Minjuhwa or Minjoohwa (Korean: 민주화; Hanja: 民主化, sometimes 民主和) is political satire of the word democratization in South Korea.
It is alleged by some that it was coined in 1991, originally used by anonymous apolitical undergraduate netizens to describe violent opposition and mock annihilation of minority opinions.
South Korean newspaper Jeonjashinmun defines this term as "to suffer damage" or "to receive unfair treatment",[1] and says it is usually used in the expression Minjuhwadanghaetda (민주화당했다) or Minjuhwadanghada (민주화당하다).
However, in certain communities, the word was used in a different sense for violent campus activism, in which minjuhwa was satirically used to describe "anti-democratic" or "totalitarian" behaviour, or "populism", and in some cases, democracy disguised as an "fascism".
[a][3][4] Dong-A ilbo traces the origin of the negative usage to the 2008 US beef protest in South Korea, where false rumors about mad cow disease were propagated among leftist groups.