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| Members of labor and civic groups, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, hold a protest against South Korea's joint military drills with the United States, near the U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, Aug. 14. Newsis |
Anti-US nationalists still exert major influence among liberals: experts
By Jung Min-ho
South Korea's two biggest labor umbrella groups have called for the immediate suspension of the country's ongoing joint military exercise with the United States, calling it a dangerous act that increases the risk of conflict with North Korea.
In front of the War Memorial of Korea, Tuesday, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol for the resumption of the two allies' first full-scale field trainings in five years.
"We denounce the Yoon administration for being trapped in a swamp of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, a byproduct of the Cold War of the 20th century, and making the wrong moves for the peace, diplomacy and economy of the Korean Peninsula," they said in a joint statement. "North Korea is one of us, with which the South should work together to put an end to the era of conflict and division and to open the era of self-reliance and peaceful unification."
The messages promoted during an Aug. 13 rally in Seoul by the KCTU, which advocates for labor rights as well as democracy, national sovereignty and peaceful unification, were stronger and more direct: "Renounce the South Korea-U.S. alliance" and "Abolish conscription."
Those who are not familiar with how South Korea's progressive movement has developed over the last decades may find it difficult to understand why labor groups might raise their voices about this issue.
The progressive National Liberation (NL) faction, which emerged as a powerful force in the democratic movement in the 1980s, developed tendencies toward nationalism and anti-U.S. sentiments, the vestiges of which still have a formidable influence on liberal politics in Korea, particular of that generation, according to experts.
"The NL believes that the U.S. was responsible for Korea's division, and views the country as a barrier to its unification," Cho Jin-man, an associate professor of politics and international relations at Duksung Women's University, told The Korea Times. "Such thoughts were developed in the 1980s, and they still adhere to the beliefs."
To put it simply, he said, the NL and the PD (People's Democracy) factions were the two main pillars of South Korea's progressive camp. While the PD faction focused more on issues such as workers' rights, it shared much of the NL's nationalistic views over the relationship with North Korea and the U.S.
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| The South Korean Army's K-9 self-propelled howitzers take positions in Paju, a city near the border with North Korea, Monday. The United States and South Korea began their biggest combined military training in years Monday as they heighten their defense posture against the growing North Korean nuclear threat. AP-Yonhap |
Some progressives, particularly of the 1980s democracy movement generation, still say South Korea is under not only the political but also economic influence of the U.S., which they believe has had a negative impact on improving workers' rights or benefits, said Lee Jun-han, a professor of politics and international relations at Incheon National University.
Opinions vary over the reasons for ― and the degree of ― the disenchantment. Some think the U.S.' silence about the brutal suppression of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising by the military junta of Chun Doo Hwan as the biggest reason.
What's clear is the KCTU has been persistent about its position on the U.S. When two South Korean schoolgirls were killed as a result of the 2002 Yangju highway incident, in which a U.S. military vehicle accidently struck them, and when the former Lee Myung-bak government lifted a ban on U.S. beef imports in 2008, the group was at the forefront of mass protests against the U.S. and conservative politicians, who share a more favorable view of the country. Just two months ago, the KCTU held a rally to mark the 20th anniversary of the 2002 incident in central Seoul, where they vowed to stop the Yoon administration's "hostile policy" toward North Korea.
But politics today are not the same as they were in the 1980s. Much has changed since over thirty years ago, including the issues people care about, experts say.
"I think South Korean labor groups are at a crossroads now," Cho said. "Many young people with culturally liberal political views, as polls indicate, do not agree with their messages on certain issues … In 10 years or so, I believe much will be different."
