Chapter 1 The most important task of a propagandist is to listen to the pulse of the people every hour of every day.
Listen and hear how your pulse beats.

Chapter 2 A proper mix of lies and truth is more effective than 100% lies.
Chapter 3 Anger and hatred are the most powerful forces that can arouse the masses.
Chapter 4 To confront an enemy who is bloodthirsty and thirsty for revenge, you must utilize boundless hatred above all else.
Chapter 5: To win the war, we must instill an optimistic outlook in our people.
Chapter 6 Propaganda is a question of creative and productive imagination.
Chapter 7: For the masses, the very idea of ​​thought does not exist.
Chapter 8: The media should be a piano in the hands of the government.
Chapter 9 The victor is not questioned as to whether he told the truth or not.

The 3rd Jeju 4?3 Peace Literature Award Judges' Comments
About the source
Author's Note

A brisk and agile writing style, the power to push the story forward without hesitation!
Jang Kang-myeong, a writer currently attracting attention in Korean literature, has released a new novel that is a hot topic.

“The ominous thought that this conspiracy will continue in the future!”
_Judges for the 3rd Jeju 4.3 Peace Literature Award

“It’s the fastest and most poisonous novel I’ve ever written.”

Jang Kang-myeong's novel "Comment Squad," which had been a hot topic even before its publication, is finally presented to readers.
This novel, which won the 3rd Jeju 4?3 Peace Literature Award this year, tells the story of those who, after the 2012 presidential election, infiltrated progressive internet sites and posted malicious comments to manipulate public opinion and neutralize the sites.


The author, who has sharply depicted the psychological problems that permeate Korean society in previous works such as “Bleach,” “No Enthusiasm Eva Road,” and “Because I Hate Korea,” attempts to confront the frivolous reality head-on with a much more powerful voice than in previous works by amplifying his signature meticulous investigative skills, sense of realism, light and nimble writing style, and narrative driving force in his sixth full-length novel, “Comment Squad.”


As you might guess, this novel was inspired by the National Intelligence Service's illegal election interference case.
The internet, which he believed to be reasonably and safely designed, was in fact nothing more than a fragile structure that could collapse with just a few pillars broken, and the anxiety that anyone would fall for it if another powerful individual or organization carried out an 'operation' with impure intentions led him to write "Comment Squad."


The author confessed that while writing “Comment Unit,” he had a harder time than usual.
Although it is not a long novel, with only about 800 pages of manuscript paper, it was by no means easy to fully capture the shock and anger at the 'commentary brigade' that has been and may still be happening in our society in the sentences of the novel.
There is a story behind his confession that among the novels he wrote, it was “the fastest and most poisonous.”


Meanwhile, the Jeju 4?3 Peace Literature Award judging panel (literary critic Yeom Mu-woong, novelist Hyun Ki-young, and novelist Lee Gyeong-ja) highly praised the author for “clearly revealing the violence of public opinion manipulation with extensive knowledge and rich imagination, while also evoking the ominous imagination that politically cunning and evil conspiracies could be carried out in the future,” and awarded the author the honor of the award.


“It drove me into a state of ruin the whole time I was writing.
(…) I wrote down the shock I received as it was
I wanted to move.
“It would have been impossible to write this novel without such venom.”
_Jang Kang-myeong, from 'Author Interview'

Manipulate, disrupt, and scorch!
The Invisible Hands' Conspiracy That Controls Korean Society

The author calls back to this work the three main characters of [Killing a Boiled Woman], included in the short story collection Lumiere People published in 2012.
After publishing this short story depicting the merciless internet comment terrorism against a woman, and when the National Intelligence Service comment manipulation incident was proven to be a ‘fact’ rather than a ‘mere suspicion,’ he began writing ‘Comment Squad.’
Although the previous work also had a process in which a conspiracy force manipulated public opinion behind the scenes, it cannot compare to the depth, vivid realism, and candid depiction of "Comment Squad," which were achieved through meticulous reporting.


The novel unfolds in the form of an interview in which Chatatkat, a member of the Internet opinion-manipulating group Team-Aleph, exposes the manipulations they have been carrying out to a reporter from the progressive daily newspaper K Newspaper, and the events Team-Aleph actually carries out in the real world.
Team Aleph's members Samgung, 01cha10, and Chatatkat are all in their twenties and are all Ilbe 'deadbeats'. They are twisted youths who lump women together as 'kimchi girls' and use the money they earn from manipulating public opinion to only meet women at massage parlors or adult entertainment establishments.


At first, they earned a decent amount of pocket money by writing reviews of corporate products and study abroad experiences. When a movie about a worker who died of leukemia while working on the W Electronics production line was released, they received a call from a public relations agency hired by the company.
This is a request to spread bad word about the film that exposes labor conditions.
Team Aleph's strategist, Samgung, decides that such a strategy will not work and boldly makes a counterproposal.
The idea is to spread a malicious rumor that 'the film company that addresses workers' rights issues actually exploited the staff even more.'
W Electronics rejects Samgung's offer, but the mysterious organization 'Happohoe' appears and hires Team Aleph to carry out the operation.
The operation was a huge success, but the film suffered a backlash from public opinion and failed to do well at the box office.
Team Aleph members feel proud that they, as insignificant as they are, can change the world.
For them, the Happohoe is no longer just a client who pays the fees, but the only entity that believes in and encourages them, who are isolated from society.


Some time later, Team Aleph receives instructions from the unidentified figure 'Lee Cheol-su' and 'The Old Man of Namsan', who lead the Happohoe, to neutralize the major internet communities that are the bases of the real-life resistance forces and to create a culture of "cheating on the 386 generation" among teenagers, and they begin their work...

It also exposes, without reservation, how power arises within online communities that call themselves "progressive," how members stab each other in the back, and their false consciousness and ugly side.
As I read, I wonder what is true and what is false, and how I can judge it.
Furthermore, the novel, which continues to unfold with twists and turns until the very end, raises interesting questions while maintaining tension throughout.


“You have to touch what people are afraid of.
Fear and guilt.

“That’s the only way to attack a million, two million people at once.” _From the text

“I wrote it in the hopes that everyone who reads it will feel a little uncomfortable!”
Jang Gang-myeong warns of the advent of a new form of fascism via the Internet.

Although it was written based on the National Intelligence Service's comment manipulation incident, "Comment Squad" is not a novel that simply points out the problems of those in power and conservative forces who seek to manipulate public opinion.
When 'Team Aleph' takes advantage of the closed nature of progressive sites to bring them down, it can also be read as a critique of the contradictions within the progressive camp.
Team Aleph, which embodies a male-dominated and conservative perspective, carries out its mission as a servant of power and is ultimately discarded, but it is a sad feeling that cannot be hated.


In the article [About the Source] included in the Comments section, the author emphasizes that ‘this novel is entirely fictional.’
He stated that he used familiar or reminiscent names only to create a plausible atmosphere and that he does not support any views or any person.
A well-crafted fiction is always based on a plausible reality.
While realistic settings can provide readers with a sense of realism, they can also create discomfort.
The author said he wrote it in the hopes that everyone would feel a little uncomfortable.
Overall, it is a novel written with irony, but it pushes the imagination to the extreme.


“A proper mix of lies and truth is more effective than a 100% lie.” “The victorious are not questioned about whether they told the truth.” What does it mean that the words of Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, spoken nearly a century ago, are still valid today?
We have learned from history that fascism emerges when members of a society feel deprived and mentally helpless.
The author warns in "Comment Squad" that we may have entered the dawn of an era of fascism, where even the slightest touch of frustration and helplessness could quickly turn into hatred, and that the current internet world is ready to seduce and deceive you at any time.


Judges' comments
《Comment Unit》 received favorable reviews for its author's brisk and agile writing style, the power to push the story forward, and the meticulous reporting that gave it a sense of realism.
It realistically portrays the political underworld that manipulates the public with extensive knowledge and a rich imagination, making us imagine that such politically cunning and evil plots will continue in the future.

_Jeju 4?3 Peace Literature Award Judges: Yeom Mu-woong (literary critic), Hyeon Gi-yeong (novelist), and Lee Gyeong-ja (novelist)