Red Star Over Asia

Apr 04 2024 24 ep. 77 mins 54

Red Star Over Asia Podcast artwork

Covering politics, history and social movements across Asia from a socialist perspective. Based in South Korea.

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Fighting the 24 Hour Workday

Apr 04 2024 84 mins

On March 20th, home care workers in New York went on a hunger strike to demand an end to the dreaded 24-hour workday. States in the Global North seek to alleviate their aging populations by bringing in workers from the Global South, where imperialism and neoliberal policies have forced these workers to immigrate to global metropoles such as New York City, only to end up trapped in

Climate Justice in South Korea

Jan 18 2024 87 mins

Red Star Over Asia interviews Sun Cheol, who explains how the South Korean climate justice movement emerged out of tensions with the broader environmental movement's reluctance to confront "green capital," building ties with trade unions and social movements, the historical role global solidarity played, as well as resisting co-option by the state. Sun Chul is a clima

Workers' Democracy in China w/ Yueran Zhang

Dec 08 2023 120 mins

We are back after a long hiatus, with a brilliant guest to discuss China, a topic many of our listeners have long asked us to cover. Our guest is Yueran Zhang is a PhD student in sociology at UC-Berkeley studying workers democracy movements in China, particularly in the 1970s-1980s. This episode was initially intended to be focused on the specific era of workers' self-organiza

The Zainichi Experience: Koreans in Japan w/ Haruki Eda

Mar 22 2023 100 mins

Both Koreas have a historically frought relationship with Japan, due to the history of colinization. Beginning in the late 19th century, there were waves of Korean immigration to Japan. This accelerated dramatically with Japan's formal annexation of the Korean pennisula in the early 20th century. In Japan today, the descendants of these Koreas are known as Zainichi. We are

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Police Raid

Feb 02 2023 90 mins

The South Korean intelligence services and police raided the headquarters of a major umbrella labor union in central Seoul in late January 2023, on dubious suspicion that some members had violated national security laws. This is the audio version of a recent video livestream correct the record and discuss how this is an attack on South Korea's young democracy that risks dragging us

South Korea Truckers' Strike

Dec 10 2022 88 mins

This is audio from a live stream on the South Korea truckers strike. In November, South Korean cargo truckers representated by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) launched a nationwide strike around the extension of a minumum wage guarantee and related work safety issues. The Yoon administration has responded aggressively, issuing an executive order for tr

Labor Militancy in Vietnam ft. Joe Buckley

May 13 2022 102 mins

We're thrilled to present this new epsiode with Joe Buckley, author of a fascinating new book, 'Vietnamese Labour Militancy: Capital-labour antagonisms and self-organised struggles' Vietnam has been undergoing significant changes, with a new Labour code that became law in 2021 allowing workers to join ‘worker representative organisations. Together with the increasing penetration

2022 South Korea Presidential Election Livestream (Bonus EP)

Mar 09 2022 130 mins

This is the raw audio/podcast version of a YouTube livestream recorded the evening of 3/8/22 (election night), before the results were announced. We are posting this the morning of 3/9/22 and we now know that Yoon Suk-yeol, the main conservative candidate, is South Korea's President-elect and will take office in May. However, much of the commentary and analysis here is still very

Korea's Socialist Century w/ Vladimir Tikhonov (Pak Noja/박노자)

Mar 02 2022 70 mins

Vladimir Tikhonov, also known by his pen name Pak Noja/박노자, is a Russian-born scholar of Korean Studies and a Professor at the University of Oslo in Norway. He has written numerous articles and books on Korean politics, particularly on the history and legacy of Korean socialist and Communist movements. His lastest book (currently only available in Korean) is available here:

Early Korean Communism Pt. 2 w/ Owen Miller

Feb 08 2022 40 mins

This is part two of a two-part episode. Part one covered the origins of the Korean Communist movement and how they survived multiple splits and waves of repression by the Japanese Empire. Now, with part two, we jump forward to 1945. World War II has just ended, taking the Japanese Empire with it. Korean communists have to deal with occupying American and Soviet armies, which help