North Korean Political Factions

The “Soviet faction” was largely composed of Soviet-Koreans who had entered the Peninsula during the Soviet occupation towards the end of WWII and entered the North Korean Communist Party on the basis of their membership in the Soviet Communist Party. The “Yan’an faction” refers to Koreans who had fought against the Japanese in the Yan’an area of China alongside the Chinese Communist Party.

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There Will Be No Korean Reunification Without Preparation

Vehicles are waiting at a checkpoint to pass through the Civilian Control Zone in the inter-Korean border area. © Il Young Jeong Il Young Jeong Senior Research Fellow_Institute of Social Science_Sogang University Autumn is not only the season of harvest but also a time to prepare for the year ahead. Governments, too, are particularly busy during this period. The regular session of the National Assembly, which opened on September 1, is now preparing for parliamentary audits of government agencies and deliberations on next year’s budget. The government has submitted a proposed budget of 820.9 trillion won for 2027 to the National Assembly. Amid an unprecedented semiconductor boom and rising tax revenues, the government has been seen as taking a proactive approach to fiscal policy, including the establishment of a 160 trillion won fund for responding to future challenges. Against this backdrop, how has the Ministry of Unification’s budget been allocated? This column examines the 2027...

Peace and democracy on the Korean Peninsula are inseparable

* The tense atmosphere at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) . @iStock Il Young Jeong Research Professor_Institute of Social Science_Sogang University As we enter 2025, South Korea faces a grave domestic and international situation. President Yoon Suk-yeol's attempt to impose martial law and incite rebellion at the end of 2024 plunged the nation into shock but ultimately failed due to the united resistance of the people. However, the resulting turmoil has continued into 2025. Even more shocking is the fact that the rebellious forces attempted to provoke North Korea to justify the imposition of martial law. The government, which should be safeguarding national security and pursuing peace on the Korean Peninsula, sought to undermine democracy by exploiting the weakest links of the division system. Reflecting on this series of shocking events, we are once again painfully reminded that peace and democracy on the Korean Peninsula are inseparable. However, we cannot remai...

I Oppose the Revision of Japan's Security Strategy that Undermines the Peace Constitution

*The Rising Sun Flag flying above a Japanese warship. @iStock Il Young Jeong Research Professor_Institute of Social Sciences_Sogang University On December 16th, 2022, the Kishida Cabinet revised Japan’s national security strategy and effectively neutralized Japan’s long-standing ‘defense-only’ policy to act only in response to an attack by an enemy, a principle that has been maintained since World War II. Rather than revising Japan’s Peace Constitution, the Japanese government played a trick. Yet, the Korean government’s response to this maneuver has been vague at best. This article investigates and criticizes the Korean government's lukewarm response to Japan’s tricky switch away from its defense-only policy. How Revising Three Security Documents Rocked the Foundation of Japan's Peace Constitution? On December 16, the Japanese government called an extraordinary cabinet meeting during which it revised and approved three major security documents, including a documen...

The Korean Odyssey

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