Stephen Cho | Coordinator of the Korean International Forum
The imperialist and anti-imperialist camps are confronting each other economically and diplomatically as G7 versus BRICS, and militarily as NATO versus the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). In the “New Cold War era,” as China and Russia have come to represent the position of the anti-imperialist camp, the United Nations Security Council has become effectively paralyzed. In response, the imperialist camp has sidelined the UN Security Council and instead advanced its imperialist agenda through the G7 and NATO, thereby escalating the drive toward a world war.
For the imperialist war-mongering forces desperate to unleash World War 3, a war in East Asia is indispensable—and at its core lies the war in “ROK” as the ignition point. Having failed in the military coup of December 3, 2024, the fascist and reactionary clique in the “ROK,” now facing political death, sees civil war as its only remaining path to survival.
When a civil war overlaps with a localized war, it becomes a full-scale war—w war in the “ROK.” The historical sequence of the 1948 civil war in South Korea, the 1949 localized war against the DPRK, and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 is now being reenacted in the present.
From the standpoint of imperialist and fascist forces, the provocation of a localized war against the DPRK between September and November 2024 constitutes Plan A. The instigation of civil war beginning in December 2024 then becomes Plan B. If both fail, a war in Taiwan becomes Plan C. In accordance with the 1961 DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance—and as reaffirmed during Xi Jinping’s visit to the DPRK in 2019—any outbreak of war, whether in the “ROK” or in Taiwan, will inevitably trigger the other.
With the victory of reformist candidate Lee Jae-myung in the June 3 presidential election, Plan B has become a difficult path for the imperialist and fascist forces. They now stand at a crossroads: either attempt Plan A once more, or proceed with Plan C. Of course, Plan B within the “ROK” is not entirely off the table, as the possibility of a military coup still remains. Plan A, as clearly demonstrated by this year’s largest-ever U.S.-“ROK” joint war exercises aimed at invading the DPRK, remains a constant and immediate option.
US imperialism has been accelerating its war exercises aimed at invading the DPRK: 132 times from 2003 to 2022, 123 times in 2023, 134 times in 2024, and it is already on track to surpass this record in 2025. In August 2023, the imperialist camp de facto established an “Asian NATO,” centered on trilateral military cooperation, through the Camp David summit between the US, Japan, and the “ROK.”
Subsequently, preparations related to the “Pacificization of NATO” proceeded on both political and military fronts: on the political level, with the Washington NATO Summit Declaration in July 2024; on the military level, with a series of joint exercises held between June and August 2024, including “Freedom Edge,” “RIMPAC,” and “Ulchi Freedom Shield.” “Freedom Edge” is a trilateral exercise involving the US, Japan, and the “ROK, ”explicitly aimed at joint operational readiness concerning the DPRK, and was one of the outcomes of the Camp David summit. “RIMPAC,” the largest annual maritime exercise in the Pacific, has steadily expanded in scope, with an increasing focus on scenarios involving both the DPRK and China. “Ulchi Freedom Shield” is the largest joint military drill in the region, specifically aimed at simulating a war against the DPRK.
Between June and August 2024, “RIMPAC” was conducted at an unprecedented scale in the Pacific, with 29 countries participating, involving 40 warships, 3 submarines, over 150 aircraft, and some 25,000 troops. This exercise laid bare the reality of the “Pacificization of NATO” and clearly demonstrated how the imperialist camp is preparing for what many now call a “Second Pacific War.”
The series of events that occurred—the assassination attempt on candidate Trump in July 2024, the Kursk incursion, concentrated strikes on Hezbollah, and the drone attack on Pyongyang in August, September, and October—followed by the lifting of restrictions on long-range missiles against Russia in November, and the military coup in the “ROK” and the collapse of the Assad government in Syria in December—cannot be seen as mere coincidences.
That these provocations and attacks by imperialist warmongering forces and fascists took place around the US presidential election—and then subsided relatively after January 2025, when Trump, representative of the non-warmongering forces of imperialism, returned to power—points to the same context.
Trump engaged in serious negotiations with Russia and Iran. Even when an unprecedented and unexplained explosion occurred at Iran’s largest port on the very first day of talks between the Iranian and US delegations in Oman, Iran did not suspend the talks. The localized conflict between India and Pakistan, which had served to escalate tensions between India and China and to draw India toward the imperialist camp under the Indo-Pacific Strategy, was also brought to a halt through Trump’s mediation. The Trump administration stated that even if a war in Taiwan were to break out, it would respond solely with a 200% tariff on China. It also blocked the implementation of a plan—initiated under the Biden administration—to transfer operational control over US Forces Japan (USFJ) from the Indo-Pacific Command to USFJ. While publicly pursuing negotiations with the DPRK, the Trump administration repeatedly emphasized the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state and was reportedly reviewing a plan to withdraw 4,500 troops of US forces stationed in the “ROK.” Although a military coup took place in the “ROK” under the Biden administration, moves toward civil war were de-escalated during the Trump administration.
Fundamentally, the attempted localized war against the DPRK was deterred by the DPRK’s overwhelming military power and its “strategic patience,” while the attempt to provoke civil war in the “ROK” was blocked by the heroic resistance of the people in the “ROK”. Through the great December uprising, the people in the “ROK” prevented a repetition of Indonesia’s dark past—the Suharto coup and mass slaughter—from unfolding in the “ROK”. Through this process, the people experienced a powerful awakening that they came to directly confront the limits of “ROK”-style democracy and rule of law, to recognize the deeply subordinated and reactionary nature of the existing society, and to deepen their collective realization of the need to advance toward a new society rooted in people’s democracy.
As the sole revolutionary force leading the revolution of the “ROK,” the People’s Democracy Party stood at the center of the political struggle to elevate the anti-fascist front into an anti-imperialist, anti-fascist front, and faithfully carried out its historic mission as the “locomotive of the struggle” throughout the entire course of the December Uprising.
For the imperialist pro-warmonger forces, the war in the “ROK” is the ultimate scheme to launch World War 3 in earnest through the war in East Asia and the most effective card for suppressing the imperialist non-warmonger forces that run counter to the march toward world war. If a war in the “ROK” breaks out, a war in Taiwan would erupt almost simultaneously, rapidly expanding into an East Asia war involving Japan and the Philippines, and then into a Western Pacific war as Australia and others join. A war in the “ROK”, a war in East Asia, and a war in Western Pacific are not a matter of choice but of necessity—the only remaining question is when, not if. That timing will not be decided by the anti-imperialist camp, but by the imperialist camp—by the imperialist warmongering forces.
As reality clearly shows, the anti-imperialist camp is surpassing the imperialist camp in every respect—in objectives, means, and methods; in justification, capabilities, and strategies.
The DPRK and China are steadily accumulating justification through “strategic patience,” while Russia and Iran, fully aware of the imminence of an East Asia war, are likewise exercising “strategic patience” by holding back from decisive countermeasures and escalation. The delay in the outbreak of war in East Asia, the expansion of the war in Eastern Europe, and the widening of the war in West Asia is entirely thanks to the “strategic patience” of the DPRK and China in the former case, and of Russia and Iran in the latter.
On June 13, 2025, Israeli Zionists crossed a red line by launching an attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. In response, Iran launched a counterattack that tore through Israel’s much-vaunted air defense system, inflicting the most severe blow in Israeli history. While Iran may not be a nuclear missile superpower like Russia, China, or North Korea, it is nonetheless a formidable force in terms of missile capabilities. Iran’s hypersonic missiles and maneuverable glide missiles struck deep into Israel’s heartland, plunging the country into an unprecedented crisis. On June 22, the United States launched Operation Midnight Hammer, targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, including Fordow. The operation involved B-2 stealth strategic bombers and GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs. However, it still remains to be seen whether the U.S. will escalate into a full-scale war against Iran, and whether Iran will abandon its stance of “strategic patience.” Following the US strikes, Iran has issued warnings of further attacks on Israel, as well as threats to block the Strait of Hormuz and strike US military bases across West Asia.
Israel cannot match Iran in an all-out war involving population, territory, and industrial capacity. What Israel relies on are its nuclear arsenal and US support. However, it must also take into account Pakistan’s nuclear umbrella, which is based on the belief in the so-called “Islamic Bomb.” Moreover, it should be assumed that Iran has already succeeded in arming itself with nuclear weapons—either through secret development or covert acquisition—thus establishing a credible nuclear deterrent. That leaves the United States as Israel’s only true guarantor. But even the US cannot simultaneously wage wars in West Asia, Eastern Europe, and East Asia—three or four theaters of war at once. What’s more, Russia, China, and the DPRK are nuclear missile superpowers, armed with hydrogen bombs and hypersonic missiles. The imperialist warmongering forces are attempting to generate a new phase and momentum for World War 3 in West Asia—one of the three major theaters of conflict, which they consider most favorable to themselves—by targeting Iran, which they view as the weakest among the four leading anti-imperialist forces.
Above all, the unity of the anti-imperialist camp is crucial. To achieve such unity, we must first and foremost stand in solidarity with Iran and other members of the “Axis of Resistance,” who are currently facing the most concentrated attacks from the imperialist camp. Regardless of differences in ideology or political views, we must rally under the anti-imperialist front to organize actions and struggles against imperialism. Our unity is strategic; enemy’s division is tactical. We must not overlook the importance of tactical cooperation with non-warmongering forces within the imperialist camp in order to further fuel internal divisions among imperialist forces. As the political and economic crises of imperialism deepen, the contradictions within their own camp are becoming increasingly acute.
Historically, wars on a global scale have served as decisive triggers for revolutions on a global scale. World War 2 was an anti-fascist war. The world anti-fascist front was formed under the leadership of the Soviet Union, leading to the victory of the anti-fascist camp. Socialist and national liberation camps emerged on a global scale, ushering in a historic upsurge.
World War 3, in essence, is an anti-imperialist war. If the anti-imperialist forces are victorious in this anti-imperialist war, the imperialist forces will be decisively defeated and a new great period of upsurge will begin, marked by the significant expansion of the socialist and national liberation forces.
