The prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for Army Chief of Staff Park An-su, who served as the Martial Law Commander during the 12.3 Emergency Martial Law. General Park is currently on trial at the Seoul Central District Court. [Photo: Yonhap News]

South Korea is currently witnessing its security crumble under the disease of "selective justice and anger." Universal human values of human rights and justice are being conveniently edited according to political strategy and self-interest, and even the honor of soldiers, the foundation of national defense, has been sacrificed for political conflict. 

Such biased justice is a national toxin and a hidden threat that undermines objective security perspectives and social trust. When the scales of fairness are swayed by factional logic, those scales transform into weapons that cut down the opponent. 

The double standard of getting angry about racial discrimination in the U.S. while remaining silent about public executions and the oppression of women's rights in North Korea and Iran; the "whataboutism" that covers up the contradictions of the left-wing camp as "unavoidable practices" while labeling the mistakes of the free right-wing as "anti-social crimes"; demanding resignation with strict moral standards for sexual misconduct by the opposing camp while discussing "merits and demerits" to defend their own side's transgressions; responding to claims of uncomfortable truths with accusations of spreading false information while defining criticism of historical revisionism regarding national security and violations of the National Security Act as "infringement of freedom of expression"—the commonality in these contradictory actions is selective justice and anger.

We must now face the chilling truth of how the security common sense we have believed in is being dismantled.

1. Sejo's Selective Madness Reborn as Selective Purge

King Sejo, the seventh king of Joseon, wielded the sword of power through "selective anger" to maintain his usurpation of the throne. The history of brutally slaughtering over 300 officials, including the Six Martyred Ministers, under the pretext of a movement to restore King Danjong, is a prime example of abandoning the ethics and trust of the many for the sake of the few—royal authority. Sejo's selective anger, while appearing as an act of aggression, was a defense mechanism born of fear. 

Shockingly, this historical tragedy was revived during the Moon Jae-in administration under the guise of "clearing out entrenched evils," leading to the indictment of approximately 200 individuals and the arrest of about 100, including two former presidents and officials from key security agencies such as the National Intelligence Service, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Defense Security Command. 

The blade of justice, wielded as if by an apostle of righteousness, targeted only the free right-wing camp, and in the process, the honor of numerous public officials and military personnel was trampled, and they were driven to the brink of despair. Just as Sejo solidified his power with the blood of over 300 people, the previous administration, fueled by selective anger, carried out a "modern-day literati purge (사화)" that morally destroyed the right-wing camp. 

Recently, in connection with the 12.3 Emergency Martial Law, fragments of selective anger are now slaughtering the military, the heart of national security, under the pretense of "clearing out rebellion." The Ministry of National Defense's "Constitutional Respect TF" identified about 180 individuals directly or indirectly involved in the martial law. Among them, 114 were referred for investigation, key positions were arrested, and a total of 37 military officers, including 14 generals, received severe disciplinary actions such as dismissal, removal, demotion, and suspension. Thirty-six individuals are currently appealing or filing administrative lawsuits, dissatisfied with their disciplinary measures. 

Despite the military being a specialized organization where split-second decisions on the battlefield are crucial for protecting the lives of its citizens, the current military court is destroying the commanders' minds and bodies with the logic of civilian criminal law, disregarding the urgent security situation and military doctrine. 

As a result, many soldiers who were at the core of national security have become subjects of legal proceedings and disciplinary actions, severely impacting military morale and its organizational structure. The chilling reality where the military's inherent value of "obedience to orders" clashes with the one-sided legal standard of "participation in rebellion" has left deep scars on national security due to the machinations of "selective justice."

2. Selective Outrage Over Foreign Cases is a Tool to Deceive Humanity 

The Hamas massacre of civilians in 2023 was clearly defined as a war crime by numerous international human rights organizations. However, some domestic groups glorified it as "resistance" and ignored the suffering of the victims. Conversely, Israel's response was immediately met with the imposition of human rights standards and condemnation. 

The voices that cried out for human rights when an Olympic athlete was executed during the anti-government protests in Iran grew significantly quieter. Examples of adjusting the intensity of anger based on the nationality and religion of the perpetrator prove that selective outrage is fueling global moral decay.

Human rights should be universal. However, human rights advocates in our society today, while expressing indignation and emphasizing "humanitarianism" towards human rights abuses worldwide, remain conspicuously silent regarding North Korea, the worst human rights hellhole in the world.

Despite abundant records of fellow citizens, who are citizens under the constitution, being tortured and publicly executed nearby, North Korean human rights are a "political taboo" for them. While they incite anger by bringing up fabricated news from distant lands, they grant impunity to the tyranny of the actual perpetrators who threaten our national security, all in the name of "peace." Classifying the suffering of victims according to factional logic is an insult and a deception of human rights.

History should not be the record of the victors, but the record of truth. However, selective outrage distorts records, and distorted records produce false justice. Certain incidents are exaggerated to incite public anger, while the records of dedication and sacrifice that founded and defended the Republic of Korea are erased under the frame of "entrenched evils." Such distortion blinds the eyes and ears of the public, driving our society into a mire of perpetual hatred and division.

3. It is Now Time for the People to Awaken

We must not be deceived any longer by the selective outrage designed by the left-wing's cultural power. We must sternly question why they remain silent only in the face of certain incidents and human rights abuses in North Korea. Human rights cannot be a flag of factionalism, and we cannot allow the honor of the military, the bulwark of national defense, to be sacrificed for political conflict. 

Soldiers should not become targets of "selective purges" like Sejo's madness. At least the elders of security organizations must condemn the "abnormality of military courts that imprison commanders with civilian standards, ignoring the specificity that soldiers cannot choose their orders." 

Only when the free right-wing unites and rejects hypocritical false justice can the national prestige and honor of the Republic of Korea be established. The people must awaken and face the truth with the courage to lift the veil of hypocrisy and protect the flickering breath of the free right-wing. This is written in stark black and white with a somber heart.

◆ Park Pil-gyu

Editor, Hankuk Ilbo

40th graduating class, Korea Military Academy