THIS!!!

no thoughts, head empty, only the devil judge ost playing in the background

realizing that i actually was on the same wavelength🤞 as the whc2 writer was so surreal because tell me why sieun started becoming my mouthpiece from the very start of the season. the social applicability of newton’s third law (every action has an opposite and equal reaction) and the danger of perpetuating the cycle of violence were my Exact takeaways from the content of season 1 — sieun’s words were so incredibly familiar to me and that was SO Awesome.

The political plotline of TDJ was lowkey out here endorsing (at the very least sympathizing with/explaining the logic behind) terrorism as a tactic against a fascist oligarchy which hides behind populism for legitimacy, and, as a political science/international relations student in the US, I’m kinda fascinated by that.

In the first episode, we see a lone-wolf terrorist attack against the Supreme Court building after the warrant for Joo Il-do’s arrest is dismissed, a sign that the government was likely to be lenient against this CEO despite the wishes of the people. Leaving out the actions taken by our main characters in response and what that tells us about the priorities of the protagonists, we then see in the same episode a complete reversal of that expectation that the government will disappoint the people, when Kang Yohan sentences the guy to 200-something years in prison.

A key part of the logic behind terrorism (please don’t put me on a watchlist I’m just currently taking a course on insurgency and terrorism for my major) is the cost-benefit analysis of whether or not you can 1. draw sympathizers and supporters to your cause through a violent action that sends a message to an audience beyond the actual victims, and 2. through that support, coerce the targeted government into changing policy or action.

Yohan demonstrates with his harsh ruling against Joo Il-do that, in a Korea under his interpretation of the rule of law, the government will respond to violence done on behalf of “the people.” It’s no wonder the far-right populists of their society — Jukchang TV and crew — immediately gravitate to him, hailing him as a savior and a man of the people. And it’s no wonder that public opinion sways in his favor, since he capitalizes on the very real and valid pain that they feel when he showed that he was sympathetic to the sort of cause (like the one upheld by the bus driver earlier in the episode) that they would feel sympathetic to, even if the majority of people would not act in the same way.

The key point that surrounds the at-least-perceived success of terrorism as a tactic here is that Heo Jung-se has enacted every populist tactic in the playbook to assert his leadership. He claims that his (oligarchic, fascist) country is a democracy, that he is a ruler “for the people.” A leader chosen by “dear, respectable citizens.” His use of in-groups and out-groups in condemning criminals (migrants, foreigners, etc. etc.) while placing the “true-blooded Korean people” as sovereign, and ultimately creating the impression that it is the common people who hold power in society. Kang Yohan reinforces the idealistic part of these populist ideas to the public with his performance in the Live Court Show: he adamantly takes the side of the people in each case, and harshly punishes all who the people deem guilty on their behalf — and the people eat it up because it feels like hope that they really control their government.

Another thing about terrorism: it’s most useful as a tactic in democracies where the people are able to place real pressure upon their governments, where the displeasure of the people will lead to policy change. Heo Jung-se created a perception of his society as one of that kind, and in Kang Yohan, we find a man who enables that belief — even if in reality it is, also, mostly for personal motives. And we see in Kim Gaon, by the last episode, a man who is desperate enough in his fight against the corrupt government (and also just, y’know, generally in his life) to use terrorism as a tactic once again to place pressure, in the context of how he’s developed under Yohan’s influence over the course of the show — followed by the final trial by Yohan, who has straight up been planning to resort to terrorism all along, apparently.

I’m still really quite curious as to why the writer chose (and was allowed to choose, frankly LMAO) to end the storyline there — with a story that has left off with messaging that essentially equates to Terrorism Works (but only in a society that is already so used to violence that it can see some types of motivated violence as gratifying and, therefore, Not Horrific), especially with the nod to Gaon sticking around in politics and bureaucracy — and Yohan encouraging him to do so — after the fact. It’s a nod to the reality that even for those who use terrorism as a tool, they know reconstruction will be done “legitimately,” that non-legal violence can only be used as a tactic for so long before the return to legal routes is necessary in order to rebuild. But it’s definitely really interesting to think about how TDJ points out the usefulness of terrorism as a tactic in democracy — though I’m still not completely certain why, or whether the writer intended this as a commentary for Korea, or for the rest of the world…

Could go on a whole other ramble on why this is relevant to modern politics but I’ll stop there tonight, I reckon.

TLDR:

The Devil Judge is an excellent study on how terrorism Can be used against a fascist + populist government, yes.

Is the moral of The Devil Judge that, in order to beat fascists, you have to blow them up? Because I’m down.

yohan is Designed to be a morally questionable character. and if the audience is thinking about the context that gaon is given going into his position on the live court show, it makes complete sense that he holds a constant baseline of skepticism for yohan’s morality. from the very beginning, even when unprompted by min jungho, he questions why kang yohan would do things the way he does. the answer he’s given is “politics,” and honestly, if you think about the politicians yohan is surrounded by, the tactics they use, and the willingness yohan consistently shows regarding going to extremes to achieve his ends, it’s no wonder gaon never gains complete trust for yohan. the two of them start off from a place where gaon inherently distrusts yohan. while we can infer that yohan wants gaon’s approval deep down, he doesn’t necessarily prove to gaon that he’s totally trustworthy, nor does he really try or succeed at convincing gaon that there are lines he will not cross, and exceptions where he won’t do the extreme but potentially useful thing for his own benefit.

in any case, gaon does not blindly trust yohan, and this is as much the foundation for the initial success of their relationship (with yohan feeling uncomfortably seen and understood through gaon challenging his words), as it builds up for its ultimate deterioration (gaon suspecting yohan of killing soohyun and accidentally helping in framing him for her death). it’s a very real and human point of conflict between two individuals who obviously care for each other very deeply, but are unsure if they are totally aligned in their morals, values, goals. if anything, it’s a testament to the depth of their frankly-toxic relationship: they want so much to be able to trust each other / be trusted by the other, but being unable to reach that, in the context of surrounding limitations, leads them to (extreme?) behavior that they really don’t exhibit anywhere else. gaon — who has not only heard from others, but also seen first hand, how manipulative yohan can be — is trying very hard to not let himself be fooled, and so he holds extra paranoia and disbelief towards yohan that ends up skewing his judgment. gaon’s not perfect, but he is truly trying his best — especially with the consideration that he’s had it drilled into him by his long-time mentor and father figure that, in this position, he’s got the world on his shoulders.

The reason some people tend to find Gaon's reactions annoying, is because we as the audience always have information that Gaon doesn't.

Granted, we don't always know everything, but even what little what we do know, Gaon does not. Gaon is practically fumbling around in the dark throughout the show.

And when Gaon tries to find out anything, Yohan immediately shuts him down , Soohyun practically babies Gaon and tells him to stay out of trouble and Min Jungho is just a piece of shit.

What are obviously right choices to us is confusing to Gaon because the poor guy does not have all or even a little bit of any information at any point. And if he does, then someone manipulates or emotionally blackmails him into doing what benefits them.

If you look at it from Gaon's perspective the whole show is practically a horror tragedy instead of a thriller (with maybe a few days of peace in between before shit hits the fan. Again.)

I forgot to say this last time. Baku, Gotak and I, we all know you visit your friend in the hospital and why he's there. But in my opinion it wasn’t your fault.

Every time I'm mad at the government I put on The Devil Judge and I get instant catharsis. 10/10 would recommend this form of therapy.

The Atlantic

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans

U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then t

This is possibly the most insane national security story in the last 50 years. Includes a massive text chain between senior members of the Trump admin gaming out foreign policy and war plans on Signal, and they accidentally added a reporter to the group chat.

i will read this now

i cant stand these two - now give me 3 more books about them

the most fun a girl can have is finding parallels, noticing patterns, making connections, contemplating