Rather than dismissing South Korea with the vague label of a “state ruled by emotion,” this essay reexamines its structure by tracing its penal mentality back to the Yi dynasty and identifying its essence as a system of retribution and public example. Through retroactive application of law, punishment of speech and reporting, and examples from the Park Geun-hye era, it highlights the divergence between Japan, which completed modernity, and South Korea, which failed to do so and regressed.

2019-04-10
South Korea knows only punishments of retribution and public example, and therefore, for the sake of retribution and public example, it applies laws retroactively and even seeks to punish freedom of speech and freedom of the press as “crimes of the pen.”

This is a chapter I published on 2017-03-08 under the title: The meaningless term “state ruled by emotion” seems to be spreading, but what on earth is “rule by emotion”?
The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.

It may be said that all scholarship is an endeavor to approach the grounds on the other side while enduring the groundlessness on this side.
On this side alone, there is neither universality nor any ultimate foundation.
There is also a method of grasping things all at once through intuition and the power of transcendent reason, but in this case I chose, for the time being, to edge closer to the grounds by gathering historical examples.
Then I found that in the Yi dynasty there existed what was called “indiscriminate imprisonment,” by which those who resisted were thrown into prison on the spot without restraint, and what was called “indiscriminate pardon,” by which, once the public example had been made, sweeping amnesties were granted.
Since a full explanation would be cumbersome, those who wish to know more should consult my essay, “The Great Penal Reform and Improvement of Human Rights by Modern Japan—What Can Be Seen from Korean History” (Bessatsu Seiron No. 23, “Comprehensive Review: ‘Japan-Korea Annexation,’” 2015).
It has also been uploaded to iRONNA online.
The conclusion is extremely simple.
“Korean punishment is retribution and public example.”

The meaningless term “state ruled by emotion” seems to be spreading, but what on earth is “rule by emotion”?
Because the Japanese mass media use such vague expressions mixed with mockery, they never mature no matter how much time passes.
South Korea knows only punishments of retribution and public example, and therefore, for the sake of retribution and public example, it applies laws retroactively and even seeks to punish freedom of speech and freedom of the press as “crimes of the pen.”
That is why the self-righteousness of those in power never ceases.
Park Geun-hye demonstrated all of this in practice.

Thus it should be possible to explain the course of events in this way.
From the latter half of the 20th century, when modernity was nearing its end, Japan moved toward the completion of modernity, while South Korea, unable to complete it, regressed, and once the 21st century began, the contrast in the fortunes of the two countries in the contemporary age became unmistakably clear.
To be continued.