Young people in their 20s and 30s have been guarding the site of alleged election fraud for 20 days, calling for a re-election and manual counting of ballots cast on election day. ⒸHanmi Ilbo

In 1960, the March 15 fraudulent election occurred, leading to the April 19 Revolution just a month later. A year after that, the May 16 military coup took place in 1961. Reflecting on the fact that this series of events served as an inflection point in history, South Korea is truly a great nation. 

I say this because a fledgling nation with zero experience in democracy achieved the "Miracle on the Han River" within 30 years and now stands proudly as one of the world's top five military powers.

Born in 1951, I learned the Thousand Character Classic by age seven, grew up fully capable of reading newspapers that used a mix of Chinese characters, overcame the grueling five-thousand-year history of famine, and witnessed firsthand the historic scenes of the Miracle on the Han River being forged.

For that reason, I admire the leadership of President Park Chung-hee, who spearheaded the Miracle on the Han River, more than anyone else. Thus, I consider the Republic of Korea, now a top-ten global economy, a nation blessed by heaven.

However, unfortunately, the Republic of Korea is now heading in the exact opposite direction. This is due to the growing pains of a 66-year compressed growth period. We have lost our national growth engine after the government was usurped by homegrown communist elements who have always been hostile toward conservative administrations. There is another reason: it is the fault of the people, who have been subsumed by the demagogic politics of those who always have "democratization" on their lips. If things continue this way, South Korea may become a vassal state of China within the next year.

The Future Generation (those in their 10s, 20s, and 30s) Has Inherited the Fight!

I was skeptical when the opposition party and grassroots conservatives shouted that the June 3 local elections would be the last elections in South Korea. But as the saying goes, the skepticism proved to be a harbinger of reality. Suspicion of election fraud, which began with the shortage of ballots in Songpa-gu, snowballed and sparked the "Jamsil Youth Revolution."

Young people in their 20s and 30s, who grasped the reality of a Republic of Korea facing a crisis of survival due to President Yoon Suk-yeol's "enlightenment decree," raided the sites of alleged election fraud.

They have already been guarding the site of the alleged fraud for 20 days, calling for a re-election and manual counting of ballots cast on election day. It is a survival strategy of their own that no one can stop. 

They are well-versed in the April 19 student uprising that stood against the March 15 fraudulent election. Having instinctively realized what an Lee Jae-myung regime—in league with the Chinese Communist Party—might do if they ignore the June 3 election fraud, no one can step in to stop them. This is because the Republic of Korea belongs to them. 

Just as the April 19 Revolution did, the Jamsil Youth Revolution triggered by the June 3 election fraud will surely change the course of history. The Jamsil Youth Revolution, led by the 20s and 30s generation, is burning with the passionate hearts of uncorrupted, pure-minded youth. If only a second President Park Chung-hee emerges to lead, the Republic of Korea will leap forward to become an eternal and indestructible nation.

◆ Dume Poet Kim Jin-ho

He is active as a poet, freelance writer, and environmental activist. He served as the Director of the Daejeon Municipal Yeonjeong Gugak Center and as an advisory committee member for Daejeon University and South Chungcheong Province. He has published three collections of poems, including the poetry and column collection "The Foolish Bird, Albatross." "Dume Poet" is his pen name and professional moniker.