I was using COVID as a comparison for the self-interest that all nations (including Korea) show in the novel when the mega-gates start showing up, not for the accumulation of military power. Which, for the record, Korea does in the novel too - remember the whole "secondary scan" charade they use to hide their top hunters until they can secure them?

I don't see any "cartoonishly evil" nations in SL after Japan's Jeju Island ploy fails. After that, everybody that tries to take Jin-Woo or whatever is just acting out of self-preservation. They think the mega-gates are going to be bad enough to destroy the entire nation, is it wrong for them to try and do whatever they can to prevent their absolute ruin?

Idk, seems like you're reading intentions that aren't there. With the scale of the fights in SL, it would be absurd if there weren't nation-level interests at play. And beyond that, it's a Korean novel, by a Korean author, about a hero who lives in Korea so... Yeah, the hero is also gonna be Korean. Kinda silly to accuse a story like that of racism or nationalism lol.