회고回顧/懷古

The difference between a gangster and a thug is distinguished not by the size of 'power' but by the presence or absence of 'rules'. So-called gangsters or hoodlums, when they become organized crime members, have their own 'rules' and organizational 'loyalty' that they value as much as their lives. We call pseudo-gangsters who have no understanding or loyalty to the organization "thugs."

In the movie 'Spring in Seoul', Chun Doo-gwang said this: Isn't it 'Revolution if you succeed, treason if you fail'?

A coup d'état means gaining 'power' if successful, but cleanly giving up 'life' if it fails. It is a gamble with one's life on the line. The Chun Doo-hwan clique, who instigated the 12.12 military coup, were gangster soldiers composed of Korea Military Academy graduates. Loyalty to their organization, 'Hanahoe,' was more important to them than the nation or its people. The object of their loyalty and allegiance was not the nation and its people, but the 'organization' of gangster soldiers called Hanahoe.

The origin of the word "Kkangpae" (Korean for gangster) is the English word "Gang," which was transliterated into "Kkang." It is a vulgar term for a group that does bad things while using violence, by attaching "Pae," which means a group or gang. It is sometimes written as "Kkaeng," which gave rise to the expression "Kkaengpan chida" (to make a mess). The Standard Korean Dictionary also explains it as "gang+牌." In the past, words such as "Muraebae," "Bulhandang," and "Walpae" were used, but with the emergence of the word "Kkangpae," they are now rarely used.

In comparison, 'Yangachi' is a vulgar term for a person with poor conduct. It used to refer to a ragpicker who collected rags or waste paper to make money, but its origin is derived from the word 'Dongnyangachi,' which means a group begging or soliciting alms. In an era without the concept of child welfare, criminal organizations that gathered orphans to beg and pickpocket were common. The reason why Dongnyangachi became synonymous with delinquent children is that they engaged in petty theft, robbery, violence, and other misconduct in addition to begging.

It is said that one of the words that "organized crime groups" hate the most is calling them "bullies." They are criminals united for the organization's business, so they have a vertical hierarchy and their own organizational culture, which is different from street thugs who extort money on the street without even these rules.

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Experiencing the 12.12 military coup and the 5.18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, I felt that Chun Doo-hwan and his gang were "organized crime groups" from the Korea Military Academy who controlled the military. For such people to be granted leniency by the state is tantamount to acknowledging to the world that it is a politically backward country. They should have been executed without amnesty to set an example in history.

I once heard a line in a movie that said, "Even gangsters need a cause to move." Watching the 12.3 military coup, I feel that Yoon Seok-yeol's politics are like the behavior of petty thugs, even worse than the world of gangsters. He always makes excuses or justifications later when using the violence of the law, and first exercises his power. In order to justify the violence of the law, he creates justification in the form of political ideology and cleverly uses the loopholes in specific laws to use his legal skills as a means of power.

In the end, Yoon Seok-yeol's style of politics is not about the ideology of good and evil, but about privatizing power and operating based on the advantages and disadvantages of vested interests. On his desk, there is a sign that imitates President Truman, saying 'The Buck Stops here.' It means 'I take all responsibility.' However, after the coup failed, he passed all the responsibility to his subordinates and was only eager to make excuses. He even defined all the people who criticized him as 'anti-state forces' and even planned to kill hundreds of them. At this point, it is a severe mental illness to mistake himself for the same level as Louis XIV, who said, 'I am the state.'

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In the chapter "Yaoyue" of the Analects of Confucius, there is a saying: "King Tang said, 'When I commit a sin, it has nothing to do with the people of the world, but if the people of the world commit a sin, the sin lies with me.'"

[朕躬有罪 無以萬方, 萬方有罪 罪在朕躬.]

'If the people have faults, the sin lies with me alone.'

Applying the philosophy of the era of absolute monarchy to today's democratic era can be as difficult as a bird stuck in mud trying to get out. However, instead of blaming the people for their mistakes as Tang did, he should not have at least committed the shameless act of blaming his own mistakes on the people. Shouldn't he have had at least the minimum amount of shame to bury his head in Truman's sign?

If the feeling I got from Chun Doo-hwan was the image of a 'gangster' soldier, the feeling I get from Yoon Seok-yeol is the image of a 'thug' prosecutor. What is the difference between a life spent taking revenge with investigative power, taking advantage of interests with indictment threats, receiving entertainment from underlings, and a thug who extorts children in back alleys and swindles? It's just a difference of one license. It's just a difference in 'turf' between a state-approved thug prosecutor and an unlicensed alley thug.

Those who prosper by legal trickery will surely perish by legal trickery. If the impeachment is upheld, there are conflicting rumors that Yoon Suk-yeol will run again, and that he will delay the criminal proceedings as much as possible to aim for variables. We must enact a 'law to distort the law' for those who distort the law, such as Ji Gwi-yeon or Shim Woo-jung. Reforming the organization and system alone has limitations. We must create a clause that strongly punishes legal technicians who distort the law to prevent the privileges and abuse of power by judges and prosecutors.

I eagerly anticipate that the next regime will surely punish the 'Five Traitors of the Eulsa Treaty' to establish the majesty of the law and rectify history.

霞田 拜拜