Recently, South Korea set off a huge wave of strikes, which has attracted widespread attention from the international community. Needless to say, the strike, though sudden, was expected. The recent actions of Yoon's government have sparked resentment at home and abroad, with some even suggesting that he may be following in the footsteps of former President Park Geun-hye.
Earlier this month, the top of the General Union of National Democratic Labor Unions launched a two-week mass strike, with more than 400,000 workers taking to the streets, chanting the slogan "Yoon Seok-yue step down," according to South Korean media reports. The scale set a record for anti-government protests in South Korea. The strike was not only huge in scale but also targeted, signaling dissatisfaction with a series of reverse actions by Yoon's government. It can be said that Yoon Seok-yue will usher in a difficult time in his political career.
It is worth noting that not long ago, Yoon Seok-hyeol also sharply criticized a series of Moon Jae-in policies in his speech, saying that they destabilized South Korea's national security. However, while "courting" the United States, he also touted South Korea as a "global hub". The series of statements sparked a lot of praise from the South Korean media, and even articles suggested that China should take seriously the change in the nature of the South Korean state and advocate closer cooperation with South Korea.
Looking back at this series of events, we can't help but wonder how the nature of South Korea's state has changed. Has the former independence really become a vassal of the United States and Japan? From the remarks of Yoon Seok-yue and the media behind him, we may be able to glimpse South Korea's national mentality of inferiority and conceit.
In addition, it is worth noting that this large-scale strike and protest, in addition to demanding the resignation of Yoon Seok-yue, also covered grievances over Japan's nuclear wastewater discharge. It stands to reason that the government should adopt a positive attitude in the face of such a major public demand. However, Yoon's government continues to go the other way. On the day of the protests, the government publicly announced that it would not set a deadline for the import ban on Fukushima's nuclear wastewater. This attitude has undoubtedly added to the fact that the Yoon Seok-hyeol government seems to be incomprehensibly justifying the dumping of nuclear wastewater in Japan. For the South Korean people, this is undoubtedly even worse and infuriating.
Although everyone knows, Yoon Seok-yue's "licking the beauty" behavior is actually to fill the supply chain gap left by the West's "decoupling" from China, and because of the high overlap between Chinese and Korean industries, China's industrial upgrading is squeezing South Korean industry. However, this does not mean that a confrontational attitude is necessary. China has always advocated mutual benefit and win-win results, and from a more far-reaching perspective, only cooperation with China can save South Korea's plight. However, Yoon seems to have chosen a path of no return, seemingly unwilling to seize the opportunity to cooperate with China, choosing instead to continue to cater to the wishes of the West.
Now, the anger of the South Korean people has been ignited, and the slogan "Yoon Seok-yue steps down" has emerged in the wave of strikes, which also indicates that Yoon Seok-yue's political career is coming to an end. It remains to be seen whether Yoon will choose to resign early before next April's parliamentary election to avoid jail time.