Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front

The Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front (AINDF; Korean: 반제민족민주전선) is a banned popular front organization in South Korea.

Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front 반제민족민주전선
Founder	Kim Jong-tae Choi Yong-do
Founded	25 August 1969 (1969-08-25)
Headquarters	Seoul (de jure) Pyongyang (de facto)
Ideology	Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism Juche Songun
Political position	Far-left
Regional affiliation	Workers' Party of Korea
Politics of South Korea Political parties Elections

Korean name
Hangul	반제민족민주전선
Hanja	反帝民族民主戰線
Revised Romanization	Banje Minjong Minju Jeonseon
McCune–Reischauer	Panje Minjong Minju Chŏnsŏn

The AINDF is guided by Juche, the official state ideology of North Korea, and aims to carry out a popular revolution in South Korea, achieve independence by removing the United States Forces Korea, and hasten the reunification of the country. The AINDF is identical in organization to the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea, the de jure popular front of North Korea, and has missions in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang (the only ostensibly South Korean organization to) and another in Japan.

The AINDF is banned in South Korea under the National Security Law as a spy group for the Workers' Party of Korea, the ruling party of North Korea, but operates clandestinely within the country and is regarded as a legitimate organization by North Korea.

History

The Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front was officially founded on 25 August 1969 by Kim Jong-tae (김종태; 金鍾泰), who published a magazine named Chongmaek (청맥; 靑脈), and Choi Yong-do as the Revolutionary Party for Reunification (통일혁명당; 統一革命黨), with a history dating back to the 1964 formation of a preparatory committee. The group was established during the period of the Third Republic of Korea, an anti-communist military dictatorship under President Park Chung Hee, and both founders were executed along with other leaders of the organization; other members were sentenced to long prison terms. Kim Jong-tae's wife and two children were never seen again.

On 27 July 1985, it renamed itself to the National Democratic Front of South Korea (한국민족민주전선), and renamed its propaganda broadcasting station (that had a main station in Haeju) from "Revolutionary Party for Reunification" (통혁당방송; 統革黨放送) to "Voice of National Salvation" (구국의 방송; 求國의 放送). It adopted its current name on 23 March 2005.

References

Sources

Books

• Boose, Donald W. (2003). Recalibrating the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9781428910706.
• Lee, Jin-kyung, ed. (1989). 주체 사상 비판 [Criticism of Juche ideology]. Vol. 1. 벼리.

Journal articles

• David-West, Alzo (2012). "North Korea and the Opinion of Fascism: A Case of Mistaken Identity". North Korean Review. 8 (1): 105–116. doi:10.3172/NKR.8.1.105. JSTOR 43910295.

News articles

• Kim, Mi-young (10 August 1999). "全南·全北·광주지역 대학총학생회의 북한 人權 운동 선언!". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
• Lee, Kwang-gil (25 March 2005). 한민전, '반제민전'으로 개칭. Tongil News.
• "北傀(북괴),対南(대남)모략선전용「統革党(통혁당)」 「韓国(한국) 민족민주戰線(전선)」으로 改名(개명)". The Chosun Ilbo. 10 August 1985.

External links

• English website Archived 24 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine