Thread by @nodutdol

On Christmas Eve, south Korea’s disgraced former president Park Geun-hye received a full pardon from liberal President Moon.

Meanwhile political prisoner Lee Seok-ki was released on parole. This is what “democracy” looks like under capitalism in south Korea today.

After taking office in 2012, Park’s presidency was marked by scandal and subservience to US imperialism: from election fraud, to the death of hundreds of schoolchildren on Sewol Ferry, to a national bribe scheme, to the US building the THAAD missile shield system on Korean land.

In response to all these scandals, 17 million people protested for 6 months during what is now known as the Candlelight movement.

In 2017 Park Geun-hye was impeached and sentenced to 22 years in prison on charges ranging from bribery to coercion.

The current Moon administration came into office, promising to become a “Candlelight Administration”.

But Moon has failed to deliver on his promises to the working urban and rural poor. Pardoning Park is just Moon’s latest betrayal.

https://twitter.com/nodutdol/status/1432737748385947656?s=20

On the same day Park received her pardon, Lee Seok-ki, former National Assembly member with the Unified Progressive Party (UPP), was released on parole.

Despite insufficient evidence, Lee was convicted of “inciting treason” during Park's presidency.

english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_e…

Park Geun-hye’s government used Lee Seok-ki’s case to destroy the Unified Progressive Party (UPP) for its anti-war and pro-reunification positions. Charged with “anti-state activities” under the National Security Law, the UPP was officially outlawed.

apjjf.org/2014/12/52/Hyu…

Comparing Park & Lee reveals the true face of south Korea’s “democracy.”

While a former president brought down on corruption charges by a mass movement receives a pardon, a former lawmaker framed in an anticommunist witch hunt by that same president is only granted parole.