Pohang training grounds in 2023. Left-wing civic groups protest the joint ROK-US Navy and Marine Corps' Ssangyong exercise. [Photo = Yonhap News]

The devil, in its earthly form, lures with free gifts (greed), deflects societal problems by blaming others (anger), and consistently operates through deception. The devil, fallen from heaven, destroys communities with the three evils of greed, anger, and lies. The arrogant devilish ruler sins through greed, gains power by inciting anger, and perpetuates endless lies to achieve impunity. 

The angel, in contrast to the devil, discerns problems with judgment and wisdom, wins public support through sincerity that emphasizes personal accountability, expands their influence, and eradicates contradictions with the fiery sword of justice. When the devil says, "I'm fine. It's all their frame-up," the angel repents, "It's all my karma and my fault," practicing discernment, sincerity, and justice—the three jewels. 

Behind the various cartels that undermine our traditions and community order, driving the national system into a state of brain death, lie the three evils (greed, anger, lies), and their implementation manuals: incitement, division, and animosity. The combination of the three evils and their implementation manuals meticulously destroys the civilization, reason, and rule of law that humanity has painstakingly built. 

Just as cosmic energy balances order and disorder, humans are a microcosm of the universe. The energy of good conceives and propagates life, operates systems in a safe state, and ensures a free and abundant human life. Conversely, the energy of evil, like a 'black hole,' devours all human emotions and sensibilities, corrupts them with lies, and creates hell. 

The corruption, impropriety, and arrogance of rulers destroy the national system and plunge communities into chaos. Therefore, this article aims to dissect the reality of evil that destroys the human world and find clues to eradicate it through the unseen good deeds of angels who save both body and soul. 

1. The Devil's Greed and the Angel's Discernment

Devils are inherently incarnations of hungry ghosts, forever thirsty and hungry, no matter how much they consume. The devil's greed does not disappear until the devil perishes. The devil's greed manifests in fifty thousand ingenious ways, from the pursuit of power and possessions to intense passions. 

Since they cannot receive the throne from heaven, devils commit acts below common sense. Devils believe only they are right, are shameless even in immoral conduct, and seek to usurp the freedom and possessions of others. Lacking conscience, they demand the distribution of a company's future resources under the guise of public good. All cartels are impregnable fortresses built by the devil's greed. 

For the devil, ideology is a tool to satisfy greed. The communist ideology of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin was not about realizing an ideal world of equality. They were pseudo-prophets who seized power under the pretext of 'dictatorship of the proletariat' to realize their ideal world, only to purge their allies and intellectuals who had helped them. 

Mao Zedong, using the Red Guards, destroyed civilization and then exiled them to the provinces and dugouts. The devil of communist ideology incites and agitates the masses, using them as shock troops, and then ruthlessly discards them when they are no longer useful. Once victory is secured, the devil commits atrocities by first eliminating those who shared their secrets. 

Some opportunistic retired generals and politicians align themselves with influential camps during election seasons, acting as screens to hide the past weaknesses of rulers, but they are unceremoniously abandoned once the power structure solidifies. Those who entered the National Assembly with the intention of instilling security awareness in the left are now committing devilish acts, harming junior soldiers and undermining national security. 

In contrast, angels purify the world with insight that distinguishes truth from falsehood and perceives the essence and causality of things, possessing spiritual eyes that can see even the unseen. Angels, acknowledging "It's all my fault," discern truth with the eyes of their soul, face our own flaws and injustices, foster harmony, and expose the manipulations and schemes born from the devil's greed. 

2. The Devil's Anger and the Angel's Sincerity (Faithfulness)

The first act of the devil upon infiltrating a community is to incite anger. Devils divide the world into 'us, who are absolutely good' and 'them, who are absolutely evil,' creating endless hatred. They sow distrust through fake news and manipulated information, polluting the public sphere and making it difficult to distinguish good from evil. 

Devils inject the poison of envy and jealousy into the gaps of inferiority complexes and victimhood hidden within human nature, transforming perpetrators into victims and confusing cause and effect. The masses, blinded by anger and devoid of rational thought, distrust and curse each other, creating their own hell. 

Devilish rulers and officials conceal failures in COVID-19, forced vaccination with contaminated vaccines, and security policies, attributing everything to "blaming others and the previous administration" to usurp power by leveraging public anger. They label the opposing camp as societal evils, "deep-rooted evils," and "seditionists" to provoke public anger, dividing the nation into two and spreading specific resentments, solidifying distrust and animosity, and hindering reconciliation. 

Indeed, the architects of this hell are treated with honor, and arrogant rulers spew sophistry of impunity, saying, "I have no flaws." 

Angels, who confront devils, do not abandon established relationships or favors. Angels are embodiments of sincerity and repaying kindness, and evangelists of immutable truth. Angels lead their followers with sincerity, pursue natural harmony and justice, and strive to give what is due to whom through meritorious deeds. 

3. The Devil's Lies and the Angel's Fiery Sword of Justice

The ultimate state of the devil is the 'animalization of humans,' removing their rational judgment and implanting a sense of free distribution to herd them. Devilish rulers, while infringing upon the freedom of the majority, mistake their own power and control over systems as sacred and inviolable domains, attempting to reign above the law. The premature reclamation of wartime operational control that shakes the foundation of national security and the restoration of the September 19 Military Agreement are products of the devil's "self-harming defense." 

Devils amplify the scale of their crimes beyond common sense, inducing cognitive dissonance in the public that leads to disbelief. While the public hesitates, thinking, "Surely, they wouldn't commit election fraud in broad daylight," they manipulate vote counts and servers to install winners and undermine public elections. 

Furthermore, even when clear fraud and corruption are revealed, they denigrate judicial investigations as "political maneuvering," the accused demand the replacement of investigators, and commit atrocities of killing law with law. Devils enslave humans by controlling the media (e.g., punishment for historical distortion laws) and destroying the judiciary (e.g., dismantling investigation teams and intimidating judges), thereby infringing upon freedom and property. 

The secret to dismantling the devil's triple fortress is for us, sensing the crisis, to become the angel's fiery sword. Our angels have been among us, and perhaps all who long for freedom are the angels who will overcome the current crisis. We must cut through the darkness of judicial murder and historical distortion with the blade of truth, and with our sole power, the vote, we must punish the hypocrisy, self-righteousness, and arrogance of the devils.

◆ Park Pil-kyu, Committee Member

Editorial Committee Member, Hanmi Ilbo

40th graduating class, Korea Military Academy