English Posts — 국제전략센터/The International Strategy Center

Reclaiming Peace of Mind: The Fight Over Yongsan’s U.S. Military Base

My father and his family moved to the US from South Korea when he was just eleven years old. Now, at twenty, I made my first-ever trip to Korea.

The [su:p]International Strategy CenterJune 7, 2018Korea, USA, North Korea, Peace, Peace Process, US militaryComment

Peace in the Korean Peninsula, but War in Soseongri

With the South-North Korea summit in April and the upcoming North and US summit in June, the winds of peace are blowing over the Korean peninsula. There is even talk of “complete denuclearization” and “ending the war by the end of this year”. However, in Soseongri, a southern city in Seongju where the Terminal High Altitude…

Korean News, ISC ArticlesInternational Strategy CenterMay 25, 2018thaad, USA, North Korea

The Day Moon and Kim Met

On April 27, 2018, a historic event took place at Panmunjom when South and North Korean leaders met. They shook hands smiling at each other. North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un had crossed to the South.

Korean NewsInternational Strategy CenterMay 25, 2018North Korea, Peace Process, Peace

GM Korea a Sacrificial Lamb for Dine-and-Dash GM: Our Union’s Fight for Another Five Years

GM Korea and its union reached a tentative agreement on April 23, one hour before the deadline to file for court receivership (the first step in declaring bankruptcy).

Publications, The [su:p], Korean NewsInternational Strategy CenterApril 27, 2018Korea, USA, union, GM, Labor, labor rights, worker's rightsComment

Understanding Former President Park Geun-hye’s 24 Year Prison and 18 Billion Won Fine Conviction

On April 6, former President Park Geun-hye was found guilty on 16 of 18 charges, convicted to 24 years in prison and fined 18 billion won. The guilty sentence included abuse of power, coercion, and bribery.

UncategorizedInternational Strategy CenterApril 27, 2018Comment

Samsung’s Documents Expose Union Busting

Samsung is South Korea’s biggest conglomerate. It is famous for having been union free ever since its foundation. It has, recently, been accused of creating documents containing detailed plans for busting the labor unions…

Korean News, The [su:p]International Strategy CenterApril 27, 2018Korea, union, Candlelight Revolution, SamsungComment

Understanding Africa Today: Part 1

[Part 1: This is the first in a series of three articles written by Fredrick Kasuku, an organizer with the Young Socialists League based in Kenya, exploring Africa’s history and current sociopolitical and economic realities.] I’ve been asked many times…

The Long Road to Peace in the Korean Peninsula: the South-North-Korea-US Summit

2017 was a nerve-racking year for the Korean Peninsula, a tinderbox that could have exploded into war. In July, North Korea announced the successful launch of the long range…

Mindanao, Philippines: The Téduray Path to Peace

Since 1970, over 100,000 have been killed, and 11.31 billion dollars spent by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), in the armed conflict with Filipino Muslim revolutionary groups (the Moro) in Mindanao. The forty-eight year conflict is rooted…

The [su:p]International Strategy CenterMarch 29, 2018Philippines, Asia, Peace, Peace Process, USA, colonialismComment

Move Over, Corporate Democrats. A New Wave of Left Populists Is on the Rise

IN SPRING 2016, a U.S. presidential candidate made the above prediction to Businessweek. That candidate was none other than Donald Trump, and he was speaking of the GOP.

The [su:p]International Strategy CenterMarch 29, 2018USA, Donald Trump, unionComment

The Mausoleum: Chavez Lives

A gentle breeze blows, and the sun is warm. I soak the Caribbean into my skin and bones. Today is my first day out of the conference area and the last in Venezuela. I hop onto the petite car of my attache…

[Report] Workers Become Owners — Woojin Traffic, A Korean Case Study of Workers' Self-Management union

It is important to identify factors behind workers’ self-management (WSM) companies’ success that can be applied to other cases: empowerment of workers through…

Research PaperInternational Strategy CenterMarch 29, 2018Korea, unionComment

GM Plans on Shutting Down GM Korea Plant That Would Impact Thousands of Workers

The U.S. multinational General Motors (GM) is planning on shutting down GM Korea’s Gunsan plant. This would mean a loss of 2,000 jobs. GM has requested bailout funds from the Korea Development Bank.

Korean NewsInternational Strategy CenterMarch 29, 2018Korea, USA, GMComment

Former President Lee Myung Bak is Arrested for Corruption

On Mar. 14, President Lee Myung Bak (MB) was finally summoned on suspicion of possessing illegal slush funds estimated at 10 billion won (a bit less than 10 million dollars). Testimony from former aides are…

Korean NewsInternational Strategy CenterMarch 29, 2018Candlelight Revolution, Korea, Lee Myung-BakComment

It Was Always #MeToo: Korea’s Fight Against Sexual Violence

On Oct. 2017, in the U.S., the hashtag #MeToo went viral as women shared online incidents of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. The hashtag soon made news headlines with accusations…

The [su:p]International Strategy CenterFebruary 27, 2018MeToo, Me Too, Feminism, Seo Ji-Hyun, Korea, equalityComment

What Iceland’s Crowdsourcing Constitutional Reform Teaches Us

In Korea, dictators and corrupt presidents such as Rhee Synghman, Chun Doo-hwan and Park Geun-hye have been brought down by people’s power. And while people’s anger towards these…

ISC ArticlesInternational Strategy CenterFebruary 27, 2018Europe, Iceland, KoreaComment

Finding the Seeds of a Better World: Worker Self-Management

When I set out as part of a small team to write a report on workers’ self-management (WSM) in Korea last spring I had no idea how laborious an undertaking it would be.

The [su:p]International Strategy CenterFebruary 26, 2018Korea, Woojin, Paris Baguette, unionComment

Singori Nuclear Reactors 5 and 6’s Public Consultation and the Tasks Ahead

On Dec. 16, the International Strategy Center invited our Advisor Director of Energy Justice Actions Lee Heon-seok to present on “Singori Nuclear Reactors 5 and 6's Public Consultation and the Tasks Ahead.”

ISC ArticlesInternational Strategy CenterFebruary 26, 2018Korea, Energy, Environment, Nuclear, Nuclear Reactor, Moon Jae-inComment

Telling the Government to First Solve North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Problem Is Absurd

On Jan. 9, high level North-South Korea took place for the first time in two years. In his New Year's address, President Moon Jae-in even mentioned the possibility of a North-South Summit talk.

If You Don't Raise the Minimum Wage, Then a Bigger Calamity Will Follow... Let’s Not Become Like Japan

In light of the recent efforts by the Moon administration's efforts to raise the minimum wage and the arguments by his detractors, this article investigates Japan's lost 20 years to argue for increasing…

Korean NewsInternational Strategy CenterFebruary 26, 2018Korea, minimum wage, lost 20 years, Japan, NEET, AsiaComment