On the hundredth anniversary of Lenin’s death, the Tricontinental Institute of Social Research released a 21st-century update to Lenin’s monumental pamphlet, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. In its latest dossier, “Hyper-Imperialism,” Tricontinental explores how the United States, desperate to reverse its decline, is aggressively dragging the whole world into war, both conventional and economic. On March 9th, No Cold War hosted a panel of intellectuals, activists, and journalists from around the world to discuss how hyperimperialism has affected the Global South, from blockades in Latin America, to a militarized island chain in the Indo-Pacific, and bankrolling genocide in the Gaza Strip.

58th 'Commute by Subway' protest underway at Seoul Station Sound equipment confiscated, press conference dismissed before even beginningDirector Park Kyung-seok chains himself to an activist "to avoid being dragged away "Police and Seoul Metro employees strangle Park while attempting to cut chains

In other coconut growing areas outside of Thailand, coconuts are harvested using people or machines. Moreover, a group of Indian researchers developed coconut picking robots in 2020 though they still have a long way to go for the commercialization of the technology. Since the use of animal labor in agriculture has been around for a long time, we may be able to understand the use of monkeys as a traditional Thai farming method. However, looking at the scale and intensity of the labor, it is clear that this is exploitation rather than traditional farming methods. Why should it be seen as exploitation? Behind this, in addition to the animal rights issue, there is the systemic problem called capitalism.

So, what should we do for the survival of all humanity and the preservation of our ecosystems? There seem to be only two possible approaches. Either we gather our collective strength, engage in a struggle to wrest political power from the privileged, and invest capital to save the environment ourselves, or, even if we can't take away their power, we must at least compel the privileged to invest capital in saving the environment. In whatever form, we must stop the unbridled pursuit of capital for the sake of the survival of all humanity. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee the right to survival for all. 

What's even more frightening is the possibility that even if the Earth's environment is severely destroyed in the future, to the point where humanity is almost wiped out, some of the giant capitalists may continue to exist, utilizing the artificial intelligence and other technologies they monopolize. In other words, the colossal wealth may choose to ignore the existential crisis we feel.

The International Strategy Center (ISC) spent June and July hosting events and study groups on queer issues. We have had movie nights and book clubs centered around media representation, queer theory in the context of leftism, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the US. On July 28th, we concluded these two months with our Progressive Forum interviewing Holic, the president of the Korean Sexual Minority Culture and Rights Center. 

This summer, after two decades, I finally made the trip back to Palestine to visit my extended family, to connect with the land, and renew my understanding of what life is like on the ground for the millions of Palestinians who continue to live under Israel’s unjust and illegal occupation.

The interview was part of the International Strategy Center’s Progressive Forum where we interviewed James Mudoon, a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Exeter, a research association at the Oxford Internet Institute, and head of digital research at the Autonomy think tank. The interview was conducted by Mariam Ibrahim and edited for clarity and brevity by Matthew Phillips.    

With the backing of the United States and the IAEA, it is only a matter of time before the wastewater dump begins. Once the discharge starts, the Pacific ocean will be contaminated with radiation for the next three decades. With no clear prediction on how the radioactive discharge might disrupt the ecosystem of the ocean and the planet, what choices should we make? It is time for the people around the world to come in solidarity with the people of Fukushima and international environmental organizations to engage in a sweeping campaign to fight against the wastewater dump. Such a global ecological catastrophe must be stopped.

eishi Hinada is a National Executive Committee member of ZENKO (National Assembly for Peace and Democracy). ZENKO emerged in 1970 out of the student movement in the 1960s. He joined in 1981 as a university student activist in the anti-nuclear peace movement in Hiroshima.

On May 1, May Day, a construction worker set himself on fire. The crackdown of the construction union by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration drove Yang Hoi-dong to his death.  His death is the social murder of the Yoon Suk-yeol government.

 Illegal multi-level subcontracting is rampant, and delayed/unpaid wages ongoing. Construction workers who have struggled to change construction sites, which relegate worker safety to the background, demanding to be treated with respect as workers and technicians, are being cornered as/ turned into criminals accompanied by extortion threats at regular intervals. Since January of this year, there have been 13 seizures and searches, 15 arrests, and 950 union members subpoenaed for investigation. The massive crackdown against the construction union has taken the life of the martyr.

On April 28th, the International Strategy Center and Progressives for All of the Justice Party invited Nick Srnicek, lecturer at King’s College London and author of Platform Capitalism to its monthly Progressive Forum to talk about the political-economic of platforms. The interview was conducted by Norbert Morvan and edited for clarity and brevity by Matthew Phillips.

In order to see the intentions behind the Korea-Japan and Korea-US summits, we need to look at their various contexts. Yet, it appears that the highest priority for these various contexts is the US strategy for global dominance, and in particular the East Asian strategy. As for the Korean society’s attitude towards Japan, anti-Japanese sentiment is still strong. Despite this, the improvement of relations between Korea and Japan or the act of emphasizing future partnership can be seen as being in line with the US Northeast Asian strategy. Japan is the primary partner in the US strategy to contain China. Japan is also working hard to be faithful to this position. Under these circumstances, it is reasonable to view the improvement of Japan-Korea relations in Northeast Asia as a reflection of the will to realize a strong united front centered on the US strategy for Northeast Asia. 

Platform Capitalism is a set of economic tendencies that emerged with the rise of digital platforms (e.g. Amazon, Google, Facebook, Uber...). Platforms collect user data while facilitating the exchange of goods. This gives them great near-insurmountable advantages.

In the end it is a policy that represents the interest of the capitalists. From a global perspective, the Korean work hours are already very long, so it would not be feasible to formally extend them further. As a result, the government presented their flexibilization as a workaround. The government presented “mutual consent on working conditions”, but without a labor union’s power to defy the employer, this would obviously be a consent in name only. According to the information released by the Ministry of Labor last December, the union membership rate in Korea is only 14.2%, with 2.93 million members. It is only clear that working hours would increase under paper-thin consent in smaller, non-unionized workplaces. This increase in working hours serve only to increase the profit of capitalists. The availability of profit is limited under currently allowed working hours, and in the cutthroat competition between capitalists, securing additional working hours would be a godsend.

You’ve likely heard of International Women’s day, but let’s look a little deeper. How did it start? Why is it held on March 8th? Did you know it was originally ‘working women’s day’?

Here is a bite size overview of IWD’s origins and some of the celebrations and protests held around the world this week!

Ana Cha is a member of MST’s National Coordination and does work at the national school with the International and political education collectives. She has been a member of the MST for the past 20 years and became involved in the northeast part of Brazil. We interviewed her for our monthly ISC Progressive Forum on Sunday Feb. 19th. The interview was carried out by the International Strategy Center’s Zoe Yungmi Blank and Mike Cannon.

Korea has no choice but to raise interest rates in line with the global trend of interest rate hikes, but the situation in Korea is a little different from other countries. Hence the burden caused by the interest rate hike, even when taking into account some speculative elements, is causing financial difficulties to households and businesses.

Accidents can occur in any form in our shared spaces of life and work. However, in cases where the accident could have been prevented in advance, yet people are killed from the neglect of corporations or the state, those cases are not accidents but murder. And if there are a large number of victims of the disaster, how is it any different than a massacre?

SADD's "taking the subway at rush hour" is an act of disobedience toward a non-disabled-centered society, which does not guarantee the rights of the disabled as citizens as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. The responsibility lies with Korean politics and the government, who do not listen unless the disabled resort to screaming.

On Aug. 28, the International Strategy Center (ISC) and the Seoul Women’s Association held a Progressive Forum entitled “Post Roe v. Wade: Reproductive Rights Through a US Lens.” The following is the interview (conducted by ISC’s Zoe Yungmi Blank) with Joyce Chediac, a Redstockings member in the 1970s and currently an editor with the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Liberation News and a staff member with its women’s publication Breaking The Chain. This is an abridged version edited for clarity and brevity.