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Godzilla vs Pulgasari: Anti-Japanism and Anti-Communism as Dueling Antagonisms in South Korean Politics.
- Source :
-
Journal of East Asian Studies . Jul2022, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p201-230. 30p. - Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- South Korea's persistent enmity towards its erstwhile colonizer Japan has been a compelling topic of East Asian international relations scholarship for decades. This article argues that the historical evolution of South Korea's democracy offers a vital and overlooked piece of this puzzle. Given that it emerged from one of the most virulently anti-communist dictatorships of the Cold War period, in a society facing an ongoing threat from communist North Korea, any left-of-center opposition movement faced an uphill battle against severe anti-communism. In such circumstances, the only way for a leftist opposition party to survive was by pitting its stronger anti-Japan reputation against conservatives' anti-communism. After South Korea's democracy stabilized, liberals tried and failed to overturn the anti-leftist institutions left over from the Cold War and then sought equilibrium through parallel rhetoric targeting pro-Japanese elements. Today, neither left nor right can afford to allow a final amicable settlement with its respective target of antagonism. Through analyses of domestic political rhetoric targeting alleged pro-Japanese or pro-communist elements, this paper demonstrates how these competing antagonisms achieved an uneasy equilibrium that undergirds South Korean political dynamics to this day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *ANTI-Japanism
*ANTI-communist propaganda
*ANTAGONISM (Ecology)
*DEMOCRACY
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 15982408
- Volume :
- 22
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of East Asian Studies
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 158140346
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1017/jea.2022.2