Preface to the Revised Edition 005
First Edition Preface 010

01 New Right's View of Humanity: Are Humans Simply Selfish? 023
Politics or Strategy? History is the study of humanity. Humans unite and coexist. Language creates the 'social animal.' Those who betray their own society.
02 New Right's View of the Nation: What Does the Republic of Korea Mean to Them? 032
The National Foundation Day Controversy│What does the Republic of Korea mean to me│A Perspective on the Division of the Korean Peninsula│Let's Look Straight at Syngman Rhee│The Claim that National Foundation Day Sows Discord Between the Nation and the People
03 New Right's Colonial Modernization Theory: What is "Colonial Modernization"? 041
A perspective that follows Japan's far right │ The trap of '3.6% annual high growth' │ If you want to expropriate eggs, feed the chickens │ The purpose of colonial rule is subjugation │ The reason colonial rule is glorified
04 The New Right's Ideology: What Kind of "Liberalism" Is It? 051
Liberalism renamed as 'neoliberalism'│Liberalism, a gift of the industrial revolution│Economic liberalism and social liberalism│Approaching liberalism that alleviated the contradictions of capitalism│The efficiency and dangers of neoliberalism│Serving the winners and chasing the strong
05 New Right's View of Civilization: What Kind of "New Korea" Do They See? 062
The New Right, which sees capitalism as the only civilization│Marx, who sees capitalism as a historical phenomenon│The fantastic combination of the Industrial Revolution and capitalism│Humanity as the Earth's true ally│Capitalism facing a resource wall│Neoliberalism, which sees a new class society
06 New Right's Nationalism: Why Do They Hate Nationalism? 072
Reflections on Hypernationalism│The New Right Confuses Nationalism with Ethnocentrism│Will a Nation Disappear Just Because It's Existing?│The "Dissolution of National History" Call: Trying to Avoid the Fox but Encountering the Tiger│What Colors Does Nationalism Have?│The Strange Far-Right Fighting Nationalism
07 New Right's View of the United States: Why Can't I Live Without America? 084
From a world of distant and near-distant perspectives to a world of near-distant perspectives│A world where absolutes are disappearing│America's new product, the founding of the Republic of Korea│A boss who no longer needs a junior staff│The 'old' right, not the 'new' right│America, a country maladapted to the new world│Catch-up theory that ignores resource limitations
08 New Right's Economic Policy: Advancement, Where? 096
Privatization Disguised as "Advanced Development" | The Problem of Natural Monopolies | The Unrealisticness of Catch-Up Theory | An Extraordinary Means for an Extraordinary Goal | The Public Security Politics of Rapid Growth
09 New Right's View of Capital: Does "Capital" Mean Only Money? 106
Not 'moral decay' but 'moral bankruptcy'│The New Right, which doesn't even understand capitalism│Mansu, Cheongsu, and the prisoner's dilemma│Two types of organizational power: bonding and bridging│The Park Chung-hee regime that blocked the growth of social capital│The 'Myungbak Mountain Fortress' that blocked bridging organizational power
10 New Right and Pro-Japanese Collaborators: Are They Following in Michio Amano's Footsteps? 118
Michio Amano, the Prophet of the New Right│The Cry of the Naisen-Island Assembled Theory│The Logic of the Naisen-Island Assembled Theory│The Passion of the Convert│Is the Assembled Theory a Resurgence│The Diverse Spectrum of Pro-Japanese Collaborators
11 New Right and 'Pro-American Nationalism': Do They Dream of 'Pro-American Nationalism'? 130
A Re-Recognition of 『Re-Recognition of the History Before and After Liberation』│A Product of Weak Vision and Excessive Politics│Do Not Distort Cho Kwan-ja's Thesis│The Unfortunate Thesis Published in 『Re-Recognition of the History Before and After Liberation』│Cho Kwan-ja's Lee Gwang-su and Lee Young-hoon's Lee Gwang-su│The Editor's Responsibility, Authority, and Conscience
12 The New Right and Mainstream Historiography: We Can Learn from the New Right 142
The Untreated Trauma of a Nation│Beyond the Theory of Exploitation and Modernization│The Excessive View of History of the Nation That Gave the New Right a Pretext│An Analysis of Carter Eckert, Free from Nationalism│Authoritarian Regimes: A Legacy of the Colonial Era│In the Eyes of the Far Right, Everyone Is Left
13 The New Right's View on North Korea: Evil or Foolish? 155
Who are the evil and foolish ones? │The forces that wish for North Korea's downfall │The loopholes of the Velvet Revolution │Are we really going back to the way things were 20 years ago? │Please, at least inter-Korean relations...
14 New Right and 'Alternative Textbooks': Do They See History as 'Science'? 165
No "patents" for academia? │ Textbook writing without academic responsibility │ What's the difference between social scientists and historians │ Private history of the Republic of Korea presented as an alternative to people's history │ A political tactic, not an academic challenge
15 New Right Triumphalism: Is "Victory" Equal to "Success"? 175
Is the meaning of history limited to 'success'? Is competition always desirable? The neoliberal path that exacerbated the catastrophe. The New Right's historical view of capitalism's confession of faith. The obsession with viewing North Korea as a failed state. Learn from the history of 'failure.'
16 New Right and the History Textbook Controversy: Do You Think "Textbooks" Are Tinder? 187
Textbooks are inherently inflexible. │History education is a double-edged sword. │The textbook approval system, the fruit of democratization. │The New Right's isolation is more problematic than the historical academia's isolation. │Procedure is crucial.
17 New Right and Conservatism: Are They Trying to Kill Conservatism in This Land? 198
The Desire for Rational Conservatism│Conservatism Without a Sense of History Is Not Conservatism│The Narrow-mindedness and Dogmatism of Capitalist Beliefs│The Weaknesses of Korean Democracy│“Is Rational Conservatism Dead in This Land?”
18 Dealing with the New Right: How to Respond to Their Threats? 209
A time machine from 200 years ago│A forced view of history and unreasonable policy directions│Candlelight as a demonstration of political progress│Crisis as an opportunity│Human values ​​that must be revived

Appendix: "Alternative Textbook: Modern and Contemporary Korean History" Review: History Book? Well, Textbook? No. 220
First Edition Review 229

The Return of the New Right Critique

The New Right, which emerged and proliferated in 2008 and was thought to have subsided after the candlelight protests of 2016, reappeared at the center of politics and society in 2024.
Still old-fashioned and anachronistic.
So, 『New Right Criticism』 also came back.
Unlike them, with a new cover and a new preface for the 2024 edition.
The publication of a revised edition of the “first” and “best” New Right critique book, which was praised at the time of its publication as “a good guide and a book that provides clues” (Han Hong-gu, Professor at Sungkonghoe University) with “persuasive power based on extensive knowledge and rationality” (Seo Jung-seok, Professor Emeritus at Sungkyunkwan University), is very welcome news to those who hope for an early end to the New Right’s melodrama.
This book, which covers all the topics that can be covered, including their views on humanity, the state, ideology, civilization, ethnicity, the United States, capital, and North Korea, through 18 stories under the theme of "Why on earth is the New Right like that?", allows us to thoroughly understand the New Right's true nature, worldview, and dangers (which recent reality reveals like a "textbook").
Although it was written 16 years ago, it still applies to today's reality.
That much they haven't changed.
In some ways, it seems to have become more regressive and malignant.

Those charlatans blinded by ashes,
The president at the center of it all

'New Right' is not 'New Right'.
The entity that is perhaps furthest from the 'new effort for genuine rational conservatism' (which is also in line with the direction the author is most striving for), which seems to have never been properly established in Korea, is the 'New Right'.
“Those who seek political gain by escalating conflict through division rather than narrowing differences and increasing empathy through discussion,” and those who do not have genuine concerns about humanity, society, the nation, and the people, but only seek “profit” and “victory, not success,” are the current “New Right.”
So the author calls those who are blinded by ashes “pseudo-people.”
They are now “wearing away at the state system and accelerating its collapse,” “evaporating history,” and “destroying society.”
Above all, the author points out that the “pseudo-president” who “honestly doesn’t know what the New Right is” is at the center of the situation.
The behavior of “thinking only of power, not of responsibility” and the perspective of “seeing victory not through hard work but through a sudden stroke of luck” have led to the appointment of “anti-media” and “anti-historical” figures.
The conflict continues to deepen as extreme language such as 'anti-state forces' is used.
The outcome of this conflict is bound to be catastrophic, and it is particularly devastating to the Korean 'conservatives'.

Is a pro-Japanese, pro-American, anti-communist dictatorship really that good?

New Right's worldview is consistently poor.
After defining humans solely as a 'selfish form', they 'understand capitalism in a rigid form', deny all values ​​other than 'liberal (laissez-faire)', and subordinate everything to 'material things'.
This is why we praise pro-Japanese, pro-American, anti-communist dictatorship, and neoliberal capitalism.
The Japanese colonial period became a time of blessing for modernization, American hegemony became a global blessing, and Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee were praised as the greatest leaders, not dictators.
North Korea is the eternal enemy and a target of war and absorption unification.
(Recently, they have been putting a lot of effort into ‘improving relations’ with Japan and promoting the Korea-US-Japan alliance.
(This is an inevitable result of the New Right worldview.) To them, progressive values ​​such as independence, anti-war peace, historical justice, democracy, multipolar system, and anti-discrimination are nothing but targets of hostility.
They try to interpret everything by fitting it into their own unique values, while history, humanity, the combination and balance of various values, change and development, etc., all disappear from their sight.
Such a worldview is ultimately humanly evil in that it regards the freedom and happiness of the strong as the absolute good, and historically foolish in that the Japanese colonial period, neoliberalism, and American hegemony that they worship as if they were gods have either collapsed or entered a period of great transformation.
It can never guarantee the healthy development of humanity and society.

Based on common sense, universality, and a sense of balance
Insights into history and politics

This book not only critiques the New Right, but also actively weaves together historical and current events from all over the world.
The author's insight, taking into account the vast historical context, provides readers with a wealth of knowledge and enjoyment.
Moreover, the author presents a cool-headed perspective rather than appealing to nationalistic sentiment (the author acknowledges certain national values, but is very wary of "hypernationalism"), and attempts a comprehensive critique that any reader with rational logic and common sense, regardless of political affiliation, can empathize with.
A cool-headed evaluation of colonialism, pro-Japanese collaborators, exploitation, and modernization was conducted on this basis.
This book, accessible to anyone with common sense, builds on the obvious premise that history is inseparable from politics. It offers those seeking to better and more systematically express their political discontent the ability to observe vivid and concrete criteria, and through these, the insight into human values ​​and social prospects.