Statement on South Korea’s 18th presidential election (All Together)
Thursday 27th December 2012

The 18th presidential election, which sharply polarized Korea,ended ominously with the election of Park Geun-hye as president. Most organized workers must be in a mild state of panic. And indeed the radical left, including All Together, is facing a tough period.
The election was held in the context of a re-invigorated crisis of capitalism, deepening inter-imperialist tensions in the Asia Pacific region, and the growing instability of the existing imperialist order.The Korean economy was sinking deeper into crisis along with the rest of the world, and hard-right governments were coming to power in Japan and China as a byproduct of the US “pivot to Asia”.
With a sense of urgency, the Korean ruling class seems to have reached a consensus that a hard-right government that will pass on the burden of the economic crisis to the working class is needed in order to safeguard their interests. So, they decided ...