Left-wing nationalism in South Korea
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Left-wing nationalism (Korean: 좌익 내셔널리즘) or "Nationalist Left" (Korean: 좌파민족주의; Hanja: 左派民族主義; lit. left [ethno-]nationalism)[1] in South Korea combines Korean nationalist agendas such as anti-imperialism (in many cases against Japan) and Korean reunification with left-wing politics.
South Korea's left-wing nationalist movement has opposed state-based nationalism of the inter-Koreas[2] and placing importance on minjok (민족) for the unity of the Korean nation.[3] Minjok can be translated as "nation", "people", "ethnic group", and "race"; it is a word similar to Volk.
Anti-imperialism and anti-Japanese sentiment
[edit]Progressive nationalists see the elimination of hierarchical "pro-Japanese (partially pro-Chinese and pro-American)[4][5] colonialist" remnants through nationalism as a prerequisite for realizing social progressivism.[6][7][8] For example, feminist movement in South Korea often has anti-Japanese sentiment. This was naturally formed by war crimes committed by the Japanese Empire during the past World War II, such as Korean Women's Volunteer Labour Corps, Comfort Women, etc.[9][10]
Historically, Korea's classical liberals have hated and resisted Qing dynasty (China) and Empire of Japan rather than the classical conservatives who conform to the powers. Due to the history of the division of Korea led by the United States and the Soviet Union, where Koreans' self-determination was ignored, diplomatic Korean nationalism became more prominent in the liberal and progressive camp than in the conservative camp in South Korea.[11] South Korea's "progressive-nationalists" criticize conservative "New Rightists" for having a sadaejuui perception of the United States, anti-communist hatred of North Korea, and supporting pro-Japanese colonialist view.[12] The Korean nationalist sentiment of South Korean progressives also has other factors, which stem from the historical fact that some Korean conservative elites were pro-Japanese fascists.[13]
Progressive nationalists support Israel's anti-German Jewish nationalism and punishment of Nazi collaborators.[6] (However, Progressive nationalists have no unified view of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.) Progressive nationalists are very positive about the liquidation of Chindokpa (친독파, "pro-German faction" or "Nazi collaborators") during France's Gaullist politics and criticize South Korea for failing to liquidate Chinilpa (친일파, "pro-Japan faction"). They argue that the liquidation of Chinilpa helps the development of democracy. Progressive nationalists advocate the 'anti-German based nationalism' of French and Israeli right-wing, criticizing South Korean conservatives for not having 'anti-Japanese based nationalism' because they are 'pro-Japanese based colonialists'.[6][7][8] Progressive nationalists in South Korea analyze that the remnants of authoritarianism created by Chinilpa, including Park Chung-hee, are the cause of many unreasonable social hierarchies in Korean society.
The strong stance against Japan in South Korea is also closely related to human rights groups for Korean victims of Japanese war crimes. South Korea has demanded a level of contrition from Japan that few colonial powers have ever shown to their former possessions. South Korean liberals/progressives refer to it as a 'victim-centered idea'(피해자 중심주의). According to them, the perpetrator's position should not be considered, some of the assets of Japanese companies should be confiscated to compensate the victims, and the Japanese right-wing LDP government is absolutely "far-right" even "fascist". On the other hand, some South Korean conservatives tend to oppose such a demand for compensation for Japan, which liberals/progressives accuse of being "pro-Japanese colonialists". This 'victim-centered idea' has little room for compromise with right-wing Japanese nationalists, including the Japan's LDP government.[14][15]
According to experts, left-wing Korean nationalism often tends to 'conflict' with right-wing Japanese nationalism.[16]
National Liberation-faction
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Modern-style left-wing nationalism was formed in the 1980s. At that time, South Korean activist groups showed anti-American tendencies because the United States approved the Chun Doo-hwan administration, citing anti-communism, and was silent on the massacre in Gwangju. As a result, many of the close South Korean liberal activists, who had pursued a somewhat pro-American and moderate democratic path until the 1970s, began to turn into left-wing activists due to their betrayal they felt toward the United States. At that time, South Korea's left-wing activists were divided into two factions, 'PD' (Korean: 민중민주파; lit. People's Democracy-faction) and 'NL' (Korean: 민족해방파; lit. National Liberation-faction), and they are fiercely opposed. In the case of 'PD', it opposes nationalism by advocating European socialism or Soviet communism, but 'NL' takes a leftist Korean nationalist and anti-imperialist line based on strong opposition to American and Japanese imperialism.[17]
The NL movement is largely divided into 'Juche faction' (주사파) and 'non-Juche NL faction' (비주사NL파).[18]
Minjung nationalism
[edit]
Minjung nationalism (민중민족주의) is a left-wing ethno-nationalist movement[20] that opposes South Korea's dominant developmentalist nationalism[21] and anti-communism[22] and highlights "minjung" as the nation's subject. This is related to anti-American nationalism and the pro-democracy movement in South Korea, but it has declined since the 1990s.[20]
October 2017 founding of the Minjung Party; the party is widely known as the left-wing nationalist party.
Left-wing nationalist organizations and political parties
[edit]Centre-left
[edit]- Laboring People's Party (1947 – 1949)
- Hankyoreh Democratic Party (1988 – 1991)
- The Hankyoreh (1988 – current)
- Ohmynews (2000 – current)
Left-wing or far-left
[edit]- Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front (1969 – ?; banned)
- Jeondaehyop (1993 – 2011) → Hanchongnyon (1993 – 2011)
- Democratic Labor Party (2000 – 2011) → Unified Progressive Party (2011 – 2014; banned) → Progressive Party (de facto, 2017 – current)
- Voice of the People (2000 – current)
- 21C Korea College Students' Union (2005 – 2018) → The Korean University Students Progressive Union (2018 – current)
- People's Democracy Party (2016 – current)
Other
[edit]- Center for Historical Truth and Justice (1991 – current)
See also
[edit]- Japan–Korea disputes
- Korean independence movement
- Left-wing nationalism#Social ethno-nationalism
- Progressivism in South Korea
- Tongil News
References
[edit]- ^ Myers, Brian Reynolds (7 April 2019). "South Korea's Nationalist-Left Front". Sthele Press. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ Myers, Brian Reynolds (20 May 2018). "North Korea's state-loyalty advantage". Free Online Library. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018.
Although the change was inspired by the increase in multiethnic households, not by the drive to bolster state-patriotism per se, the left-wing media objected that the new oath "runs the high risk of calling forth violent and exclusive state-ism [kukkajuui]."
- ^ Myers, Brian Reynolds (11 August 2017). "Low-Level Confederation and the Nuclear Crisis (in 2 parts)". Sthele Press.
Yi Hae-sŏng, a young podcaster, was one of many conservatives who lamented Moon's reference to 1919 as the year in which the Republic of Korea was established. With those and other words, the president declared himself the heir to a nationalist and not a constitutional-democratic tradition, a man who will rule more in the spirit of the exile government that strove to liberate the minjok than of the republic that joined America in resisting North Korean aggression.
- ^ [Opinion] Where the Cold War Never Ended Archived 9 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine. New York Times. Aug. 12, 2019
- ^ "광화문에서 성조기와 이스라엘기를 흔드는 이들에게". 프레시안. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
속된 말로 일본인·중국인·미국인을 부를 때 우리는 쪽바리, 짱깨, 양키라고 한다. 일본인·중국인·미국인이라고 정명을 부른 기억은 별로 없다. 특별히 악의가 있거나 저의가 있어서 그런 것은 아니다. 생각 없이 부르지만, 그 말 속에는 민중들의 외세에 대한 거부 정서가 담겨있는 것이다. ... 이러한 멸칭들이 인종차별적인 태도에서 나왔으리라고 보지 않는다. 외세에 대한 국민정서적 거부감과 두려움, 그리고 일게 모르게 쌓인 적대감에서 나온 별칭이다.
- ^ a b c "조정래 "이영훈 '반일종족주의', 이스라엘이라면 사형"". 폴리뉴스. 29 August 2019. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ a b "권력에 부역한 역사 드러내야 민주주의 전진". 한겨레. 24 November 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ a b "반민특위에서 풀려난 친일 헌병, 김주열을 쐈다". 미디어오늘. 11 September 2016. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ "일제 식민지만행 규탄운동을 벌이는 여성단체들". Korea Democracy Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ "베를린 소녀상 철거하라고? 더 배워!… 베를린 시민이 지킨다". 여성신문. 29 June 2022. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- ^ "The Foreign Policy Outlook of South Korean Progressives: Part II". 22 February 2022. Archived from the original on 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ Jung In Kang, ed. (2017). Contemporary Korean Political Thought and Park Chung-hee. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 223. ISBN 9781786602503.
Since 2005, conservative New Right scholars and progressive-nationalist historians have been engaged in a fierce debate over the writing of modern and contemporary Korean history in high school textbooks.
- ^ "'South Korea: The Politics Behind the History Wars". The Diplomat. 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
The president's main ally in pushing through the textbook revision has been the Saenuri party chairperson Kim Moo-sung, whose own father was a prominent businessman during the Japanese occupation and actively encouraged Korean youths to enlist in the Imperial Army to fight in the Pacific war. Kim has been struggling to whitewash his family's history and downplay his intimate connections to the nation's corporate and media elite, and thus has been a passionate leader in the New Right movement, the ideological network behind the right wing revisionism.
- ^ "Japan and South Korea: A logical but uneasy alignment | Lowy Institute". Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
- ^ "강제징용 피해자소송 맡았던 文 "피해자 중심주의, 국제사회 대원칙"". 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
- ^ Shin, Gi-Wook (September 5, 2019). "On Korean Nationalism and Its Role in the Escalating Japan-South Korea Friction".
- ^ 강만길 (Kang Man-gil), ed. (1989). 80년대 사회 운동 논쟁: 월간 사회 와 사상 창간 1주년 기념 전권 특별 기획. 한길사.
- ^ "주사파 (主思派)". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ "백기완이 있었기에". 한겨레21. 2021-02-19.
- ^ a b Gi-Wook Shin (2006). Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy. Stanford University Press. p. 175.
- ^ Lu Zhouxiang (2023). The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis. p. 313.
- ^ Patrick Flamm (2019). South Korean Identity and Global Foreign Policy: Dream of Autonomy. Patrick Flamm.
... (minjung) nationalism criticized Park's regime for enslaving the South Korean people and, due to its anticommunism, fostering the division of the Korean peninsula.