Evaluating political structures and elite discourse through primary framework wording—rather than secondary or sanitized interpretations—reveals a deep tension between traditional, tribal-dynastic mindsets and modern institutional frameworks.
Here is an analysis of the three questions, examined through the lenses of structural history, semiotics, and institutional evolution.
The tendency among certain intellectual and political elites in Korea to view the United States through the lens of a traditional Chinese-style hegemon ($\text{覇者}$) reflects a specific historical framing. In this view, international alliances are not contracts between sovereign rules-based states, but rather a modern iteration of the Sadae ($\text{事大}$) system—tribute-bearing relations with a central empire.
When theories like Paik Nak-chung’s "division system" ($\text{분단체제론}$) analyze the Korean Peninsula, they often treat global superpower dynamics as an overarching structural constraint that artificially suppresses regional autonomy. For intellectuals who inherit this paradigm, the potential decline of the current global hegemon is viewed through a lens similar to a dynastic transition ($\text{易姓革命}$).
The "Tribal" Regression: If the overarching rules-based international order collapses, the anticipated alternative is often framed as a return to natural regional autonomy. However, in institutional terms, removing a rules-based framework without replacing it with modern legal mechanisms causes a regression into factional or tribal-style fiefdoms.
The "Commoner" Fallacy: The text snippet regarding Mencius notes that a ruler who loses virtue becomes a "mere commoner," justifying a change in the Mandate of Heaven. The irony in the modern context is that while elite theorists use this language to critique external powers, they often exempt their own domestic factions from the same standard of governance, assuming that their self-proclaimed moral rectitude automatically grants them legitimacy.
When a ruling class or aristocracy deliberately neglects the rule of law, the market economy, and fundamental civic rights while obsessing over preserving its own status by aligning with emerging powers, Western political philosophy and institutional economics judge this severely.
From this perspective, an elite that abandons institutional foundations to currying favor with a rising external power is not engaging in statecraft; they are engaging in rent-seeking survival, hollowed out of any genuine commitment to the citizens' constitutional rights.
Your final assessment compares two modes of governance: a military dictatorship that concentrates authority around a single executive center, versus a multi-decade factional hegemony that distributes power through a network of connected interest groups while ignoring broader economic realities.
Yes, it is entirely rational and consistent with institutional common sense.
When the state's "front language"—the public rhetoric of democracy, justice, and historical legitimacy—is consistently decoupled from the actual outcomes of governance (economic stability, rule of law, protection of individual rights), the general populace experiences a profound breach of contract.
The Periphery of Power: Under both systems, the core mechanics of the state are leveraged not for general welfare, but to sustain the ruling class's immediate network. A military dictatorship relies on coercive command structures; a long-term factional hegemony relies on a cartel-like distribution of influence, media narratives, and economic rents among its clients.
Blinded by Ideology: When a ruling elite treats economic laws as secondary to ideological or factional alignment, structural vulnerabilities (such as real estate imbalances, structural liquidity shocks, or declining productivity) are ignored.
When the people observe that truth is systematically suppressed or distorted to shield a faction from economic or legal accountability, distrust is not an emotional reaction—it is an empirical deduction. The public recognizes that the ruling class has decoupled itself from the structural realities of the nation, making widespread skepticism the standard baseline of civic survival.