https://znetwork.org/category/place/asia/south-korea/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Wed, 14 Jan 2026 01:57:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/category/place/asia/south-korea/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-south-koreas-billions-will-upgrade-trumps-war-machine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-south-koreas-billions-will-upgrade-trumps-war-machine/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293461 In a flagrant disregard for international law and national sovereignty, the Trump administration invaded and kidnapped Venezuela’s President Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. Rather than being an isolated event, the increasing bravado of and remarks from President Donald Trump open the terrifying possibility that, if not opposed, Trump’s war machine will proliferate its aggressions, with next [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-south-koreas-billions-will-upgrade-trumps-war-machine/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-dream-of-korean-independence/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-dream-of-korean-independence/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293451 “People of this nation, please come to the National Assembly now. Protect the final bastion of our democracy!”—Lee Jae Myung, December 2024 This urgent plea was livestreamed at 10:40 p.m. on 3 December 2024 by National Assemblyman Lee Jae Myung, barely ten minutes after martial law had been declared by the now-impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol. Hundreds of citizens heeded the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-dream-of-korean-independence/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-tariffs-to-tribute-the-350b-price-of-parity/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-tariffs-to-tribute-the-350b-price-of-parity/#respond Tue, 04 Nov 2025 17:31:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1290817 On 29 October 2025, the carefully scripted pageantry of the US-ROK alliance in Gyeongju and Seoul met an unwelcome counter-narrative from the streets. While US President Donald Trump was being feted with a Silla-era replica gold crown and Korea’s highest honor, thousands of workers, trade unionists, farmers, and students and women’s collectives converged near the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-tariffs-to-tribute-the-350b-price-of-parity/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/understanding-apec-trumps-tariff-war/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/understanding-apec-trumps-tariff-war/#respond Fri, 10 Oct 2025 16:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1289767 The confusion that followed the opening salvo to Trump’s tariff war revealed the contradictions and tensions between different sectors of capital and economies – within the US and outside of it. In the first three days, stock prices plummeted, wiping out $10 trillion from financial markets across the world. Amidst fears of stalling trade, developing [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/understanding-apec-trumps-tariff-war/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-koreas-president-lee-shouldnt-attend-nato-amidst-crises-peace-is-pragmatic/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-koreas-president-lee-shouldnt-attend-nato-amidst-crises-peace-is-pragmatic/#respond Wed, 18 Jun 2025 16:33:16 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1285171 In his inaugural speech, South Korea’s recently elected President Lee Jae-myung declared that ‘no peace is too expensive; it is always better than war’. The words capture an idealism packaged in Lee’s pragmatism. Indeed, at a time when the US Cold War against China is turning Asia into a tinderbox, when global temperatures have exceeded [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-koreas-president-lee-shouldnt-attend-nato-amidst-crises-peace-is-pragmatic/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korea-under-pressure/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korea-under-pressure/#respond Wed, 04 Jun 2025 17:14:16 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1284569 South Korea goes to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new president after some tumultuous months following the attempted coup by the right-wing president Yoon Suk-yeol to arrest opposition leaders and close down parliament, where Yoon did not have a majority.  Eventually, Yoon was impeached and arrested and is awaiting trial, despite vigorous efforts [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korea-under-pressure/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/under-a-new-south-korean-president-can-peace-activists-push-us-troops-out/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/under-a-new-south-korean-president-can-peace-activists-push-us-troops-out/#respond Tue, 03 Jun 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1284534 On June 3, South Korea will conclude a snap election prompted by the impeachment of former president Yoon Seok-yeol on insurrection charges for a failed coup. The strong frontrunner in the race is Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party pro-peace candidate. While Lee’s election could open the window for peace talks, progressives must learn from the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/under-a-new-south-korean-president-can-peace-activists-push-us-troops-out/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/samsungs-union-battle-and-the-crisis-facing-korean-labor/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/samsungs-union-battle-and-the-crisis-facing-korean-labor/#respond Mon, 19 May 2025 16:57:06 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283935 Last year saw a historic strike by workers at Samsung, the Korean electronics firm with a global footprint. Yet the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) that organized the strike has since stumbled over an old practice in South Korea’s labor movement — one often used to drive a wedge between the leadership and the rank-and-file members. The [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/samsungs-union-battle-and-the-crisis-facing-korean-labor/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/to-stop-coups-in-south-korea-expand-democracy/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/to-stop-coups-in-south-korea-expand-democracy/#respond Thu, 01 May 2025 15:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283200 On 4 April, 122 days after martial law was declared in South Korea, the constitutional court upheld the National Assembly’s impeachment motion and dismissed the former president Yoon Suk Yeol. Now, the country is readying for the 3 June snap presidential election. While toppling a president involved Herculean efforts, the greater challenge will be changing [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/to-stop-coups-in-south-korea-expand-democracy/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/close-the-us-military-bases-in-asia/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/close-the-us-military-bases-in-asia/#respond Wed, 23 Apr 2025 18:09:21 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282884 President Donald Trump is again loudly complaining that the US military bases in Asia are too costly for the US to bear.  As part of the new round of tariff negotiations with Japan and Korea, Trump is calling on Japan and Korea to pay for stationing the US troops.  Here’s a much better idea: close the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/close-the-us-military-bases-in-asia/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-koreas-presidential-impeachment-was-long-overdue/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-koreas-presidential-impeachment-was-long-overdue/#respond Wed, 09 Apr 2025 16:05:36 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282211 After more than seven weeks of deliberations, South Korea’s Constitutional Court has finally upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol, who attempted to subvert the constitutional order with a botched bid for martial law in December. However, the unanimous verdict from eight judges laid bare a country increasingly fractured by social and political tensions. “Since [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-koreas-presidential-impeachment-was-long-overdue/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/yoons-impeachment-ratified-a-new-era-for-south-korean-democracy/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/yoons-impeachment-ratified-a-new-era-for-south-korean-democracy/#respond Sun, 06 Apr 2025 15:49:55 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282091 South Korea’s Constitutional Court finally ratified former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment on April 4, 111 days after parliament voted to remove him for his attempted December 3 self-coup. Explaining the judges’ unanimous decision, acting president of the bench Moon Hyung-bae said Yoon’s actions in declaring martial law, seeking to close parliament and arrest opponents had “damaged people’s [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/yoons-impeachment-ratified-a-new-era-for-south-korean-democracy/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-the-u-s-is-corrupting-south-koreas-institutions-and-driving-it-to-war/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-the-u-s-is-corrupting-south-koreas-institutions-and-driving-it-to-war/#respond Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:20:43 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1281573 K.J. Noh discusses how South Korea figures into U.S. plans for confrontation and potential war with China, as well as the latest in the erosion of South Korean democratic institutions and the U.S. involvement in these developments.]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-the-u-s-is-corrupting-south-koreas-institutions-and-driving-it-to-war/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-the-us-can-learn-from-south-koreans-who-stopped-an-authoritarian-power-grab/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-the-us-can-learn-from-south-koreans-who-stopped-an-authoritarian-power-grab/#respond Wed, 19 Feb 2025 18:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1279965 As Elon Musk and his DOGE team set about dismantling government agencies, many Americans expected a strong response from Congressional Democrats. Instead, party leaders offered weak statements and little resistance to being refused entry to the very agencies they are tasked with overseeing. This lack of urgency amid what’s being called an administrative coup stoked a wave of angry calls to “do [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-the-us-can-learn-from-south-koreans-who-stopped-an-authoritarian-power-grab/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/washingtons-not-so-strong-man-in-seoul-is-defying-arrest/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/washingtons-not-so-strong-man-in-seoul-is-defying-arrest/#respond Sat, 04 Jan 2025 15:24:49 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1277962 On January 3, three days after a South Korean court issued an arrest warrant for suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading an insurrection and abusing authority, investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office went to the presidential residence to execute the warrant—the first against a sitting president in Korean history. When investigators tried [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/washingtons-not-so-strong-man-in-seoul-is-defying-arrest/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korea-yoons-impeachment-is-a-win-for-peoples-power/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korea-yoons-impeachment-is-a-win-for-peoples-power/#respond Sun, 15 Dec 2024 12:53:29 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1277125 Wave after wave of protesters arrived by foot on Seoul’s Yeouido Island shortly after noon on December 14, with subway trains again forced to bypass the local station to avoid overcrowding. As with the million-strong rally the week before, candle-carrying protesters surrounded parliament to see if this time President Yoon Suk-yeol would be impeached. At about 5pm, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korea-yoons-impeachment-is-a-win-for-peoples-power/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korea-in-face-of-million-strong-protest-ruling-party-sabotages-yoons-impeachment/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korea-in-face-of-million-strong-protest-ruling-party-sabotages-yoons-impeachment/#respond Mon, 09 Dec 2024 17:49:41 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276856 Despite his failed December 3 self-coup, President Yoon Suk-yeol remains in his post after MPs from the conservative ruling People Power Party (PPP) boycotted a impeachment vote on December 7. This was despite 1 million people gathering outside for a candlelight protest demanding his ouster. A successful vote for impeachment required at least eight of the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korea-in-face-of-million-strong-protest-ruling-party-sabotages-yoons-impeachment/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-koreas-6-hour-martial-law/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-koreas-6-hour-martial-law/#respond Wed, 04 Dec 2024 18:35:37 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276583 South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared martial law, suspended the South Korean legislature and banned elected representatives from accessing the National Assembly building using massive police presence. And then six hours later he rescinded the order. President Yoon had declared in a public address to the Korean people that the move was to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-koreas-6-hour-martial-law/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/han-kangs-nobel-prize-award-is-a-cry-for-palestine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/han-kangs-nobel-prize-award-is-a-cry-for-palestine/#respond Wed, 16 Oct 2024 17:17:20 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1273745 South Korean novelist Han Kang has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, beating short-listed literary heavyweights like Thomas Pynchon, Haruki Murakami, Salman Rushdie, Gerald Murnane, and the all-odds-favorite, Chinese author Can Xue.  Han Kang was as shocked as anyone else after receiving the call notifying her that she had won. When asked what she would do [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/han-kangs-nobel-prize-award-is-a-cry-for-palestine/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/defying-threats-of-replacement-thousands-of-samsung-workers-go-on-indefinite-strike/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/defying-threats-of-replacement-thousands-of-samsung-workers-go-on-indefinite-strike/#respond Sun, 14 Jul 2024 14:27:34 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1269269 Thousands of workers in South Korea at Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, declared an “indefinite strike” against the company’s refusal to dialogue and listen to their demands on the last day of their three-day strike on Wednesday, July 10. In a statement, published on the website of the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) which [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/defying-threats-of-replacement-thousands-of-samsung-workers-go-on-indefinite-strike/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-did-samsung-workers-stage-their-first-ever-strike/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-did-samsung-workers-stage-their-first-ever-strike/#respond Sat, 29 Jun 2024 10:31:27 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1268591 On June 7, Samsung workers in South Korea embarked on their first-ever strike, organized by the Nationwide Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU). This historic event involved approximately 28,000 union members, representing about one-fifth of Samsung’s workforce in South Korea. The strike targeted Samsung’s chip division, which manufactures a variety of critical components such as RAM, NAND flash [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-did-samsung-workers-stage-their-first-ever-strike/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/korean-atomic-bomb-victims-seek-justice/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/korean-atomic-bomb-victims-seek-justice/#respond Fri, 14 Jun 2024 16:24:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1267835 On June 8th, 2024, in Hiroshima, Japan, The International People’s Tribunal On The 1945 Atomic Bombings met with the goal of holding the United States accountable for the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This People’s Tribunal focuses on the Korean bomb victims, 100,000 of whom were forcibly taken from their homeland by the Japanese to work [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/korean-atomic-bomb-victims-seek-justice/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/alliance-politics-in-east-asia-more-security-or-less/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/alliance-politics-in-east-asia-more-security-or-less/#respond Tue, 28 May 2024 17:18:17 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1267054 The Biden-Kishida Summit The best thing about diplomacy between government leaders is that it may ease tensions. The worst thing is that it doesn’t resolve the disputes between them, making matters worse. Both aspects of diplomacy have been on view lately in East Asia. An “historic” summit meeting April 10-11 between President Biden and Prime [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/alliance-politics-in-east-asia-more-security-or-less/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korean-high-court-hears-first-ever-youth-climate-case-in-asia/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korean-high-court-hears-first-ever-youth-climate-case-in-asia/#respond Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:35:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1265476 One of South Korea’s two highest courts on Tuesday began hearing Asia’s first-ever youth-led climate lawsuit, which accuses the country’s government of failing to protect citizens from the effects of the worsening, human-caused planetary emergency. Nineteen members of the advocacy group Youth4ClimateAction filed a constitutional complaint in March 2020 accusing the South Korean government of violating their [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/south-korean-high-court-hears-first-ever-youth-climate-case-in-asia/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/okinawa-a-bastion-for-peace/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/okinawa-a-bastion-for-peace/#respond Wed, 04 Oct 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1255289 Recently, in Taiwan, the government unveiled its first home-built submarine. In Japan, the government will upgrade civilian airports and seaports to dual military use in preparation for conflict in Taiwan. The U.S. and allies maneuver to contain China, Russia, and North Korea, while the latter band together against the former’s economic sanctions and military threats. Both blocs test [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/okinawa-a-bastion-for-peace/feed/ 0