Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front
The Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front (AINDF) is a banned popular front organization in South Korea.
Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front 반제민족민주전선 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founder |
|
| Founded | 25 August 1969 |
| Headquarters | |
| Ideology | Juche |
| Political position | Far-left[1][2][note 1] |
| Website | |
| www | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 반제민족민주전선 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 反帝民族民主戰線 |
| Revised Romanization | Banjeminjong Minju Jeonseon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Panjeminjong Minju Chŏnsŏn |
The AINDF is guided by Juche, the official state ideology of North Korea, and aims to carry out a popular revolution in South Korea, achieve independence by removing the United States Forces Korea, and hasten the reunification of the country. The AINDF is identical in organization to the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, the de jure popular front of North Korea, and has missions in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang (the only ostensibly South Korean organization to) and another in Japan.[7]
The AINDF is banned in South Korea under the National Security Law as a spy group for the Workers' Party of Korea, the ruling party of North Korea, but operates clandestinely within the country and is regarded as a legitimate organization by North Korea.
History
The Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front was officially founded on 25 August 1969 by Kim Jong-tae and Choi Yong-do as the Revolutionary Party for Reunification (통일혁명당), with a history dating back to the 1964 formation of a preparatory committee. The group was established during the period of the Third Republic of Korea, an anti-communist military dictatorship under President Park Chung-hee, and both founders were executed along with other leaders of the organization; other members were sentenced to long prison terms. Kim Jong-tae's wife and two children were never seen again.
On 27 July 1985, it renamed itself to the National Democratic Front of South Korea (한국민족민주전선). It adopted its current name on 23 March 2005.
Notes
- Some scholars argue that the ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea, which the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front upholds, is racist,[3] xenophobically nationalist with "little relevance to communism",[4] or even far-right in nature,[5] while others like Alzo David-West argue against such a notion. David-West also claimed that the political system in North Korea is different from the traditional Stalinist system.[6]
References
Citations
- 이진경 1989.
- "全南·全北·광주지역 대학총학생회의 북한 人權 운동 선언!". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 10 August 1999. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
- Becker 2005, p. 66.
- Suh 1988, p. 313 & 139.
- Myers 2011, pp. 9, 11–12.
- David-West, Alzo (2012). "North Korea and the Opinion of Fascism: A Case of Mistaken Identity". North Korean Review. 8 (1): 105–116. doi:10.3172/NKR.8.1.105. JSTOR 43910295.
- Boose 2003, p. 122.
Books
- Becker, Jasper (2005). Rogue Regime: Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198038108.
- Boose, Donald W. (2003). Recalibrating the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9781428910706.
- 이진경, ed. (1989). 주체 사상 비판 [Criticism of Juche ideology]. Vol. 1. 벼리.
- Myers, Brian (2011). The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why it Matters. Melville House Publishing. ISBN 978-1933633916.
- Suh, Dae-sook (1988). Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader (1st ed.). Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231065733.
External links
- Official website (in Korean)
- English website