a. ㉠ Detailed Contents of The 1st Law

㉠ Detailed Contents of The 1st Law

 

The 1st law has two main focuses. The first focus is on the political capacities, and the second is on the effects each of them creates and how they do so.

 

[Diag.3.A.2] The Components and Characteristics of Political Capacities and Their Impacts

 

Firstly, political capacity has three components: ㉠ armed capacity, ㉡ economic capacity, and ㉢ ideological capacity. These three components are referred to as "Samjae capacities." ^[Ch.1.2] Samjae capacities correspond to three threats to survival^[Tab.1.2] by the law of repulsion^[Ch.1.11].

 

Secondly, the effects of Samjae capacities are characterized by their order and spatiotemporal structure, as shown in the following table.

 

[Tab.3.11] The Properties and Spatio-Temporal Structure of Samjae Capacities

The Political Power		prerequisites	Duration	Scope of Influence	Scope of Influence
Samjae capacities	㉠ Armed capacity	No Conditions	Short Term	Narrow Region	Powerful but Temporal
	㉡ Economic Capacity	Physical Safety	Intermediate Term	Intermediate Scope	Visible but Gradual
	㉢ Ideological Capacity	wealthy environment	Long Term	Wide Range	Mild but Continuous

 

In 1945, upon the liberation of the Republic of Korea, the person who ultimately held power was Seungman Rhee. Rhee received the support of the strongest armed force in South Korea, the U.S. military, as he was invited by General Hodge, the U.S. military governor, and thus had a greater armed capacity than any other competing political actors. Based on this, Rhee was able to quickly secure economic capacity, and when he returned to Korea, he requested that the Democratic Party of Korea appoint him as its chairman, providing housing and political funding. At that time, political leaders absolutely needed political funding for reasons such as feeding those who supported them. This is because armed capacity serves as a prerequisite for effectively combining economic and ideological capacities, which is a resulting phenomenon. Furthermore, Rhee, who had economic power, also secured a broader political influence in the mid-term. Rhee, who had served as the governor of the provisional government, already had sufficient ideological capacity. Thus, Rhee, who was superior in all Samjae capacities, eventually acquired the regime as the appointed President.

 

At the time, there were several forces such as Yeo Un-hyung and Kim Ku competing politically with Rhee, but they were unable to surpass Rhee in the Samjae capacities required by the situation. For example, Yeo Un-hyung, who was a political giant at the time, attempted to form a pan-ethnic coalition through cooperation with domestic factions, overseas independence movement organizations, and struggle organizations, which was a correct direction in terms of power being the product of cooperation^[Ch.2.8]. However, he failed to receive the armed capacity due to the support of the U.S. military as a result of his hostility with the U.S. military administration, which had no intention of recognizing the People's Republic of Korea. This is a brief example of what is meant in [Ch.3.101].

 

 

The Power and the Meaning and Effect of Samjae Capacities

 

Now, let us delve into the meaning of power as mentioned in [Ch.3.101].

 

The first factor that determines the power relationship between a certain political actor and its counterpart is the political capacity of each political actor. In other words, the person with the greater capacity can exercise greater power over the person with lesser capacity^[Ch.2.9a]. This political capacity is categorized into Samjae capacities and the characteristics of each power relationship vary according to the characteristics of each Samjae capacity.

 

The first of the Samjae capacities is armed capacity. Here, "armed capacity" refers to the ability of an actor to physically protect itself and destroy other actors. As previously mentioned, political armed capacity is mostly violence. The scope of armed capacity encompasses, at the micro level, the petty power of individuals, at the middle level, the military power of a group, and at the macro level, large-scale military power, encompassing physical attack and defense capacities, as well as psychological coercion. However, for clarity in discussion, I will exclude psychological coercion from armed capacity.

 

When a political actor has armed capacity, it can exercise its power regardless of any particular social conditions. However, the influence that can be exerted at that time is limited to a short period and a narrow area, compared to other political capacities. Thus, the influence is strong enough to produce immediate effects, but only temporary results are guaranteed.

 

The second Samjae capacity is economic capacity, but I will first explain the third, ideological capacity, as it will help to understand the overall content more intuitively. Ideological capacity refers to the ability of a subject or subjects to determine what they mentally evaluate positively and pursue.

 

Examples of ideological capacity include the religious power of the 12th century English Archbishop who caused a crisis by destroying King Henry II, the philosophical or moral authority of some scholars or saints, or the honor of some heroes. If religious power, political ideology, or moral authority are examples of strong ideological capacity, examples of weak ideological capacity may include an individual's appearance or luxury handbags, or the popularity of a star entertainer.

 

The Ideological Capacity is slowly strengthened over a long period of time. In 297 AD, the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered all military and administrative personnel to sacrifice for the traditional Roman gods, and high-ranking Christians who refused could face expulsion. However, as the Middle Ages progressed, the power of high-ranking Christians, such as the Pope, became so strong that they were able to convince European monarchs to start the Crusades. Thus, the time it took for the ideological capacity of the Christian power to become strengthened was a thousand years. A micro-level example can be found in the Seven Years' War, where Russia's Pyotr III respected the King of Prussia, Frederick, which led to the withdrawal of Russia's army during a decisive moment. Pyotr III also declined to receive what was offered as a reward for the withdrawal of his army and instead formed an alliance with the King of Prussia. As a result, Prussia, which was previously an enemy state, was able to avoid defeat. Here, the ideological capacity of Prussia's king Frederick was acquired over time as Pyotr III developed a sense of respect for him. This process took at least several years.

 

When a political actor has ideological capacity, it can generally only exercise its ability in conditions protected by military and economic capacities. In other words, it can only exert its independent influence when the people around it have a sufficient social environment to live and eat. The influence that an actor with ideological capacity can exert can (compared to other political capacities) spread over a very wide area for a very long period of time. However, its influence is slow to appear and can have no immediate or visible political and economic changes.

 

Regarding the second Samjae capacity, the economic capacity, most of its characteristics can be described by the term "middle." This capacity encompasses the production and appropriate distribution of goods and services, ranging from a single plate of food or a coin at the micro-level, to a country's economic resources or the productivity of the world economy at the macro-level. If a political actor possesses economic capacity, that actor can exercise its economic capacity independently only within the conditions protected by armed capacity.

 

The influence that an actor possessing economic capacity can exercise is characterized by a middle-range period and scope, as well as the promptness of its effects, compared to military and ideological capacities. That is, an actor with economic capacity can exert an influence to a moderate extent over a moderate duration and extent in political phenomena. The influence is more indirect and gentle than armed capacity, but it can still cause noticeable changes that are palpable to the naked eye. The political outcomes that can be achieved through the exercise of economic capacity are also only guaranteed in the medium term.