Contradictions in Anti-Russia and Anti-China Sentiment: Criticism of Past Conduct and the Absence of a Substantive Basis

It has been claimed that most activists loudly voicing anti-Russia sentiment in the West are worshippers of America. Critics point out that while they express hostility toward Russia, they stay silent about, or even support, violence committed by the United States or Israel, showing a dual attitude. Criticism has also followed that their understanding of the situation regarding Russia is turned upside down from reality.

It has been argued that over the past eight years the Ukrainian government massacred Russians in the Donbas region and used the United Nations to terrorize Russian-speaking Ukrainians. President Putin's military operation is explained as having been meant to stop these massacres and terror. However, Western media is said to have reversed the situation and shifted responsibility onto Russia, a point of criticism.

The criticism also points to how scholars who condemned and denounced the treasonous conduct of the Northeast Asian History Foundation at the time were smeared as 'New Right.' The responsibility for these dual attitudes is said to lie largely with Korea's large churches and some professors.

It has been argued that past espionage no longer exists, and that more than 40 years have passed since the CIA created the NED (National Endowment for Democracy) and shifted espionage into cultural activities. As technological advances made information gathering possible through advanced methods such as satellite imagery, old-style spy activity was said to have become meaningless. The critique adds that scholars at the Northeast Asian History Foundation and some pro-American diplomats now serve the interests of other countries rather than their own.

In particular, the claim that China will fall because of its property problems was described as irrational. It was explained that the weakness of local government finances in China is unrelated to the central government, and linking the two to argue for China's collapse was criticized as a perception detached from reality.

It was added that a survey by Harvard University's Kennedy School, which is hostile to China, also found 70 percent support. The Party is said to continuously carry out self-criticism and reform, showing organizational flexibility, and this internal capacity was explained as the basis of its high approval rating.

It was emphasized that China eroding Korean industry is a matter of Korea's own capabilities, and cannot be solved by unconditional hostility toward China.

It was pointed out that between 2002 and 2010, when China was carrying out the Northeast Project, Koreans kept quiet. Criticism was raised about the current spread of anti-China protests without any clear motive or cause. The critique asked what specific motive China has given Korea, while also pointing out the uncritical anti-China sentiment in Korean society.

It was said that while using the Taegukgi and the Five-Star Red Flag is understandable, carrying the US Stars and Stripes along with them is a bad habit learned from who knows where. This behavior was argued to show sycophantic tendencies being passed down through generations, as seen in the use of the Israeli flag.

These people are said to believe that proving their remorse toward and loyalty to the liberal democracy of America is the duty of Christians. This was described as a logic that mixes religion and history to justify sycophancy.

This intellectual poverty was argued to connect to many of the problems in Korean society today.

It was explained that, unlike the Goryeo period, the Joseon state was formed on the basis of Chinese sycophancy, and that independent-minded figures were automatically treated as traitors. The critique points out that people who thought independently or attempted autonomous diplomacy were branded 'heretics' (sammun-nanjeok), rejected, and even put to death. This dependence on foreign powers among the ruling class was argued to have persisted for 600 years and to still affect Korean society today.

It was pointed out that just as the Joseon civil service exams involved citing Chinese political institutions to match Joseon's own systems, modern university entrance exams share a similar character. The current education system, which uncritically accepts American political and natural science frameworks, was criticized, and this was analyzed as stemming from a lack of independent thinking and a sense of ownership. It was explained that the custom of following foreign political models has taken root throughout society.

Criticism has been raised that in Korean society today, there is a prevailing sense that it does not matter if the Korean language is damaged, and an attitude that, just as Joseon focused on Chinese characters and classical Chinese, modern Korea should focus on English is widespread. The mixing of English words with Korean abbreviations is said to be intensifying, and this was pointed to as stemming from the ruling class's worship of English and disregard for Korean. Concern was voiced that cultural self-esteem is being lost in everyday language use.

It has been claimed that intellectuals in Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam tend to view Korea as an American colony. They are said to scoff at the Korean Wave and to hold the skeptical view that a colony has no real standing. This perception was argued to clearly show the limits of Korea's dependence on foreign powers in the international community, suggesting that Korea's national standing is being underrated.