The Korean president's demon-slaying mirror — a brief review of Yoon Suk-yeol's 'December 12' speech and South Korea's 'constitutional crisis'

Originally published at: http://sg.lsepcn.com/archives/395

The Mirror of the Demon-Exposing Korean President — A Brief Commentary on Yoon Seok-youl’s “December 12” Speech and Korea’s “Constitutional Crisis”

Editorial Department of the League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Proletariat

Editorial Board of League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Proletariat

Korea local time December 3rd, President Yoon Seok-youl delivered a speech at the Yongsan Presidential Palace, declaring that he would issue a state of emergency to "defend the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, eradicate the sham pro-North Korea anti-national forces that plunder the freedom and happiness of our people, and uphold the free constitutional order." Subsequently, Yoon Seok-youl dispatched troops attempting to control the National Assembly, arrest key figures of the ruling and opposition parties, and also announced a ban on all strikes and "fake news" dissemination, stating that those who violate the martial law could be arrested without court authorization. However, under the fierce resistance of the Korean people, this counterrevolutionary coup failed in just six hours. Yet, the development of the situation has become increasingly "mysterious."

Nine days later, after Korea's opposition parties used the people's opposition and anger towards Yoon Seok-youl to initiate his impeachment, Yoon delivered the so-called "Address to the Nation." In this speech, Yoon used lengthy passages and many shocking words — "dictatorship in parliament," "anti-national forces," "paralysis of national governance," "destruction of the constitutional order" [1] — to accuse the opposition parties of "violating the constitution," accusing these opposition parties of "colluding with North Korea," of internal chaos "national governance," of economic sabotage, and of betraying the country, oppressing the people, seizing the national conditions from the left, obstructing the prosecutors from the right, claiming that his coup was entirely aimed at "exposing the opposition's anti-national crimes, warning them to stop these actions... to prevent the collapse of the free democratic constitutional order and restore the normal functioning of the state" [2].

After making this blame-shifting statement, Yoon Seok-youl suddenly changed tone, claiming that all his actions during the martial law period were extraordinary measures within the scope of presidential authority. In other words, he declared that his martial law was neither "unconstitutional" nor "illegal." As for why his meticulously planned coup failed after only six hours, Yoon explained it was because he initially "did not intend to destroy Korea's constitutional order and national constitution" [3], so the troops sent to the National Assembly were merely "symbolic" [4], and he never thought of stopping opposition parliamentarians and the people from entering the National Assembly... In short, according to Yoon Seok-youl, although he very much wanted to arrest all opposition parties whom he called "pro-North Korean communist forces," because he is law-abiding and loves his people as his own, and has no intention of trampling on Korea's formal democracy, he did not take any "action" [5] during the entire process of street protests, parliamentary sessions to lift martial law, ordering soldiers involved in martial law to withdraw, and publicly announcing the martial law situation, so the lifting of martial law was natural. Of course, Yoon Seok-youl's black-and-white distortion has no credibility at all, because he is constantly blaming the opposition parties' crimes to whitewash his own counterrevolutionary coup, and anyone with a bit of common sense can see clearly that Yoon Seok-youl is talking nonsense.

However, this speech filled with lies by Yoon Seok-youl — the so-called "President of the Republic of Korea elected through democratic elections" — has undoubtedly also become a mirror reflecting his true nature — it is both a satire on bourgeois fascist regimes like Zhongxiu and a mockery of bourgeois democratic regimes like American imperialism. The failed coup launched by Yoon Seok-youl and his speech have punctured all the bourgeois and petty-bourgeois democratic illusions and dreams about "general democracy" and "general dictatorship," making those who love to praise bourgeois formal democracy and electoral politics utterly ashamed — "How can an elected president of a recognized democratic country launch a fascist coup?" — they cannot understand. Yet, this seemingly contradictory question has long been resolved by Marxism. Lenin once pointed out that the essence of bourgeois parliamentary elections "is to allow the oppressed to decide every few years which members of the ruling class should represent and oppress them" [6], and as the world enters the imperialist era, the form of bourgeois rule is increasingly shifting from this hypocritical democracy to overt reactionary dictatorship to better suppress the proletariat and maintain capitalism's mode of production. Elected presidents turning into fascist dictators are nothing but bourgeois dictatorship. However, there are many opinions about this failed coup. Therefore, we should analyze this coup from a Marxist standpoint and perspective to understand what it really is.

Is it unwilling, or unable?

Over 2,300 years ago, when Meng Ke's "benevolent government" doctrine was encountering resistance in various countries, he claimed that his flamboyant and reactionary ideas were "not unwilling, but unable." The Korean president Yoon Seok-youl, who established his rule on Confucianism, obviously learned from Kong's disciple Meng Ke's rhetoric, claiming that he did not carry out a successful coup like his predecessors Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan because he abides by bourgeois constitutional order, not because he cannot.

But whether Yoon Seok-youl, who insists on adhering to constitutional order, is willing or unwilling to launch a counterrevolutionary coup depends not on his verbal claims or subjective evaluations, but solely on the actual effects produced. Chairman Mao pointed out that "...we are dialectical materialists, unified in motivation and effect", and whether a person's motivation "is correct, is kind, not based on his declaration, but on the effect it produces in society." [7] Just by examining what Yoon Seok-youl actually did, we can see whether he truly did not want to or simply could not implement martial law.

Let us first look at the content of Yoon Seok-youl's martial law decree. We can roughly categorize its contents into three aspects:

(1) Issuing an order against all parties, including Yoon Seok-youl's own People Power Party, banning all political activities, including convening the National Assembly, local councils, or any other party activities;

(2) Targeting the Korean people, banning all strikes, associations, or gatherings, especially ordering medical personnel who have been on strike for nearly a year to return to work within 48 hours;

(3) Ordering all news and publications to be censored, and banning all "fake news," "manipulation of public opinion," and "false propaganda" as identified by Yoon Seok-youl.

It is clear that these regulations completely restrict all political rights of the Korean people, even the political rights held by bourgeois-controlled parliaments at all levels. Is such restriction of political rights what Yoon Seok-youl calls adherence to the constitutional order? If he truly does not want to silence the people, tear off the bourgeois democratic hypocrisy, and establish an open fascist regime to better suppress the people, then why are the contents of the martial law decree so harsh?

Next, let us examine the drafted arrest list and coup plans. After the martial law was lifted, some bourgeois media in Korea revealed that Yoon Seok-youl-controlled Korean anti-spy command had prepared to arrest the following politicians during the coup attempt: "National Assembly Speaker Yoo Won-sik, People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party's in-house representative Park Zanda, Democratic Party's chief highest committee member Kim Min-sik, Justice Committee Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae, Reform New Party representative Cho Guk, YouTuber Kim Yu-joon, former Supreme Court Chief Kim Myung-soo, former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il, etc." [8]

Moreover, according to multiple sources and public speeches, Yoon Seok-youl had already devised a detailed plan for military mobilization for the coup as early as July 2024 or even earlier: first deploying the Korea 707 Special Operations Group to block the National Assembly, prohibiting lawmakers from entering or leaving; then using HID (Special Intelligence Unit) to arrest the "criminals" on the list; finally, the anti-spy command would escort the arrested politicians to the joint investigation department inside the anti-spy command. [9]

In fact, Yoon Seok-youl planned and executed exactly this. The 707 Special Operations Group, the first step of the plan, appeared around the National Assembly shortly after Yoon announced martial law. Although the HID did not immediately take action, it had already prepared to arrest the legislators three days before the martial law was declared. The anti-spy command had also received orders to deploy over 40 investigators to seize and escort the arrested lawmakers. [10] If Yoon Seok-youl was not determined to tear down the bourgeois democratic mask and establish a spy dictatorship fascist regime openly, why would he need to arrest other bourgeois politicians with different opinions and positions, and why would he deploy troops and cause such chaos?

 The reason why Yoon Seok-youl's martial law measures and troop mobilization plans failed to be implemented as scheduled is not due to other reasons, but because of the heroic struggle of the Korean people. First, many Korean media outlets did not obey Yoon Seok-youl's martial law order under pressure from the people, and instead used unfiltered media to spread news of his counterrevolutionary coup. Many Koreans chose to act rather than wait passively. At the same time, the rapid street protests by the Korean people caused the blockade by the 707 Special Operations Group around the National Assembly to fail — their defenses were breached by the people's push, and opposition lawmakers were able to enter the Assembly to vote for lifting martial law.

Moreover, officers and soldiers of the Korean 707 Special Operations Group, influenced by the people's protests, did not fully execute Yoon Seok-youl's orders to block the National Assembly. They did not fire on the protesters, did not even warn with gunfire, and did not violently attack the people. Instead, they merely formed a loose human wall, and after the National Assembly announced the lifting of martial law, they disbanded within six minutes, failing to exert their role as a state violence apparatus and instead passively resisting Yoon Seok-youl's orders.

Finally, the second step of executing the arrest plan, carried out by the HID, was not implemented because the martial law ended after only six hours, and the investigation officers of the anti-spy command delayed their actions by feasting and drinking. [11] Although Yoon Seok-youl claimed afterward that all this was due to his kindness and that he did not really intend to take serious action against the National Assembly, the fact remains that the Korean people protested fiercely in the streets, and his subordinates disobeyed orders. Which of these facts was truly decided by him? The above facts clearly show that what Yoon Seok-youl truly wanted was to arrest opposition politicians, paralyze the National Assembly, and abolish all people's political rights, thereby establishing a fascist dictatorship. His conspiracy failed solely because of the heroic struggle of the Korean people. Yoon Seok-youl later pretended that he had no coup plan at all, avoiding his previous aggressive rhetoric, and fooling the Korean people who had experienced his counterrevolutionary coup firsthand. If Yoon Seok-youl really "respects the constitutional order" and did not plan any conspiracy from the beginning, then why was there such a farcical martial law? His claim that his failure was "not unwilling, but unable" is nothing but a reactionary overestimation of his own strength and underestimation of the people's power, a pragmatic excuse made after his defeat.

Yoon Seok-youl's Coup Unveiled the Sham of Korean Bourgeois Democracy

Since Yoon Seok-youl was not unwilling to launch a counterrevolutionary coup but was defeated after doing so, what exactly caused his heinous plan to rebuild a fascist regime in Korea to fail? The Marxist view is clear: it is the people's struggle mentioned above, "People, only the people, are the driving force of world history." [12] Moreover, the class struggle within Korea and internationally has not yet become so sharp that Korea's comprador bourgeoisie is compelled to adopt fascist dictatorship — from the perspective of class struggle within Korea, the contradictions among classes are far from reaching the point where the bourgeoisie must establish a military dictatorship to maintain its rule. Recent large-scale strikes, such as nearly a year's long doctors' and medical students' strikes, and strikes by Samsung and Seoul Metro unions demanding wage increases, although impressive, are still within the scope of economic struggle, with no close links among them, and do not threaten the ruling foundations of Korea's comprador bourgeoisie. Additionally, the attitude of opposition and ruling parties in this coup also shows that most of Korea's bourgeoisie oppose the coup because the large-scale strikes, economic chaos, and political disorder it causes would harm their interests. From the international class struggle perspective, although North Korea's propaganda is aggressive, portraying Korea as an enemy state, it is militarily defensive and does not pose a real threat. Internationally, whether a new government is bourgeois or fascist does not harm the interests of imperialist powers like the US and Japan; in fact, the political chaos caused by a military coup that destroys bourgeois democracy could harm their economic interests in Korea. Furthermore, the US imperialist government is currently in a transition period, and the policies of monopolist capital are changing, making it unlikely to initiate major international upheavals. Therefore, the imperialist powers controlling Korea's economy and politics have neither the willingness nor the capacity to support this coup directly — even though they initially supported the rise of the People Power Party. However, many bourgeois and petty-bourgeois democratic advocates have offered various idealist explanations, attempting to use this event to promote bourgeois democracy, ignoring the fact that this coup actually signals the bankruptcy of Korea's bourgeois democratic system. It is necessary to analyze what these so-called experts are saying and where they are wrong.

Some say that the failure of this counterrevolutionary coup is because Yoon Seok-youl's brain malfunctioned, his personal scheming was improper, and he even used vulgar rhetoric like "the world is a huge puppet show" to justify it. This explanation only considers Yoon Seok-youl's personal counterrevolutionary capacity as a secondary factor, ignoring the material conditions he faces and the motivation behind his decisions. Even if his personal capacity were truly defective, what role do his senior officers and civil officials play? Are they also incapable counterrevolutionaries who have collectively failed? Why did Yoon Seok-youl and his incapable team manage to defeat his main opponent Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party, and how did he gain support within the People Power Party to become the candidate representing the whole party? This superficial explanation cannot stand up to scrutiny.

Others claim that the failure of Yoon Seok-youl's coup was because Korea's "democratic system" played a role, with opposition lawmakers "bravely" rushing into the National Assembly despite the blockade and voting to lift martial law. This view is also misleading. Whether the martial law was initiated or lifted, it exposed the severe political crisis faced by Korea's bourgeois democracy.

First, the martial law was declared unilaterally by Yoon Seok-youl, without prior consultation with the Korean people, and even the lawmakers in the National Assembly or his own ruling party did not need to be informed in advance. He simply planned and announced it suddenly, which is legal under Korean law. This means Yoon Seok-youl, as Göring mocked bourgeois democracy, used bourgeois democracy's "resources" to "destroy it," gaining "immense profit" and "endless pleasure." [13] If his martial law ultimately succeeds, he can use "democracy" to complete the counterrevolutionary coup, declare fascism legal, and eliminate "democracy" itself, all legally. No capitalist democracy has ever declared martial law illegal or unconstitutional. History has proven this — whether Hitler in Germany or Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan in Korea, they all came to power legally and became fascist coup winners within bourgeois democracy. The so-called bourgeois representative democracy was designed as a tool for the bourgeoisie to manipulate from the start, and it is never the cause that ends such a coup.

Secondly, those advocating for Korea's bourgeois democracy and claiming that "brave" opposition lawmakers rushed into the National Assembly despite the blockade are ignoring an obvious fact: if Korea's military had not been passive, but had actively used its past "initiative" during the May 16 and December 12 coups to block the National Assembly and arrest lawmakers, then how could the National Assembly convene? Who would have the power to declare martial law? The only reason the Assembly was able to convene this time was due to luck, not because of the people's action — if the military had truly prevented the Assembly from meeting, who could rely on moral appeals or legal provisions to make the reactionary troops surrender and lift martial law? How can such a system that relies on chance and internal bourgeois discord be called a panacea against fascism?

Finally, even if Yoon Seok-youl has already suspended the exercise of his powers, he is still the legally recognized President of South Korea protected by the South Korean bourgeois constitution. Those self-important politicians and clowns who spoke big words in advance, such as Lee Jae-myung, even claimed on the night of December 3rd that Yoon Seok-youl “is no longer the President of South Korea,” but in the end, they could only obediently follow the long process of impeachment forced by South Korean bourgeois law. They must find ways to ensure that the Constitutional Court, within 180 days after filing the impeachment, votes with at least six supporting votes in the presence of at least seven justices to pass the impeachment, thereby removing Yoon Seok-youl from office entirely. However, South Korea’s current Constitutional Court, which has only six justices, lacks the authority to rule on impeachment cases because at least seven justices are required to open a session. If the number of justices is not supplemented within 180 days, Yoon Seok-youl will regain his powers. Meanwhile, according to South Korean law, after Yoon Seok-youl’s suspension, the Prime Minister and others acting on his behalf will also be members of the People Power Party — even though there are different factions within the party, their differences are still smaller compared to the divide between the ruling and opposition parties — and note that the appointment of justices of the South Korean Constitutional Court is decided by the President himself! Will Yoon Seok-youl and his successors allow pro-impeachment judges to take office? Such a loophole-ridden bourgeois democratic system, which even a failed Yoon Seok-youl cannot purge, how can it prevent a successful fascist coup? As Robespierre, the most radical supporter of bourgeois democracy, once said about why Louis XVI should be executed without any parliamentary procedure: “Louis must die because the homeland must live.” If Louis XVI “can still be a subject of litigation, then he can be pardoned... If Louis can be pardoned... then all defenders of freedom become malicious slanderers, rebels become true friends of truth and protectors of the persecuted innocents...”[14] Robespierre’s words are so profound! If the innocent Yoon Seok-youl ultimately ends up acquitted, does that not mean that the Korean people who fought selflessly to prevent Yoon Seok-youl’s counterrevolutionary coup have actually become the “criminals” and “anti-national forces” in Yoon’s words? The absurd democratic system designed by Korea fully demonstrates that Korean democracy can only be hypocritical and formal bourgeois democracy, which not only fails to punish the enemies of the people who initiate fascist coups but even shelters them, sheltering all the bourgeoisie who do as they please—completely a disguised bourgeois dictatorship that bans the political rights of the people.

Some also say that Yoon Seok-youl’s failure of the counterrevolutionary coup is because the “democratic ideas” in Korea have deeply rooted in the people's hearts, so under the influence of “democratic ideas,” the Korean people spontaneously took to the streets to protest against martial law, ultimately leading to its lifting. This view is also very one-sided. While it recognizes the struggle of the Korean people, it fails to see the real reasons behind their opposition to Yoon Seok-youl’s counterrevolutionary coup, nor does it see the actual role played by Korea’s so-called “democratic ideas.” As previously mentioned, Korea’s bourgeois democracy is powerless in dealing with this counterrevolutionary coup because it cannot prevent, stop during, or punish after the coup. If this is the case, and even bourgeois democracy itself becomes a joke, then how does its ideology work? If the Korean people do not actively take to the streets illegally oppose the martial law and clash with the legitimate army, but instead believe in “legitimate democracy,” and passively allow the lawful martial law to take effect and be enforced, how can these powerless legislators oppose fully armed soldiers? If the Korean people do not march in support of opposition lawmakers, providing protection through public opinion and practical actions, and creating conditions for voting to lift martial law in the National Assembly, then such a vote could never happen. In fact, it is not the deep-rooted “democratic ideas” of the Korean bourgeoisie that prevent this coup but the deep-rooted anti-fascist consciousness of the Korean proletariat that stops it. The Korean people, deceived by bourgeois democratic ideas, failed to pursue the remaining strength, to press forward, to capture the main culprit Yoon Seok-youl and his accomplices alive, but instead allowed the politicians in the National Assembly to bicker and use legal means to attack each other after the coup was crushed. This has led to Yoon Seok-youl’s current safety, and it is even very likely that he will not be punished in the end, nor will he be sentenced to death or life imprisonment as the Korean people truly hope—just look at how many former Korean presidents, including Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, have resumed “normal” life shortly after their downfall. Therefore, although Korea’s bourgeois democracy and bourgeois dictatorship should be opposed, the majority of the Korean people’s support should be given to the dictatorship of the minority bourgeoisie, especially the fascists, as well as the democracy recognized by the majority of the Korean people. This means breaking the bourgeois democratic constraints with violence and using ruthless dictatorship to punish fascist criminals like Yoon Seok-youl.

Yoon Seok-youl, Abandoned by All

Korea’s bourgeois representative democracy is powerless in the fight against Yoon Seok-youl’s coup, and it is the struggle of the Korean working people that truly shattered Yoon Seok-youl’s fascist conspiracy. The reason for Yoon Seok-youl’s failure ultimately lies in the fact that he not only failed to gain the support of the Korean people but also faced their unanimous opposition. Therefore, the wave of people’s struggle swept him away.

Yoon Seok-youl was put into power by the U.S. imperialism and its Korean comprador bourgeoisie amidst the sharp class struggle in Korea. The ruling party he belongs to, the People Power Party, is itself a so-called bourgeois “far-right” party based on fascism. From the very beginning of his presidency, Yoon Seok-youl openly began implementing the three fundamental policies of the Korean fascist party: anti-communism (anti-North Korea), maintaining patriarchy, and suppressing workers’ struggles. After taking office, Yoon Seok-youl abandoned the previous peaceful coexistence policy of the Korean bourgeois “democratic” government towards North Korea, exaggerated the “threat” of North Korea, and used this to promote anti-communist ideas, branding all who oppose his rule as “pro-North communist forces.” Moreover, during his presidential campaign, Yoon Seok-youl openly proposed to abolish the “Women’s and Family Department,” which nominally protects women’s rights, and called for increased crackdowns on “false accusations” of male “sexual crimes,” while turning a blind eye to the rampant patriarchal oppression in Korea today—such as the N号房 incident, the Sook-hee case, and others. Finally, Yoon Seok-youl’s most notorious act was his openly hostile attitude towards protests by Korean medical staff against his strengthening of dictatorship, repeatedly attempting to use state machinery to suppress strikes, constantly demanding that medical personnel return to work immediately, even during martial law, ordering them to resume work within 48 hours, revealing his anti-people face. Yoon Seok-youl’s misconduct ultimately provoked widespread opposition from the Korean people, placing him completely at odds with the masses. Not only did medical staff resolutely refuse to obey his orders to return to work and insisted on fighting to the end, but Yoon Seok-youl was also ridiculed by the Korean people in various ways, becoming infamous. The rapid decline in Yoon Seok-youl’s personal prestige intensified internal struggles within the ruling class, allowing Lee Jae-myung and other Korean bourgeois democrats to weaken the bourgeois fascist forces represented by Yoon Seok-youl, ultimately leading to the disastrous defeat of Yoon Seok-youl’s People Power Party in the April 2024 Korean National Assembly elections, where they only won 108 seats, while Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party and its satellite parties gained 175 seats, forming a “small opposition, large government” pattern. Subsequently, under pressure from public opinion, Yoon Seok-youl was constrained by Lee Jae-myung in the cases of the “Kim Geon-hee Investigation” and government budget issues, and faced multiple impeachment attempts initiated by opposition parties manipulated by Lee Jae-myung, almost succeeding, leaving him with no way out. Only because Yoon Seok-youl reached a point where parliamentary democracy could no longer help him, did the coup become the only option for him and a small part of the comprador bourgeoisie behind him to maintain their rule.

After deciding on the coup, Yoon Seok-youl believed he had devised a “flawless” plan, as if he could easily mobilize the army to destroy Korea’s entire bourgeois democracy. However, when he launched the coup, he, like all counterrevolutionaries, overestimated his strength and underestimated the power of the masses. At the moment of the coup, his base of power was extremely narrow. His repeated political failures had long made him alienated from most members of his own ruling party, relying only on a small group of loyal confidants. Therefore, Yoon Seok-youl’s actual strength was weak. When planning his coup, even most members of the ruling class feared and avoided him, and he could only rely on deception and sudden orders to manipulate the army and high-ranking bourgeois officers. This fully exposed his nature as a paper tiger—when a coup plotter cannot even win over the violence apparatus needed for success, the coup is doomed to fail. When Yoon Seok-youl’s coup faced fierce opposition from the masses and was defeated, even his last remaining confidants abandoned him. The presidential palace, special forces, staff, and officers resigned, confessed, and sold out to the bourgeois democratic forces in hopes of escaping punishment. The final outcome of Yoon Seok-youl’s coup, which aimed to restore fascist dictatorship in Korea, can only be a shameful ending of widespread betrayal and abandonment. The evil fascism is unpopular, and the Korean people, who overthrew three fascist regimes—Lee Seung-man, Park Chung-hee, and Chun Doo-hwan—are not to be humiliated. They will continue to fight and send Yoon Seok-youl to the trash heap of history where he belongs. However, the struggle of the Korean people is not over. Regardless of whether Yoon Seok-youl’s group ultimately falls or whether Lee Jae-myung’s bourgeois democrats take power, this is not the end of the Korean people’s opposition to bourgeois oppression and their fight for rights. On the contrary, Yoon Seok-youl’s coup, as the best double-sided mirror—revealing the hypocrisy of bourgeois democracy and the brutality of bourgeois fascist rule—is an invaluable negative lesson. The Korean people will learn from it, recognize the true face of Korea’s bourgeois dictatorship, shed the political deception of the bourgeoisie, and choose communism as the only path to liberation in the near future.

  1. https://chinese.joins.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=117752

  2. Same as above.

  3. Same as above.

  4. Same as above.

  5. Same as above.

  6. Lenin: “The State and Revolution,” Vol. 25 of the Collected Works of Lenin, first Chinese edition, People’s Publishing House, 1971.

  7. Mao Zedong, “Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art,” in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Volume 1, People’s Publishing House, 1967.

  8. https://chinese.joins.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=117675

  9. Same as above.

  10. Same as above.

  11. Same as above.

  12. Mao Zedong, “On United Front,” in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Volume 1, People’s Publishing House, 1967.

  13. Reprinted from Richard J. Evans: “The Coming of the Third Reich,” Chinese edition, Jiuzhou Publishing House, 2019.

  14. Robespierre: “Louis Must Die Because the Homeland Must Live,” in Selected Works of Robespierre, East China Normal University Press, 1989.

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Just saw that Yoon Seok-youl was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial. But this kind of big bourgeois sitting in prison probably is just a change of place to enjoy.

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