On September 5, the French communist organization National Association of Communists (ANC) hosted a dialogue with the organizer of the World Anti-imperialist Platform (the Platform) at the People’s House in Béziers, the city of southern France, where local activists from Montpellier, Carcassonne, and other regions gathered.
Charles Hoareau, President of the ANC, began the conversation by explaining that the Platform was launched in Paris in October 2022, with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at its center, and that it brought together important political organizations worldwide which shared the need for anti-imperialist struggle and the importance of a scientific line in the immediate aftermath of the war in Ukraine.
Stephen Cho, Organizer of the Platform, gave an analysis of the situation in World War 3 and focused on how the recent fascist political repression in the “Republic of Korea (ROK)” is a sign of the war in the “ROK” as well as the war in East Asia and the Western Pacific, and how anti-imperialist activists around the world should respond.
He detailed the political situation in the “ROK” and condemned that “ROK” President Yoon Suk-yeol, a former prosecutor general, is worse fascist than the most vicious military fascist regimes during the 1960s-1990s in the “ROK.” He pointed out that in August last year, the heads of state of the United States, Japan, and the “ROK” met at Camp David to form the “Northeast Asian NATO,” a de facto military alliance between the US, Japan, and the “ROK,” which crossed the red line set by the three countries of the DPRK, China, and Russia.
He went on to say that Yoon is similar to Ukraine’s Zelensky and Israel’s Netanyahu, calling him a pro-US fascist and puppet who does what Washington tells him to do. He also emphasized that Yoon’s approval ratings have fallen to the 10 percent range and that as Yoon lost the last general election, he is preparing to declare martial law by starting a local war and nominating key positions in the military and police with his alumni.
He also brought the news that fascist Yoon’s government raided the offices of the People’s Democracy Party and houses of key party members on August 30 and simultaneously raided the former president’s family home. This is typical of fascism, which suppressed the party on the left and the party on the right of the political spectrum together.
He also confirmed that the “ROK” is economically similar to Italy in terms of GDP, but politically, it is halfway between Africa and Western Europe, and that the National Security Act makes the revolutionary party illegal and there is no freedom of thought and expression. Nevertheless, the People’s Democracy Party has been holding an all-night protest in front of the US Embassy for 2536 days and has recently posted banners across the country saying, “Down with Yoon Suk-yeol!”
ANC President Hoareau said that the “ROK” is definitely hell, especially since workers lock themselves in cages and have sit-in demonstrations in high locations such as the top of bridges or buildings for tens of days, and that their struggle is different from what we usually imagine.
The participants said, in their questions and impressions, they were surprised to learn how serious the politics and economy of the “ROK” are. They responded that the People’s Democracy Party and workers are waging a great struggle.
The Platform’s organizer, Stephen Cho, pointing to the historical fact that World War 1 was a decisive momentum of the Russian Revolution, emphasized that activists in the “ROK” staunchly oppose war as true peace-supporters, but if the imperialists and fascists wage a war, they will fight against it and struggle to turn it into a revolution.
He said that if the provocations of the US invading forces continue, the wars in the “ROK” and Taiwan will eventually break out, which will immediately spread to East Asia and the Western Pacific. He called on progressive democratic and peace-loving forces around the world to fight against war, fascism, and imperialism.
The talk ended with loud applause. Activists from the ANC, the World Anti-imperialist Platform, and the People’s Democratic Party took a commemorative photo together in a show of international solidarity as they condemned the “ROK” government’s fascist crackdown on public security.
