The Chinese communist regime’s infiltration of Korean politics and culture is extensive, deep, and not well known, according to experts.
A martial law order from South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has again put communist influence in the country under the spotlight.
For the first time in nearly four decades, the South Korean leader invoked the authority, accusing the opposing Democratic Party of aligning with communist North Korea. He revoked martial law hours later after parliament voted to lift the order.
“I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order,” Yoon said in a late-night address on Dec. 3.
He said the political opposition, which dominates the national assembly, was “paralyzing the judiciary by intimidating judges and impeaching a large number of prosecutors” and causing dysfunction in other government sectors as well.
North Korea is far from the only country bringing communist influence over the peninsula.
China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner, has considerable sway.
Opposition Ties to China
Lee Jae-myung, who has likened himself to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and leads the opposition party, has taken a more friendly stance toward the Chinese regime even as Yoon has tried to steer his country closer to the United States and reverse the country’s yearslong trend of appeasing Beijing.
During a campaign rally in March, Lee criticized Yoon’s approach to China and his comments on the regime’s military encroachment on Taiwan, which the Chinese regime has sought to claim as its own.
“Why are you provoking China?” Lee said. “What does the Taiwan issue have to do with South Korea?”
A former presidential candidate, Lee was convicted two weeks ago of violating election law and was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison term.
Lee lost the 2022 election to Yoon by less than 1 percentage point, making it the closest election in South Korean presidential history.
By Eva Fu and Catherine Yang
