Workers Institute of Social Science

The Workers Institute of Social Science (Korean: 노동사회과학연구소; Hanja: 勞動社會科學硏究所), often abbreviated as Nosa-Gwayeon, is a South Korean Marxist-Leninist social and political organization. It was formed in 2005 by researchers who had broken away from the Korea Labor Theory and Policy Institute during the 2004 impeachment crisis of President Roh Moo-hyun, opposing that impeachment. The institute defines itself as contributing to the political and ideological development of the working-class movement, maintaining an international perspective, and expanding international solidarity of the working class. Ideologically, the institute adheres to Marxism-Leninism as conceived by Karl Marx and completed by Joseph Stalin, along with scientific socialism as concretized in the Soviet Union. It strongly opposes revisionism, which it identifies as a cause of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, and supports anti-revisionism from an orthodox Marxist-Leninist standpoint. It takes a "both sides are to blame" position on non-national-liberation wars, particularly the Russia-Ukraine war, and is highly critical of the imperialist camp, aligning with the anti-imperialist trend of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties led by the Communist Party of Greece. In South Korea, due to the National Security Act, all communist activities are illegal, and the institute is described as the only Marxist-Leninist organization. The institute engages in translation of Marxist books and research in economics, sociology, history, and philosophy, though it is characterized as dogmatic and biased. It provides information on domestic and international situations and field-related media, and holds seminars and lectures mainly in Seoul and Busan to spread orthodox Marxist thought. Its research journal is titled "Labor and Social Science" (노동사회과학). It also publishes domestic situation analyses through "Labor Situation Journal" (노동정세일지) and "Situation" (정세). In terms of economics, the institute accepts parts of the socialist economy of the former communist bloc but criticizes Chinese-style market socialism, neoliberalism, and Keynesian economics as bourgeois reformism. It rejects welfare society, cooperativism, and mixed economy as inadequate models. Domestically, it opposes the democratic grand coalition theory and mass line, arguing for social transformation through isolation of the movement, which leaves it with minimal influence. Internationally, it nominally supports socialist states but views North Korea as a distorted socialist state pursuing a "twisted and refracted Juche ideology," and does not respond to South Korean government and right-wing anti-North propaganda. It does not support national revolutionary regimes and criticizes resistant nationalist regimes (e.g., Venezuela, Syria) as "disguised imperialist regimes." It takes ambiguous positions on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Libyan situation, the Syrian civil war, and the 2019 Hong Kong protests. It treats "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" as a theory serving imperialism, supports nuclear armament of socialist states, and supports denuclearization only after the ultimate elimination of imperialist forces. On labor, the institute advocates the unified activities of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the labor movement of non-regular workers, while maintaining solidarity across regular and non-regular workers. On unification, the dominant view is that unification is distant and domestic socialistization is urgent; it argues that a single nation no longer exists and thus the justification for unification no longer exists, advocating that all unification and national movements be merged into the class labor movement. It criticizes both NL and PD factions in the student movement but lacks an alternative social formation theory suitable for Korean reality.

The Workers Institute of Social Science was established in 2005 by researchers who had left the Korea Labor Theory and Policy Institute during the 2004 impeachment crisis of President Roh Moo-hyun, opposing the impeachment. During Roh's presidency, the institute characterized the Roh government as a "neoliberal reformist bourgeois fascist regime" and maintained a fundamentally anti-Roh stance. It was founded to contribute to the political and ideological development of the working-class movement, to grasp the international determinations, unity, and totality of Korean society's situation and movement, and to expand and strengthen international solidarity of the working-class movement. However, in practice, it has been criticized for repeating abstract dogmas rather than concretizing official Marxism. New attempts by some researchers were often discontinued due to lack of support and political attacks within the institute. The institute's central ideology is Marxism-Leninism as conceived by Karl Marx and completed by Joseph Stalin, and scientific socialism as concretized in the Soviet Union. It identifies revisionism as a factor in the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and strongly opposes it, supporting anti-revisionism from an orthodox Marxist-Leninist standpoint. It takes a "both sides are to blame" position on non-national-liberation wars, especially the Russia-Ukraine war, and is highly critical of the imperialist camp, aligning with the anti-imperialist trend of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties led by the Communist Party of Greece. In South Korea, due to the National Security Act, all communist activities are illegal, and the institute is described as the only Marxist-Leninist organization. The institute conducts research in economics, sociology, history, and philosophy, described as dogmatic and biased, and translates Marxist books. It provides information on domestic and international situations and field-related media, and holds seminars and lectures mainly in Seoul and Busan to spread orthodox Marxist thought. Its research journal is "Labor and Social Science" (노동사회과학). It also publishes domestic situation analyses through "Labor Situation Journal" (노동정세일지) and "Situation" (정세). In economics, the institute accepts parts of the socialist economy of the former communist bloc but criticizes Chinese-style market socialism, neoliberalism, and Keynesian economics as bourgeois reformism. It rejects welfare society, cooperativism, and mixed economy as inadequate models. Domestically, it opposes the democratic grand coalition theory and mass line, arguing for social transformation through isolation of the movement, leaving it with minimal influence. Internationally, it nominally supports socialist states but views North Korea as a distorted socialist state pursuing a "twisted and refracted Juche ideology," and does not respond to South Korean government and right-wing anti-North propaganda. It does not support national revolutionary regimes and criticizes resistant nationalist regimes (e.g., Venezuela, Syria) as "disguised imperialist regimes." It takes ambiguous positions on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Libyan situation, the Syrian civil war, and the 2019 Hong Kong protests. It treats "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" as a theory serving imperialism, supports nuclear armament of socialist states, and supports denuclearization only after the ultimate elimination of imperialist forces. On labor, the institute advocates the unified activities of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the labor movement of non-regular workers, while maintaining solidarity across regular and non-regular workers. On unification, the dominant view is that unification is distant and domestic socialistization is urgent; it argues that a single nation no longer exists and thus the justification for unification no longer exists, advocating that all unification and national movements be merged into the class labor movement. It criticizes both NL and PD factions in the student movement but lacks an alternative social formation theory suitable for Korean reality. The institute's composition is mainly professional petty-bourgeois or former student activists, with few proletarian labor activists, leading to criticism that it cannot represent workers due to its class composition. In 2024, a large exodus of researchers made effective research difficult.

• 2024

  Large exodus of researchers makes effective research difficult.

• 2005

  Workers Institute of Social Science is founded.

• 2004

  Researchers break away from the Korea Labor Theory and Policy Institute during the impeachment crisis of President Roh Moo-hyun.

Orthodox Marxist-Leninist research and advocacy institute

• Labor and Social Science (journal)

  Research journal of the institute.

• Labor Situation Journal

  Publication analyzing domestic situations.

• Situation

  Publication analyzing domestic situations.

1. 1Workers Institute of Social Science, South Korea - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2노동사회과학연구소 - Wikipedia (Korean)ko.wikipedia.org