Kim Byung-joon, former professor at Kangnam University & CEO of JagyomoThe world has been changing since Trump took office. Since the Nixon administration's ping-pong diplomacy in 1971, which included improving relations with China as part of a policy to contain the Soviet Union, U.S. policy towards China played a key role in propelling China into an economic superpower until the first Trump administration took office in 2016. China emerged as the manufacturing center of the world, ranking second globally in GDP after the United States. However, America's belief that economic prosperity would naturally lead to democratization and the collapse of communist totalitarianism has been completely shattered. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), having consolidated its one-party dictatorship since Mao Zedong, has unified the capital accumulated through industrialization and export as a manufacturing hub, fueled by U.S. investment, under the Party's control rather than attributing it to the private sector. This has ultimately led to the explicit unveiling of the socialist world domination ambition in the Xi Jinping era with "Chinese Dream" (中國夢). The infrastructure construction project for developing countries, named the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has been used as a tool to strengthen China's political dominance. Through a hybrid infiltration strategy known as "Unrestricted Warfare" (超限戰), a base of support has been established to elicit absolute support for the CCP across the political and industrial sectors of Western developed countries.

Trump declared a full-scale war against China in response to the CCP government's immoral and anti-market aggressive infiltration. He also stated at the UN General Assembly that, prior to the war with China, he had built the cornerstone of world peace by ending seven conflicts: Cambodia-Thailand, Kosovo-Serbia, the Democratic Republic of Congo-Rwanda, Pakistan-India, Israel-Iran, Egypt-Ethiopia, and Armenia-Azerbaijan. In particular, during the Israel-Iran conflict, he accompanied B-2 bombers to preemptively destroy Iran's nuclear facilities and simultaneously declared a final peace plan for Gaza to Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that had kidnapped Israeli civilians. In essence, he fulfilled his preliminary mission as the sole supreme power in the world to end wars. For Europe, he vehemently criticized political correctness (PC), a subservient political slogan captured by the globalist left, as well as deceptive climate agreements based on global warming and climate change, and immoral sexual liberation, exemplified by LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) rights. This can be seen as a direct attack on the left-wing ideology that has distorted truth and weakened national identity.

He also announced the eradication of pro-China anti-regime forces within the United States who had committed immense power-based corruption. He implemented economic sanctions against China, including measures to prevent electoral fraud through mail-in voting, prevent indiscriminate immigration, and arrest industrial spies to eliminate anti-state forces of Chinese origin, imposing tariffs of up to 55% on China to address intellectual property theft and unfair trade practices beyond sanctions on Chinese telecommunications companies. China's political and economic aggression, termed hybrid warfare, has become severely harmful not only to the United States but also to various parts of the world. It is well-known that liberal economic blocs, including the European Union, Canada, Japan, and Australia, have joined the U.S. in imposing economic sanctions on China. China's infiltration of fraudulent election strategies into developing countries through A-web (Association of World Election Bodies) has also been effectively countered by suspending the activities of USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development), which had previously provided material support to these A-web organizations. In other words, the world is now divided into a confrontation between totalitarian leftist countries centered around China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, and liberal allied nations led by the United States, with the core of this confrontation being between China and the United States. Thus, an overall anti-China sentiment has formed within the liberal economic sphere.

How does our country compare? The National Assembly voted to impeach former President Yoon, and the Constitutional Court, disregarding the President's sole authority to declare martial law, upheld the impeachment with the bizarre logic that the conditions for martial law were not met based on judicial judgment. Subsequently, under the total supervision of the Central Election Commission, which was plagued by allegations of fraudulent manipulation, a hasty presidential election was held two months later. The election produced the same abnormal discrepancy between advance and in-person voting as before, resulting in the election of Lee Jae-myung, a lawbreaker, as president. Lee Jae-myung, under the protection of the Democratic Party, which holds an overwhelming majority of seats, has been rapidly advancing towards Chinese-style communist totalitarianism in the four months since taking office, enacting a deluge of excessively harmful laws that fundamentally undermine the constitutional spirit of the separation of powers. Regarding the former president, after his impeachment, he was arrested on charges of abuse of power through a special prosecutor, even though the initial arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) was deemed unjust. The special prosecutor who requested the warrant and the judge who issued it made decisions based on a left-leaning sentiment rather than judicial legitimacy. Furthermore, the inhumane treatment of the former president, who remains in detention awaiting trial, for over four months, without consideration for his failing eyesight, constitutes a clear suppression of human rights against a political opponent and could even be considered morally reprehensible to the point of intentional homicide. Moreover, in the trial of the former president's wife, a case previously concluded with an acquittal was reopened through another special prosecutor. With evidence seemingly concocted, she was arrested, starkly contrasting with Chung Kyung-sim, who, despite her involvement in examination irregularities during the former administration, was released without detention considering her husband Jo Guk's imprisonment. This vividly demonstrates the boundless malevolence of the current administration.

Furthermore, the ruling party's attempt to impeach Supreme Court Justice Cho Hee-dae, who ordered a retrial of a high court ruling that was based on false statements in violation of election law, is a situation rarely seen outside of a severe dictatorship. The author, on the contrary, was highly dissatisfied that Justice Cho Hee-dae, instead of definitively ruling on guilt through a unanimous judgment by the full bench of 12 justices, thereby preventing a criminal from becoming president, ordered a retrial by a bench of only three judges, shirking his own responsibility. The current actions of the ruling party are akin to punishing the person who pointed out the theft rather than the thief themselves, claiming their motive was malicious. In a word, this is an act that no human being would commit, a situation that would make even a cow or a dog laugh. And that's not all. Minister Lee Jin-sook, who served as the Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission under the previous administration, was dismissed through the ruling party's absolute majority by hastily creating a new government organization called the Broadcasting Media and Communications Committee, despite the Constitutional Court's decision to revoke her impeachment, unlike the president. Not stopping there, she was arrested on charges of violating election law for expressing her opinions on YouTube, with law enforcement and a misguided judge issuing an arrest warrant. However, in a subsequent review of the arrest legality filed by former Chairperson Lee, she was released, creating a preposterous situation where even a left-leaning judge presided over the trial. How can this be anything but a laughably absurd comedy?

Lee Jae-myung, in his tariff negotiations with Trump, displayed the same attitude as he did domestically, showcasing his unscrupulous nature devoid of morality. Just as he claimed to respect former President Park Geun-hye and then questioned if others truly believed him, in his tariff negotiations with Trump, he first demanded recognition of his status as President of South Korea by offering to pay $350 billion in advance through the relevant minister to conclude the tariff negotiations. Trump, judging this to be a favorable negotiation if true, agreed to meet him, but the summit ended in failure despite Lee Jae-myung's effusive flattery towards Trump. Upon returning to Korea, Lee Jae-myung completely reversed his stance, stating that it was impossible to reduce our foreign exchange reserves by such an amount at once, that it would plunge our citizens into hardship, and that it would be grounds for his impeachment, and has taken no further action. This clearly constitutes fraud against the nation. While it is difficult to make a definitive judgment without knowing the details of the negotiation proposal, the question remains why he proposed such a massive investment that could not be fulfilled in the first place and why he preemptively agreed to a settlement that could not be openly disclosed in prior meetings with the United States. This can even be called a fraudulent drama staged for the public. And it doesn't end there. Despite promising advance investment to the U.S., he approved the passage of the "Yellow Envelope Law" by the ruling party, inserting clauses that allow voluntary overseas investments by companies to be canceled due to union opposition, thereby allowing numerous job-killing bills to pass without obstruction. Furthermore, he dismantled the prosecution service, an organization established by the Constitution 78 years ago, reducing it to a mere subordinate of the executive branch. This is a regression towards a communist dictatorship, although the prosecution itself, which continues to eagerly serve as a subordinate of power, bears its own responsibility.

What about the humiliating diplomacy with China? President Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party are, in a word, desperate to hand over the country to China. While neglecting inspections for corruption in various Chinese food and beverage products, they have implemented visa-free entry for Chinese nationals without any follow-up measures. In Jeju Island, where 670,000 people reside, approximately 10,000 Chinese nationals are staying, leading to an annual increase in violent crime rates on the island. Chinese nationals are indiscriminately buying real estate without any financial restrictions. Most of the forest land in Gangwon Province has been transferred to Chinese ownership. It is permissible for Chinese public security officers to arbitrarily assault innocent civilians in place of Korean police. The whereabouts of Chinese nationals who entered visa-free are not disclosed. It has now become an era where one cannot walk the streets late at night in Korea. How has this country become a nation for the Chinese, by the Chinese, and of the Chinese? It is utterly unbelievable. Chinese electric buses, receiving subsidies of 100 million won per unit, are actively entering the country, and land near the Yongsan Presidential Office was secretly transferred to the Chinese government in 2019. It is no wonder that President Trump, who must know this, asked for ownership of the Pyeongtaek U.S. military base. The President simply says "xie xie" to the Chinese, while the former Chinese ambassador demands that Koreans who criticize China be punished, and the Foreign Minister makes the outrageous remark that South Korea should be dealt with before Taiwan. Nowhere is the presence of the South Korean president visible in front of China. It evokes the image of King Gojong in the late Joseon Dynasty, using Lee Wan-yong to sell the country to the Japanese Empire just before the act.

Should South Korea truly abandon the United States for its national interests and pay tribute to China? The U.S. GDP in 2024 is $29.2 trillion, 56% more than China's $18.7 trillion, the second-largest economy. Of course, the U.S. ranks 6th globally in per capita GDP at $86,601, while China is only 69th at $12,969. What about military power? In 2024, U.S. defense spending was $997 billion, whereas China and Russia, ranking second and third, spent $314 billion and $149 billion respectively. Combined, their spending does not even reach half of the U.S. expenditure. Furthermore, of the world's top 10 defense spenders, excluding Ukraine, 7 are liberal countries, accounting for 76% of the total spending of these top 10 nations. In short, their military power is incomparably stronger than that of totalitarian states. What will China's future economic power be? It is true that it has achieved high growth with U.S. assistance so far. But can China withstand strong U.S. sanctions? As soon as the U.S. revoked China's developing country status within the WTO framework, China's labor force will be required to compensate for overtime exceeding 8 hours according to international standards, and government subsidies will be completely cut. Production costs will rapidly increase, making it difficult to maintain its function as the world's manufacturing center. Furthermore, China is already facing limitations in its low-price dumping exports due to severe over-investment and over-production, and fiscal crises in central and local governments, combined with a real estate bubble and rapidly deteriorating household debt, are progressing rapidly. In short, the Chinese economy is collapsing. What about its politics? Evidence of Xi Jinping having already lost power is surfacing everywhere, with the economic crisis being the primary cause. Now, given this situation in China, will the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party continue their pro-China and anti-U.S. stance and persist in suppressing the free economic system domestically? It is clear that this administration, due to its inherent limitations, is inevitably heading towards an irreversible dead end.

So, what should the citizens and businesses who are being unfairly harmed by the flawed policies of the Lee Jae-myung administration do? Should they close their eyes and ears even if they see the inevitable fall? It seems unnecessary for me to answer this. The citizens on board the South Korean ship going in the wrong direction must now either rise up and apply the brakes or face a collective suicide through a shared plunge.

Kim Byung-joon, former professor at Kangnam University, Doctor of Business Administration, and current CEO of Jagyomo