Slogans Do Not Make a Conservative
Shouting "democracy," condemning election fraud, waving the Stars and Stripes, and chanting "aweb" or "the ROK-U.S. alliance" does not make you a conservative.
Our country's official name is the Republic of Korea. It is a republic. A conservative is someone who would build Korea's future on the rule of law. When a person's actual conduct resembles socialism or totalitarianism, mouthing "democracy" while praying for America to save us changes nothing.
The conservatives and entrepreneurs Koreans truly respect built their legacy with their own blood and sweat. Korea is the only nation that has risen from aid recipient to donor. That is the Miracle on the Han River: not a slogan, but an achievement of the republican spirit.
Is Public Opinion Always Right?
The greatest threat to democracy is the tyranny of the majority and demagoguery. Public opinion is not always just: it gets swept up in emotion, distorted by organized agitation, and crushes minority rights and truth in the majority's name.
That is why the Republic exists: to overcome the fatal flaws of pure democracy. Article 1 of the Korean Constitution states, "The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic." Sovereignty belongs to the people, but the Constitution and law limit every power, separate the branches, and protect fundamental rights. Korea has walked this republican path since its founding in 1948, and on the principles of anti-communism, rule of law, free markets, and individual responsibility, it rose from the ashes of war to that miracle.
True conservatives defend this republican spirit in practice. They do not merely chant "freedom" and "alliance"; they guard Korea's sovereignty and identity, and reject the totalitarian temptation from within.
What Is Happening Now
Yet ideological vetting is rampant in Korean society: labeling, witch hunts, and purges have become daily routine. The blind violence and persecution with which Mao's Red Guards scarred countless Chinese who called for democracy are being repeated here, by people who claim to be "conservative." Forcing ideological tests, demanding the "correct" answers, and purging those who refuse: that is exactly how the Red Guards operated.
How can anyone claim the name "conservative," scream "CCP OUT," and then act more like the Communist Party than anyone else?
What We Must Protect
The spirit of the Republic rejects totalitarian thought control and mob violence. Criticizing the left's totalitarian legacy while copying its tactics destroys the Republic from within.
Conservatives must act in the spirit of "Korea First with America." The alliance with the United States is precious, but it must never turn Korea into America's 51st state. The true path is for Korea to grow stronger on its own and to strengthen the alliance through that strength: not waiting helplessly for America to save us, but standing tall as a sovereign Republic.
I cannot stand with totalitarians.
In the name of the Republic of Korea, we must reject ideological vetting and the revival of violence. Real conservatives are proven not by slogans but by actions.
