South Korea is not a true democracy. The anticommunist government is allowed to arrest every South Koran who says he/she is opposing the Republic of Korea. As a South Korean you are not allowed to oppose the ROK, doing so makes you a ''North Korea sympathizer''. The South Korea military dictatorship that ruled from 1960 till 1987 used anticommunism as a excuses to hunt down opposition members. From liberal democrats to socialists and communists, all were hunted and tortured by the criminal KCIA ( Korean Central Intelligence Agency ). American presidents gave full support to the dictatorship of the militarists and loved the anticommunist nature of the Republic of Korea!
The Unified Progressive Party is not anti-capitalist nor revolutionary socialist. Born out of a fusion between left-wing nationalists and trade unionists, the UPP has six members elected into the Parliament of the Republic of Korea. These six representatives can be arrested if the Constitutional Court bans the party. All supporters of freedom of speech, must oppose this attack on the basic freedoms in South Korea. The anticommunist government is criminal and shows that democracy is only good when it serves capitalism and the rich!
Lee Seok-ki is a leftist lawmaker and got arrested, the South Korean government said he was part of an anti-ROK organisation called the ´´Revolutionary Organisation´´. He is a member of the Unified Progressive Party and now the government wants to ban this party, because Lee Seok-ki and few other members are called ''Pro-North Korean''. That would be like banning the Republican Party of the USA, because few of its members are racists and support Christian fundamentalism. It is true that many leftists in South Korea have a pro-North Korea position because they hate US imperialism and the capitalist nature of the ROK. Many leftists are still intimidated and discriminated in South Korea. In their anti-imperialism some have developed the idea that North Korea is the better Korea because of its anti-imperialism. Very foolish to think, but understandable consider the anticommunist paranoia of the South Korean government!
Again the Unified Progressive Party is not anti-capitalist or revolutionary socialist. This party is leftist nationalist and progressive democratic. Some of its members maybe more radical, but the party has never supported a workers government or a socialist economy. This would mean political suicide since any revolutionary socialist party in South Korea, would be intimidated and called ''evil'' by the anticommunist media. It is because of this paranoia that the ruling conservatives still win elections. Brainwashing the workers of the south since 1948 with anticommunism, the south is the opposite of the North Korean dictatorship. Were Kim Il Sung poisoned the Koreans with his Stalinist-Juche ideal, the South Korean presidents used totalitarian anticommunism to create a anti-leftist climate!
Now the conservative government is ready to ban the Unified Progressive Party. If they get the support from six of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court, then the government is allowed to take all the wealth of the UPP to prevent the creation of a new party. It would mean a great victory for anticommunism if the Unified Progressive Party is banned. But also a victory for US imperialism since the UPP is a major opponent of American soldiers in South Korea. By banning the only major opposition party to US imperialism, the South Korea ruling class can relax in the knowledge, that their power-structure remains unchallenged!
Lee Seok-ki arrested for being a ''DPRK sympathizer'' as the government claims
Many leftists were jailed this way between 1948 and 1987!
