Two weeks after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s (윤석열) shocking attempt at placing the country under martial law – which was defeated after 6 hours – the South Korean National Assembly finally voted to impeach him on Saturday 14 December.

A spectacular political whirlwind has taken place in South Korea, where the President suddenly declared martial law in the name of “defending the country from pro-North Korean forces,” only to be forced to roll it back in a matter of hours. Why did this extraordinary move turn into a farce so quickly, and what forces has this unleashed in the crisis-ridden country?

Last week, a David-vs-Goliath struggle broke out at Samsung, the biggest Chaebol (conglomerate) in Korea, where workers launched the first indefinite strike in the company’s history.

With the world roiling in two wars in Ukraine and Palestine, while anxieties rise over a potential third conflict erupting over Taiwan, yet another potential flashpoint appears to be brewing in the Korean Peninsula, with sabre-rattling on both sides causing alarm.

27 July of this year marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which halted the three-year-long, all-out conflict known as the Korean War. The Armistice is not a peace agreement, and the two states that exist on the Korean Peninsula to the north and south of the 38th parallel are technically still at war with each other.

10 May marked a full year since the conservative right returned to power in South Korea under President Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party. This period has been marked by fierce attacks by the government on the working class, with a corresponding rise of class militancy. As the capitalist crisis deepens, the South Korean class struggle will reach new heights.

Forty-two years ago this week, South Korea was engulfed in the flames of class struggle. Amidst the fight by the masses for democracy and to bring down the military, a heroic episode took place in Gwangju – a city of nearly one million people. The workers beat back a vicious military, and for a few days the working class de facto took over the running of the city, which was briefly under the control of armed workers’ militias.

On Wednesday 9 March, South Koreans went to the polls to decide who will rule over them from the Blue House for the next five years. Yoon Suk-yeol of the hard-right conservative People Power Party (PPP) won out in the end, with a campaign based on reactionary, misogynistic demagogy. This result exposes the complete inability of the liberals to defend the interests of workers, women and the oppressed. The South Korean workers must prepare an independent class fight against the new government, and the capitalist system it represents.

On 20 October, over 80,000 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) answered the leadership’s call to take to the streets across 14 regions of South Korea. A further 50,000 workers also walked off their jobs at 2pm.

On 7 April 2021, voters in South Korea’s capital Seoul, and the key port city of Busan, delivered a stunning rebuke against the ruling Democratic Party (Minjoo). Although the conservative People Power Party (PPP) took hold of these two key cities, the election was regarded by the South Korean masses as a referendum on both President Moon Jae-in and the political establishment as a whole. As in many countries in the world, a socialist, working-class political alternative is sorely needed.

The meeting in Singapore between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un went off without any major bust-ups. In fact, it was all smiles. They even managed to agree to a joint statement, which was more than one could say of the G7. In reality, of course, they agreed hardly anything.

Kim Jong-un, recent bogeyman of the international press, has suddenly become its darling. The new diplomatic offensive took the ‘international community’ by surprise, with the prospect of an end to a 70-year conflict. Although Trump is attempting to bask in the glow of success, the latest turn, in reality, demonstrates the relative weakening of US imperialism.

North Korea has carried out an underground nuclear test, attracting the attention of the world media and infuriating the imperialists, in particular George W Bush. What is behind this move? But more importantly, what is happening to the North Korean regime and economy? This article attempts to give some answers.

(Article originally published the 10th of october 2006)

On 9 December 2016, the South Korean National Assembly voted to impeach President Park Geun-Hye with 234 out of 300 votes, including 62 votes from the president’s ruling Saenuri Party. This came after a wave of mass protests against Park has been taking place for seven weeks.

On Saturday more than 200,000  people took to the streets in South Korea calling for President Park Geun-hye to step down. This latest protest, was the biggest for several years and it highlights the deep crisis of the Park government.