McCarthyism in Korea

McCarthyism (매카시즘) is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence.

The term has its origins in the period roughly from 1950 to 1954 in the United States, and characterized by heightened fears of communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents. Originally coined to criticize the anti-communist pursuits of Republican U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism" soon took on a broader meaning, describing the excesses of similar efforts.

The term is also now used more generally to describe reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries. In Korea, the term is associated with the so-called "North Wind" (北風). In the political arena, McCarthyism is more often than not talked about, in particular, in the election season.

Key words
McCarthyism, Red Scare, South-South Conflict, election

On-going Arguments on McCarthyism in Korea
In 2012, after the general election, an opposition party leader, Representative Lee Hae-chan said in his acceptance speech on June 10, 2012 after winning the chairmanship of the Democratic United Party (DUP), “I will fight against the McCarthyism of Park Geun-hye’s Saenuri Party.” Representative Lee believed that he won the leadership election through his stern challenge to the Saenuri Party’s attack on his pro-North Korea views by calling them part of a new McCarthyism. During the presidential election slated for in December 2012, the DUP will likely use the issue of this so-called McCarthyism to win votes.

North Korean Responses
With its customary audacity, North Korea chimed in on the issue.

Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency said it will make public remarks flattering about North Korea made by the Saenuri Party’s presidential candidates Park Geun-hye, Chung Mong-joon and Kim Moon-soo when they visited the North in the past. It is past the point of absurdity for the North to argue that its arch foes, the conservative politicians of the South, are, in fact, pro-North. But that’s how serious issues involving the North often evolve, first as tragedy, then as farce.

Expected Conflicts in Korean Society
The real problem is that here in the South, the so-called McCarthyism scare is actually working with the public. McCarthyism is an extremely emotional and provocative term, combining combustible moments from our past, and it easily generates madness and can quickly backfire. In the months ahead of the presidential election, we must not be swept away by such lack of reason. To this end, a concrete understanding of McCarthyism is necessary.

Koreans are not free from Red Scare
McCarthyism was not a simple political phenomenon. Many people believe that McCarthyism began with the delusional anti-communist campaign of U.S. Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950 and ended with his fall in 1954. But it was more than that.

McCarthyism made the entire U.S. society veer to the right immediately after World War II. McCarthy was the most extreme form of this trend, and that’s why his name has become attached to it.

What McCarthyism was in essence was a Red Scare. Korea is still susceptible to the Red Scare. The war never ended permanently, and North Korea is armed with nuclear weapons. Because of the North’s sinking of the Cheonan warship and its shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, the Red Scare returned. It is a suitable environment for the ghosts of McCarthyism to roam freely.

Red Scare in the United States
The first Red Scare began with the 1919 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. When World War II began, the United States and the Soviet Union became allies and the Red Scare was temporarily forgotten. After the war, the second Red Scare over Stalinism began.

The third Red Scare in the United States came when the Soviet Union succeeded in detonating a nuclear device on Aug. 29, 1949. The Soviet nuclear test was the most shocking of them all. While watching Stalin occupy Eastern Europe after World War II, the United States still had the luxury of security because it was the only country with nuclear weapons. But the Soviet Union built nuclear arms faster than the U.S. expected. The United States’ military superiority vanished instantly. The country went into a panic.

McCarthyism swept the United States because the scare was truly grave. And it had a long aftermath. The heroes who emerged from the McCarthy era were Richard Nixon in the political arena and Ronald Reagan in the film industry. After the Nixon era in the 1970s and Reagan presidencies in the 1980s, the United States finally triumphed over the “evil empire.” Communism vanished in a puff almost everywhere on the globe. Most of the world moved beyond ideology.

Lessons of McCarthyism
The problem with McCarthyism was that thoughts, not actions, were punished. Instead of evidence, assumptions and presumptions were used to judge a case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a massive surveillance operation against the public, violating their privacy. Such McCarthyism must not be allowed.

On the fraudulent inter-party election scheme inside the Unified Progressive Party (UPP), the suspect representatives should be judged by looking into their actions within the framework of the law. Their anti-democratic deeds of rigging the party’s proportional representatives primary must be judged.

The worst legacy of McCarthyism was deliberately and cynically destroying the public’s belief in national security. Criticisms on our so-called new McCarthyism can eventually make the public consider a healthy awareness of national security and vigilance against communism a sin.

McCarthyism is a double-edged sword. The conservatives must refrain from the temptation of starting an ideological confrontation. The liberals must not call a healthy, legitimate sense of national security McCarthyism. We never know which direction the blade of McCarthyism will slice.