later. It was my hope that this invitation would lead me further on the pathway to the truth.

At the appointed time, I went to the place where Miss Kim had asked me to meet her, a shop in the middle of Seoul named Tonghwa Dang. It specialized in herbal medicines used in traditional Korean healing practices.

Pak then went on to explain how Young Oon Kim gave him part 1 of the Divine Principle workshop, and they met again for part two. It was a few days after Kim’s lecture that Pak met Moon. 

The date was February 17, 1958—the day I first met Reverend Moon and the day I became a member of the Unification Church, known formally as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.

Also revealed in this book was that it was on February 17, 1958, that he heard: "You have discovered the will that Heaven has set as its purpose to accomplish, so now you must dedicate your life to this." Though convinced of the authenticity of Young Oon Kim’s lectures, his meeting of Moon sealed the deal. He wrote, “This was the meaning that February 17, 1958, held for me. It was the birthday of my soul.”

During his testimony before U.S. Congress in 1978, Pak claimed, "I became a follower of Rev. Sun Myung Moon in 1958. Since then I have been a faithful disciple to him and a member of the Unification Church for over twenty years."

Surely these dates are important to Pak, as one’s date of joining the Unification Church (”the birthday of my soul”) is important to many believers. How could he get it wrong by a year? If it was by chance intentional, why?

In this text it is written that he received training at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, future home of the School of the Americas, from 1956 to 1957. He also writes that soon after returning to Korea, in September 1957, he was invited into the staff of Maj. Gen. Willis S. Matthews, chief of the Korea Military Advisory Group.

According to Pak, from September ‘57 to ‘59, he worked as the Special Assistant to Chief of U.S. Military Advisory Group in Seoul.  

Though this mismatched timeline may seem like an innocent mistake, 1957-1958 was a huge year of development and growth for the Unification Church, and a pivotal time for Pak. If he had in fact joined the Unification Church in February 1957, a date he has often cited, including in court, he would have already been a member of the Unification Church by the time he was invited to work for KMAG. 

If he was mingling among church members in 1957, and joined in February that year, he would have joined the Unification Church while in the United States, which seems highly improbable, or during a brief trip back to Korea. But this is not the story Pak tells. 

Where was Pak throughout 1956-1957, and when did he actually join? Why would these dates be obscured?

Related articles listed below

1964-1965: Young Oon Kim’s Missing Year

The Unification Church and KCIA: Some Notes on Bud Han, Steve Kim, and Bo Hi Pak

On Young Oon Kim’s Relationship to Butterwick

Robert Parry’s investigations into Sun Myung Moon

“The Moonies: Government Files Trace Church from Sex Cult to Korean CIA”
 Chicago Tribune, Monday, March 27, 1978

Young Oon Kim and Bo Hi Pak were both employed by the Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG)

On the UC links to intelligence - excerpted from “Cults, Anti-Cults, and the Cult of Intelligence” by Daniel Brandt, in the Alternative Press Review (Fall 1994)

[nando161mando]

South Korea sees more public action in support of Palestine and Gaza amidst the ongoing Israeli genocide.

[sharlmbracta]

and this is why the korean government as of now is considered fucked

"enroll girls in school 1 year earlier than boys & arrange meetups via the government to boost birthrates & send the elderly out to other countries so that the nation would be populated by the working age"

ughh

[navramanan]

no one gets beyond evil, my liberation notes, my country and the youth of may like i do

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

mentioned my dad was alive the same time mao zedong died and some guy went 'he must have had a shit childhood then!!!' shut the fuck up.