The Sasanggye group was a post-independence era liberal intellectuals sharing identities such as a northern origin, graduates of Soongsil, Osan, Hanshin, and the experience of student soldiers. These intellect elites understood the Cold War era with the bipolar framework of the Free World versus Totalitarianism. This understanding led to form anti-communist liberalism which differentiated their attitude from the extreme right wing anti-communism.
The Sasanggyc intellectuals refused to recognize the exceptions in the place of universality of the West; therefore criticized the Asian alternative 3rd force ideas and demanded to choose between the pro-American and the pro-Soviet. This attitude also affected their understanding of nationalism; the nation had no place in the inevitability of the Free World. They eliminated the people in the north under the communist regime in their understanding of the nation.
Facing the anti-communist dictatorship of Syngman Rhee in the 1950s and the burst of unification discourse of the post-4ㆍ19 society, the Sasanggye intellectuals persisted the position of anti-communist peaceful unification and tried to strengthen the competitive power of the south in their preparation for the general election of the distant future. They focused on modernization of economy to build material foundation of democracy and the social integration through welfare programs.
The military regime of 5ㆍ16 coup established the development dictatorship of Chunghee Park which consolidated its power through anti-communism and modernization. The Sasanggye intellectuals took their initiative in their struggle against Park’s submissive diplomacy toward Japan, and constructed their own resistant nationalism. They summoned the people as a sovereignty of the autonomy of the nation, and led the modernization discourse by arguing independent modernization against subordinative modernization. As a result, they foretold the opposition force of civil disobedience for the future.
The July 4 North-South Joint Statement of 1972 divided the Sasanggye group: a unified nationalist section of resistant nationalism and an anti-communist liberalist section with the cold war ideas. Jang Junha and Moon Ikhwan considered the Joint Statement as a signal for the future of the nation and pursued to overcome the Cold War and the division of the nation. On the other end, Yang Homin and Shin Sangcho questioned the feasibility of the Joint Statement and supported President Park’s June 23 declaration which demanded maintenance of status quo of the two political system of the North and the South.