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Back from a mini tour of Yorkshire and Stockport and cheering for supporting act Indignation Meeting
A different perspective on Korea
CARLOS MARTINEZ recommends a revealing new book on the recent history of the south-east Asian country
ALISTAR FINDLAY is mesmerised by this multiple ‘Visions of Scotland’ assault on the audience’s eyes and senses
The Star's critics ANGUS REID, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MICHAL BONCZA reviews I Am Love, The Penguin Lessons, Freaky Tales, The Thicket
MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
Peter Mitchell's photography reveals a poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
Patriots, Traitors and Empires: The Story of Korea’s Struggle for Freedom
by Stephen Gowans
(Baraka Books, £18.80)
THE LATEST book by Canadian anti-imperialist writer Stephen Gowans provides a readable and insightful overview of modern Korean history, helpfully exploding all the most pervasive myths that cloud popular understanding of the subject.
[[{"fid":"4753","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]Gowans highlights the fact that the division of Korea after WWII was engineered by the US as a means of impeding the spread of socialism in Asia. Communism was an extremely popular ideology in postwar Korea as a result of the Soviet Union’s decisive role in the victory over fascism, consistent Soviet support for Korean independence, the rising Chinese communist movement and the general intersection of aims between communism and anti-imperialist nationalism.
Realising that an independent united Korea would certainly be aligned with the socialist camp — and that Kim Il Sung, as the best-known leader of the anti-Japanese guerilla movement would very likely to have been elected president — US strategists did everything they could to prevent the democratic choice of the Korean people from being realised.
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CARLOS MARTINEZ condemns Europe’s failure to develop genuine autonomy from US hegemony, as leaders like Starmer and Macron cling to a declining imperial order rather than building good relations with the emerging powers
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Despite relentless hostility, the People’s Republic of China has lifted millions out of poverty, and become a global leader in innovation and climate action, while pursuing peaceful development in a multipolar world, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ
Brussels is following the US’s lead in slapping punitive duties on China’s electric vehicles, sabotaging Europe’s climate goals and economic interests to appease Biden’s anti-Beijing crusade, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ
