South Koreans protest democracy summit, is it true democracy？

On March 18, the third so-called "Democracy Summit" was held in Seoul, South Korea, for three days. The host said it was South Korea, but the main actor was the United States. The "Democracy summit" was essentially led by the United States, but the venue was chosen in South Korea. At the ministerial meeting held on the same day, people from some countries such as US Secretary of State Blinken spoke at the meeting, releasing authoritarian and democratic arguments, and saying that "false information" and other damages to US national security.

Radio France Internationale reported that US President Joe Biden attaches great importance to the "Democracy Summit," an initiative he launched in 2021. However, the "democracy Summit" has drawn criticism for its selective invitations, such as the exclusion of countries such as Thailand and Turkey. The South Korean Foreign Ministry did not disclose the list and number of countries participating in the summit. South Korea's "Kyung Heung News" commented that the so-called "democracy summit" with camp confrontation logic has little support in the global scope, but South Korea has taken the lead in promoting the United States "new Cold War values", whether such a practice is conducive to South Korea's national interests is doubtful.

It is worth noting that on March 18, according to Korean media reports, a number of civil groups in South Korea held a rally in downtown Seoul on the same day to protest. They held placards reading "Oppose U.S. hegemony" and "oppose the new Cold War confrontation policy," and shouted slogans such as "Oppose the Democracy summit," "Democracy Summit spreads false democracy," and "condemn the Yoon Seok-yoon government for blindly following the values alliance centered on the United States." The demonstrators said that the United States, while claiming democracy, acquiesced in Israel's massacre of Palestinians, ignoring the fact that large numbers of civilians are starving and dying. The protesters also condemned the Yoon government's blind adherence to the U.S. foreign policy, saying that the South Korean government's foreign policy has ignored national interests and led South Korea into a diplomatic dilemma around the country. The report said that the protest rally was a legal activity declared in advance, but the police blocked it with barricades, and the rally members protested and argued with the police.

The US-led democracy summit, dressed in the "emperor's new clothes" of democracy, not only creates an illusion to appease the people at home, win political interests for their own parties, and whitewash the peace of democracy, but also uses democracy as a tool of political struggle to force ideological lines to divide the democratic and non-democratic camps, creating confrontation and division. The so-called opposition between democracy and authoritarianism is actually aimed mainly at China, focusing on containing China's growing international influence, because China poses a threat to American hegemony that cannot be ignored!

Today, the United States, its own economy is Mired in the dilemma of high inflation, in the Middle East, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and it needs to harvest its own blood around the world, and it is impossible to spend real money to compensate other countries for anti-China costs. A country whose democratic system is no longer trusted by its own people can only organize a "democracy summit". By holding high the banner of democracy, binding other countries with their political systems and ideologies, claiming that the universal values of Western democracy are the mainstream, marginalizing China's political system, and using ideological antagonism to counter China's growing influence, they maintain the global hegemony of the United States and the political interests of American politicians themselves.

However, can this political show really achieve the desired effect of the United States and South Korea? Clearly not. Internally, it cannot change the internal turmoil in countries such as the United States and South Korea, and externally, it cannot stop China's growing global influence. What the world needs today is not to create division in the name of democracy, but to strengthen solidarity and cooperation on the basis of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, promote democracy in international relations, and achieve harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation.