"The Divine Comedy" is an epic poem that the Italian writer Dante Alighieri began writing in 1308 and completed in 1321. It is divided into Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, with Inferno being the most well-known. In the 21st century, humanity is facing greater spiritual and political chaos than ever before in history. Everywhere around the world, forces of evil that undermine order and well-being are emerging: regimes that deprive people of freedom and trample on human rights; situations where a permanent member of the Security Council invades a neighboring country; regimes that use God-given oil in barren deserts as a weapon to blockade international waterways and threaten their people and the world with religious dogmas; and regimes that dismantle the fundamental liberal democratic order of their constitutions to intimidate their citizens.

The Reality and Tragedies of Evil in History and Thought

Anything that harms humanity and the world and strips away unalienable human rights is evil. Evil is not a theoretical concept, but an existential, destructive force that has claimed countless lives and caused immense suffering throughout human history. When human selfishness and the lust for power combine with misguided ideologies, evil erupts in its most cruel forms.

The Nature of Evil as Seen in Philosophy and Literature

The Bible portrays human history as a constant confrontation between good and evil. The Bible as a whole, including the Book of Revelation, shows that while Satan (Evil) attempts to collapse God's order (Good) through lies and violence with the goal of destruction and division, it ultimately promises an eschatological victory where good triumphs.

In Goethe's "Faust," Mephistopheles, who tempts Dr. Faust, is the embodiment of negation, declaring that "everything that exists deserves to perish." He demonstrates the cunning nature of evil, which burrows into human desire to erode the soul.

The phrase "So-won-seon-in-da" (wishing for many good people in the world), which traces back from Zhu Xi to Toegye and to their modern descendants, serves as a beautiful testament to the Confucian teaching of "respect for humanity and the restoration of morality."

Historical Examples of Evil That Stained Humanity with Blood

The greatest evil of the Pharisees in the time of Jesus was their "spiritual arrogance, which used religion as a means to monopolize God and condemn and exploit others to protect their own vested interests." Jesus criticized this, calling them "whitewashed tombs (which look clean on the outside but are full of rotten bones within)."

Cardinal Biagio, whom Michelangelo depicted as the "King of Hell" in "The Last Judgment." Despite the pressure from the absolute power of the Pope and high-ranking officials, Michelangelo used his unique wit and genius artistry to brilliantly mock the fierce censorship of his era. The face of Biagio, who ridiculed the "Last Judgment" painted in the Sistine Chapel, remains on the chapel wall as the King of Hell even 500 years later.

The tragic witch hunts fueled by the madness of the medieval church claimed the lives of approximately 40,000 to 60,000 innocent people across Europe. Because of this history, the term "witch hunt" today means "the act of unjustly scapegoating and destroying a specific individual or the weak to resolve collective anxiety or contradictions."

The massacre of Koreans during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake serves as a historical warning of how rumors based on discrimination and prejudice can lead to horrific genocidal massacres when combined with state neglect and public authority.

The Nazi Holocaust was the greatest tragedy in human history, showing how cruel mankind can become once forces filled with the madness of extreme nationalism and racism seize state power and massacre over 6 million Jews.

Stalin’s Great Purge was the height of power-driven evil, in which millions were purged and sent to forced labor camps—even comrades were branded as enemies—to maintain the communist dictatorship.

Mao Zedong’s reckless economic policies (Great Leap Forward) and the madness of the Red Guards (Cultural Revolution) to maintain his power caused the deaths of tens of millions of innocent people in China.

The 21st-Century War Between Good and Evil: The Free World vs. Totalitarianism

If the evil of the past is history, the evil of today is right before our eyes, equipped with more sophisticated and massive organizational power. Recently, a politician cried out, "If an ignorant, foolish, and incompetent leader is arrogant, we must fight against the wicked demonic ruler and the satanic regime!"

The world is currently a vast battlefield between the liberal democratic camp, which seeks to protect human unalienable rights and legitimacy, and the axis of evil of totalitarianism and fanaticism, which seeks to destroy these under the guise of unconditional equality. The CCP has perfected "digital totalitarianism," using artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technology to monitor its people, and is attempting to reshape the world order using its economic power as a weapon.

North Korea and Iran are holding the world hostage through nuclear development, trampling on the human rights of their citizens, and forming alliances among terrorist states. These axis-of-evil nations are exporting fraudulent elections worldwide or becoming accomplices to usurp sovereignty and undermine the very foundation of liberal democracy.

An even greater problem is the enemy within. Terrorism like Antifa in the U.S., anarchism that denies civilization, the "deep state" consisting of globalist elites who collude with foreign powers to form massive cartels in bureaucracy and media, as well as antisemitism, Islamic fundamentalism, and communism, are eroding the foundations of free society.

We see countless instances of companies built through a lifetime of effort going out of business due to excessive inheritance taxes, and clergy and churches that collude with anti-religious powers, voluntarily surrendering their freedom of faith.

Even within the Republic of Korea, forces that trample on common sense and morality are gaining power. There are so many people who have contributed to the Republic of Korea in fields such as industrialization, modernization, democratization, national defense, and security, yet only the "merit holders of democratization" receive massive compensation, and it is incomprehensible that their list of names remains undisclosed.

Regarding the end of those who served the forces of evil, Dante’s "Divine Comedy" and Goethe’s "Faust" portray scenes of harrowing judgment.

The Eighth Circle of Hell in the Divine Comedy (Malebolge - Fraud and Deceit)

Sycophants and corrupt officials: Those who praised the evil deeds of rulers and shared the scraps of power are punished by being submerged forever in filthy excrement. This is because their flattery and corruption on earth are viewed as waste that pollutes the community.

Can we exclude judges who wear the robes of justice but trade with power and undermine the rule of law, or election commissions that hinder the political neutrality of civil servants, collude with power, and threaten the integrity of elections, thereby crumbling the foundation of liberal democracy?

Those who engaged in division and alienation: Those who tore apart religious, political, and social communities and served evil are punished by having their bodies torn apart by blades; as soon as their wounds heal, the devil’s blades tear them apart again, repeating the cycle eternally. This includes ideologically biased media outlets that pour out fake news across the world to blind the eyes and ears of the public.

The Ninth Circle of Hell in the Divine Comedy (Cocytus - Betrayal)

The lowest level of hell, the Ninth Circle, is not a place of burning fire, but a vast, frozen lake where everything is encased in ice.

Those who betrayed their motherland and compatriots: Those who sold out their country or served a dictator to drive their compatriots to their deaths are trapped in ice up to their necks, suffering the agony of even their tears freezing over. This category includes forces that disparage and deny the ROK-U.S. alliance, which has saved South Korea from repeated crises and served as the cornerstone of its freedom and prosperity over the past 70 years.

Those who betrayed their benefactors and served absolute evil: At the very center of hell, three figures are held and chewed eternally in the jaws of Satan: Judas, who sold out Jesus Christ, and Brutus and Cassius, who betrayed Caesar—the architect of the Roman Empire—and plunged the republic into crisis.

There are countless people who trade with the devil for personal glory and gain, regardless of the fate of their country. There are many untrustworthy political dividers who betrayed their own party's president and brought down the government themselves. Can politicians and scholars who distort historical facts and defy the truth for the sake of ideological agendas be forgiven?

Goethe’s Faust

Faust lives his life as a servant of the devil, enjoying power, wealth, and pleasure, but reaches enlightenment in his old age. Instead of relying on the supernatural magic provided by the devil, he decides to dedicate himself to a public-service task: reclaiming land from the sea to build a "free land" where countless people can work and live.

Ways to Defeat the Forces of Evil and Save the World

First, Restoration of Moral Clarity: The Absolute Distinction Between Good and Evil

We must first break down the distorted values that relativize good and evil. We must not tolerate human rights abuses, genocide, religious persecution, or state-sponsored terrorism under the excuses of "cultural differences" or "historical particularities." To this end, we must build a global moral alliance.

Second, Peace through Strength: Powerful Physical Deterrence

Evil exploits the goodwill of the good as a weakness. Just as the policy of appeasement that ceded territory to the Nazis eventually led to the catastrophe of World War II, clumsy compromise with evil leads to even greater ruin.

We must deter our primary enemy with overwhelming military power so they do not dare to use nuclear weapons, and we must continue to impose strong economic sanctions to cut off the funding for evil regimes.

Third, Internal Collapse of Evil Through the Influx of Truth and Information

Totalitarian and fanatical regimes survive on lies and the blocking of information. We must maximize the inflow of external information and continue the work of dismantling the barriers of misinformation that conceal corruption and historical wrongdoing. There is no stronger method of eradication than allowing insiders to realize the truth and reject the evil regime themselves.

Fourth, Internal Propriety (Re) and Spiritual Awakening

As Xunzi emphasized, we must strengthen the rule of law and moral education to control the evil nature within humans. Education on proper values and the dignity of human rights must be strengthened in families and schools. Through a religious and spiritual awakening, we must overcome the idolatry and materialism that worship humans as gods, and rebuild a spiritual foundation that cherishes the lives of others.

Our Mission for the Victory of Good

Humanity may never be able to end the war between good and evil until the end of the world. This is because evil constantly reappears in different forms as long as human greed and the lust for power exist. When we remain silent and watch with a relativist view of good and evil, evil consumes the world. A firm rejection of evil and strong retribution are the only ways to protect human civilization and save the world in these times of crisis.

◆ Dr. Shin Dong-chun

Ph.D. in Public Administration, Representative of the Union of Free Unification. After passing the 21st Public Administration Examination, he has served in public office and has been actively engaged as a corporate CEO, university professor, media contributor, author, and President of the Global Aerospace Industry Society.