• Cowbee [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    Yep, the ROK is extremely divided due to the heightened contradictions from Statesian colonialism, an unfinished civil war, and the ramifications of turning the old colonial government into a new class of chaebol. Trade unionists in the ROK are far more militant than most western countries, and labor struggle is heightened just like pro-Japanese colonialism compradors are also high.

    • TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today
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      1 month ago

      Yep. I always tell people that SK is like a western liberal democracy but if you put it in a pressure cooker. My parents generation basically speed ran the spectrum of highs and lows of what liberal democracy has to offer and arrived at late stage capitalism 20 years before America.

      My optimism about the country compared to somewhere like America is that they have a lot more worker solidarity and aren’t afraid to throw a Molotov cocktail at cops. Plus they really don’t have the reflexive loyalty to the liberal idea of “freedoms” , they are working under their 6th Republic after all.

      • Cowbee [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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        1 month ago

        Yep, I agree! The political instability isn’t just because the state is especially repressive, it’s because there’s also a ton of struggle by the working classes against it. Then there’s the massive power of the chaebol and the nihilism brought on by declining birth rates and a feminist movement struggling within this highly misogynistic pressure cooker.

        My hope is that the downfall of the US Empire pushes normalization with the DPRK and increased ties with the PRC, potentially even a socialist revolution.