Friend from South Korea Explains Crisis and Shares Red Flag here ♦ What Should Communists Do? here ♦
GQEBERHA (Port Elizabeth), SOUTH AFRICA, April 2023: ICWP communist collective feeds children in the township where comrades live.
South Korean Friend Explains Crisis There and Shares Red Flag
I have known a friend from South Korea for more than thirty years. We became friends when we both worked on a project to design a computer system for standardized testing for K-12 schools. She knew that I was a communist. While she had seen our communist literature, she did not show much interest.
After I left the company, I kept in touch with her. We would meet at least once a year and discuss family, kids, and friends. We enjoyed our lunch of Korean food.
On December 3rd, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeon declared martial law. I immediately called my friend to discuss the crisis in South Korea.
She said that while many people in the US were surprised by the event, there were signs of impending crisis for a long time. A Samsung worker, Choi, committed suicide in 2014 over harsh conditions and oppressive labor laws. In response, six thousand Samsung workers went on an indefinite strike.
Fierce demonstrations of Samsung workers are ongoing in South Korea over unbearable living conditions. In 2023, they staged the largest demonstration in 56 years. They also went on strike in July 2024.
My friend said that the working class in South Korea was stunned by the genocide in Gaza. It reminded many of the civil war in Korea. An estimated three million people were killed, and the US imposed military rule over South Korea in 1953.
Many workers in South Korea resent the continued presence of the US military base. They see it as a continuation of US/Japanese imperialism. Many demonstrations took place in South Korea to oppose genocide in Gaza. They galvanized large numbers of Samsung and Hyundai workers to strike.
There is a growing sentiment among South Korean workers to support Russia. South Korean capitalists led by Samsung are prohibited from selling Russia electronic chip technology, which is crucial in making drones. When Putin of Russia decided to send some North Korean troops to fight in the Ukraine war, it created panic in right-wing President Yoon, who people see as a US puppet. But workers need to understand that imperialist Russia is not their friend either.
The views expressed by my friend give me courage to struggle with her. Many people like her sympathize with the idea of Korean unification. There is no unification until the working class is united under communism. When I said this, she sincerely wanted to know how to achieve the communism we discussed.
I gave her a copy of the ICWP Gaza pamphlet. She was so eager that she read it while we were having lunch. I also showed her Red Flag and talked about our work in other countries. She gladly took five copies of Red Flag for her friends. Her insightful thinking gives us ammunition to struggle with millions on how to build our party.
—Comrade in California (USA)
ICWP – Communism in Action
We all know people who think communism is a good idea but can’t wait – they want to see something now! “What do you do now?” they ask us.
Our main job at the moment is to win people to communism and to join the ICWP. Here are some activities that will help with this goal.
Most of the suggestions here are for things we already do, to some extent. But they are not always done systematically, and are often not reported in RF/BR.
Our most important activities, at present, are writing for, producing, distributing, and (group) reading our newspaper Red Flag. This we’re pretty good at, though we need more involvement in production.
The next most important activity is fighting the bosses.
An activity along these lines could be an on-call picket squad. Of course we already picket, but I suggest that collectives form squads that can be called out on short notice. As with all these suggestions, involving new people is vital.
The picket squad would be an example of what I call a standing committee. It would hold meetings separate from the main collective and include people who are not ready to join the main collective. The basic idea is to make it easy for people to do things with us. For example, just joining us on a picket line or even just making signs. Then, maybe later, coming to a picket squad meeting.
Social events, like dinners and parties, are especially important. Having fun with people is a vital part of developing relationships.
The arts, especially performing arts, are a great way to involve people. Guerrilla theatre is ideal, but there are less ambitious forms this might take, like a chorus (a singing group), a dance group, or a rap group.
There’s also sports, gaming, board games, a book club, and so on. Whatever you like doing, consider making it a group ICWP activity. As Krupskaya said, “We should try to link our personal lives with the cause for which we struggle, with the cause of building communism.”
A very important possibility is mutual aid (“communist solidarity” might be a better term). Visiting the sick or fixing a car might not seem revolutionary, but we would do it as communists in the name of the ICWP.
I’ve discussed this with some comrades, and they insist that we already do these things. To which I reply, “then why don’t I read about them in RF/BR?” All I know is what is in our paper, and the evidence there is pretty thin. Apparently, we do a lot in India and South Africa, though we don’t often hear about it.
I’m especially enthusiastic about communist solidarity. I think it is important because there are lots of people we know in need of it, it’s a little bit of communism in practice, and it’s a great way to involve new people.
—Comrade in Canada
Red Flag responds: Thank you for your suggestions. Yes, many (probably most) comrades do many of these things. There wouldn’t be room to report every time a comrade is “visiting the sick or fixing a car.” Or organizing a social event or book discussion. Or participating in sports. But some of the most interesting articles and letters we print analyze such work, and we need more of these.
Yes, these things all help with our main task right now, which we see as building communist relationships of friendly unity and principled struggle. We need all comrades to deepen their commitment to this work, as they are able.
Comrades in South Africa and El Salvador do consistently write about their work. Comrades in India contribute reports about their important work, but communication with them is not always easy. They are working under conditions of fascist repression, and we don’t know some of the languages with which they are most comfortable.
Surely the comrade writer has some experiences to share (even if not recent ones). That would make their suggestions more helpful.