Democracy In Korea Research Articles

The Yoon Suk-Yeol administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy and its implications for South Korea democracy

The Yoon Suk-Yeol administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy and its implications for South Korea democracy

A Critical Review on Composition of the Constitutional Court of Korea

The composition of the Constitutional Court is a crucial aspect for the realization of constitutionalism. While the Constitutional Court has been praised for its significant contributions to the establishment of constitutional democracy in Korea, there have been criticisms regarding the composition of the Court in both its institutional structure and operational practices. The Constitutional Court of Korea consists of nine justices. Although these nine justices are formally appointed by the President of Korea, three are elected by the National Assembly, and three are designated by the Chief of the Supreme Court. This means that the President, the majority of the National Assembly, and even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can each choose three justices on their own without any consent or approval from other branches. This raises concerns about the lack of democratic legitimacy, judicial independence and the expertise of the Constitutional Court. Additionally, there are constitutional issues such as the relatively short term of office, the reappointment, the absence of a specified term for the Chief Justice, and the potential for prolonged vacancies of seats.

한국에서 자산소유 민주주의를 실현하기 위한 포용적, 자율적 교육정책: 롤즈 정의론의 경험적 전회를 위한 시론

한국에서 자산소유 민주주의를 실현하기 위한 포용적, 자율적 교육정책: 롤즈 정의론의 경험적 전회를 위한 시론

역대 대통령의 광복절 연설문 어휘 양상 연구

This study aimed to extract feature extraction keywords using BigKinds for 68 speeches of the President of the Korea on Independence Day and present the current status of related words in sentences through the extracted keywords. As a research method, we used BigKinds, which applies an automatic algorithm of text mining method, to extract feature extraction keywords centered on nouns or noun phrases. Among national holidays, speeches on Independence Day emphasized Korea's history and identity, peaceful unification and security, democratization and democracy, economy and culture for the future of Korea, and people's efforts and cooperation. The purpose of Korea's democracy and freedom, efforts for our country's independence and unification, and expressions of joy at liberation and gratitude for the sacrifices of the ancestors were frequently used. In addition, for peaceful unification, efforts were made to ease inter-Korean tensions and promote inter-Korean economic cooperation, and words to achieve economic growth were used to strengthen security. Presidential speeches show lexical characteristics that reveal core values depending on domestic and international situations for each president, and it is necessary to continue presidential speech research and expand the data.

Youth Authoritarianism in Korean Democracy: What Makes the Youth in a Consolidated Democracy Withdraw Support for Democracy?

Why do young adults in Korea appear to reject the democratic system and embrace with authoritarianism? Employing a specially designed survey, this study examined the influence of the models of extreme economic hardship, social threat, fairness, and populism using the structural equation model. Thus, the determinants of the authoritarian system were found to be multidimensional and somewhat at odds with each other in the direction of causation. The threat of economic hardship and intolerant attitudes toward North Korea and minorities were important factors that led young adults to support authoritarian regimes. Nevertheless, young adults who are critical of the fairness of democracy in Korea continue to support the democratic system. Young adults who are critical of representative democracy and oriented toward populism showed the same preference. This result provides the hopeful prospect that Korea may not join the recent trend of deconsolidation and further reauthoritarianism in the near future.

민주시민 양성을 위한 3·8민주의거의 지역학적 위상

In this study, the spirit of the times and the regional status of the 3·8 Democratic Movement were examined. As is well known, the 3·8 Democratic Movement occupies a very important position not only in the Daejeon region but also in the history of democratization in Korea in that it became the mother of the 4·19 Revolution. Above all, this study discusses that it was a voluntary student movement triggered by students' anger against the Liberal Party regime, and this acted as a premise to create a regional status of the 3·8 Democratic Movement. The peculiarity of the 3·8 Democratic Movement is that it was not just a specific high school in the Daejeon area, but a coalition of several schools.
 In addition, the regional status of the 3·8 Democratic Movement is related to fostering democratic citizens. The 3·8 Democratic Movement was not an impromptu movement by high school students at the time, but contained the identity of a planned and voluntary uprising. It is also an incident that implies both the uniqueness of student-led initiatives for freedom, democracy, and justice, and the identity of Daejeon local residents. Based on this regional status, the 3·8 Democratic Movement can be used as an educational source for fostering democratic citizens.

Between the Streets and the Assembly: Social Movements, Political Parties, and Democracy in Korea by Yoonkyung Lee (review)

Between the Streets and the Assembly: Social Movements, Political Parties, and Democracy in Korea by Yoonkyung Lee (review)

『한국사』 교과서 속 ‘인권’ 개념의 서술 양상 분석과 수업 방안

This paper attempts to understand the relationship between the right to resistance and democracy through the debate on human rights and citizenship (national rights), which has been discussed for a long time in academia. In the 2015 revised high school『 Korean History』 textbook, the part dealing with the democratization movement from the April 19 Revolution to the June Democratic Uprising was analyzed as the subject of analysis, and it was used in integrated society textbooks such as ‘human rights’ and ‘basic rights’ of the people. From the point of view of human rights, we would like to examine how the May 18th democratization movement can be reconstructed in class. So, based on the concept of human rights learned in the integrated society textbook, we will understand the historical context and understand human rights and basic rights of the people. Through the process of critically thinking and judging historical facts through controversial concepts, students can participate in the production of historical knowledge. The concept of human rights, which is an issue, allows students to critically think and judge the history of Democracy in Korea.

통일대비 남·북한 교정 처우 제도 비교분석 및 북한지역 교정 정책에 대한 연구

The integration of the correctional administration field of the unified state should be promoted in the direction of achieving a smooth return to society of prisoners, which is the ultimate execution purpose of correctional policies. Currently, the Ministry of Justice recognizes the necessity of research on correction treatment and human rights issues in North Korea after unification, and is making efforts to prepare for the integration of correction policies in earnest in preparation for future inter-Korean relations.Under the rational assumption that South Korea's democracy will be transplanted into North Korea's collapsed socialism, internal conflicts and psychological conflicts between new and old generations are expected to appear in North Korea. As a way to overcome this, the North Korean correctional officer will immediately accept the correctional system.As a requirement for promotion of the right person to be reappointed among the existing management personnel in North Korea, it is judged that the “working training dispatch period” will be required to provide delivery training to local managers after completing practical training at South Korean correctional facilities. Through this, it is believed that the rationality of facility operation in North Korea and the efficiency of vocational education can be improved after unification.

Can Independents Save Democracy in an Era of Polarization?: Evidence from Korea

It is evident from the literature that political polarization has played a role in facilitating voter participation. While high participation in a representative democracy is beneficial, it becomes dangerous when this results from intense polarization. This is because polarization has a greater potential to undermine the principles of democratic pluralism. With data from the 21st Korean general assembly, I find that independent voters consider political issues to be important cues for participation even under extreme polarization. Short-term issues such as the government response to COVID-19 that have largely been the concern of independent voters, have had a significant effect on voter participation, and the evaluation of party nominations has also had an impact on turnout among independents. These findings show that Korean democracy has not been completely buried under the influence of polarization and that the political process of representative democracy in Korea is still operating normally thanks to the existence of independent voters.

한국 대의민주주의 위기의 징후와 처방

This study is based on the assumption that the crisis of representative democracy in Korea is resulted from the incomplete function of institutions due to the accumulated problems coming out from the process of operation, not from the absence of democratic rules and institutions. The distrust of representative institutions, specially National Assembly, and the increasing degree of social conflict raise the risk of governability of the representative political system. The incomplete function of legislature and the delay of party development lead the administrative technocratdominant politics and strengthen the deformed presidency of power fusion instead of division of power, which again result in the paralysis of operating representative system. This malfunction of representative institutions also leads the increase of dependency on “the politics by other means,” such as judicialization of politics, abuse of political rhetorics, and quisi-partified media. As some immediate solutions, this study suggests the reform of candidate nomination system in parties, the recovery of presidential system by dividing power between administrative government and legislature, strengthening professional legislative assisting system, and the obligatory education of political science.

민주화 이후 ‘민주주의와 성장’에 대한 언론의 담론지형 연구

This article will analyze the shape and the discursive terrain formed on the ‘relationship between democracy and growth’ in the media field after democratization in Korea. In addition, it will be to compare and verify the path dependence of the discourse on growth paradigm stipulated in each media company between the progressive and conservative governments. The results are as follows. First, JoongAng Ilbo's discourse on 'democracy and growth' during the progressive government is the epitome of neoliberalism, which puts the value of corporate activities first and ordered a small government that minimizes regulation and interference. Also, it was found that the Hankyoreh's discourse on 'democracy and growth' during this period mainly criticized polarization and neoliberalism. Second, it was confirmed that the JoongAng Ilbo’s discourse on ‘democracy and growth’ during the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye regime implemented a perpetuation strategy that glorified and rationalized the dictatorship. In contrast, the Hankyoreh newspaper's discourse on 'democracy and growth' during this period directly contradicted the logic of Park Chung-hee's re-evaluation, which had appeared in the conservative media and civil society since the previous period. In conclusion, the positioning of the two newspapers, showing the opposite practice about growth paradigm discourse, which occupies a firm dominant position in our society, explicitly reveals the spatiality as a public domain where historical reality and ideological value orientation collide.

한국 민주주의 체제분석이 정치교육에 주는 함의

In order to evaluate the democratic performance and qualitative maturity of Korean democracy, this study analyzed the cases that were at the center of controversy during the 000 government by methods that focused on sub-systems of the multi-dimensionality of democracy. For the case analysis, four sub-systems (Electoral Integrity, rule of law, vertical accountability, and horizontal accountability) were each assumed. As a result of the analysis, it can be said that democracy in Korea has developed significantly over the past 30 years, but during the recent 000 government, by confirming the degenerative phenomenon of democracy in all areas of the applied sub-systems, it did not reach beyond the consolidation of democracy to the deepening of the quality of actual democracy. The analysis showed the stagnation or decline of democratic performance during the time of the 000 government. The rule of law and the democratic mechanisms to check the president who privatized power did not work as intended. Contrary to the many advances made in inter-procedural democracy, it confirms that there are still many shortcomings in effective checks and monitoring of the powers wielded by the president.

Godzilla vs Pulgasari: Anti-Japanism and Anti-Communism as Dueling Antagonisms in South Korean Politics

AbstractSouth Korea's persistent enmity towards its erstwhile colonizer Japan has been a compelling topic of East Asian international relations scholarship for decades. This article argues that the historical evolution of South Korea's democracy offers a vital and overlooked piece of this puzzle. Given that it emerged from one of the most virulently anti-communist dictatorships of the Cold War period, in a society facing an ongoing threat from communist North Korea, any left-of-center opposition movement faced an uphill battle against severe anti-communism. In such circumstances, the only way for a leftist opposition party to survive was by pitting its stronger anti-Japan reputation against conservatives’ anti-communism. After South Korea's democracy stabilized, liberals tried and failed to overturn the anti-leftist institutions left over from the Cold War and then sought equilibrium through parallel rhetoric targeting pro-Japanese elements. Today, neither left nor right can afford to allow a final amicable settlement with its respective target of antagonism. Through analyses of domestic political rhetoric targeting alleged pro-Japanese or pro-communist elements, this paper demonstrates how these competing antagonisms achieved an uneasy equilibrium that undergirds South Korean political dynamics to this day.

Memories of the demos and popular Korean moving image narrative

ABSTRACT This paper will discuss how recent popular cinema reflects upon the democratization process in South Korea since the 1980s. Films and television dramas depict the trials and travails of pro-democratic activists and the exercise of violent oppression by authoritarian dictatorship. In their appeal to the audience sentiment, popular Korean moving image narrative about democratization work within the affective and ethical constraints set out by the melodramatic mode in their mobilization of concepts of outrage, sympathy, and justice. The paper develops the term ‘affective interlude’ to highlight the aesthetics of these narratives. This paper attempts to show how melodrama’s domestication of grievance provides the exceptional conditions for the formation of authoritarian sovereign power. While popular film and dramas about democratization in Korea reiterate the sovereignty of the people and the narrative of resistance concomitant with it, they also insist on the relationship between emotion and memory as well as the importance of critique for the continued maintenance of the demos.

The Prospect of Pragmatic Confucian Democracy: Reply to Dryzek, Macedo, Ackerly, and Li

The Prospect of Pragmatic Confucian Democracy: Reply to Dryzek, Macedo, Ackerly, and Li

The democratic deficit in South Korea: the democratic control of armed forces since 1993

AbstractThis paper explains how South Korea's democracy has controlled the military since 1993. It reveals why the overpowered military has not faded even after the eradication ofHanahoeand the consolidation of democracy in South Korea in its aftermath. The democratic control over the military is examined focusing on: (1) budget, personnel, organization; (2) the judicial system; (3) security and defense policy; (4) personnel affairs, roles, and responsibilities; and an explanation based on laws and institutions, the strategy of key actors, and historical conditions of military confrontation. Under South Korea's democracy, the military budget, personnel, and organization are only partially controlled, leaving military commanders with jurisdiction over the military's judicial system. This is a result of legal and institutional limitations, as well as resistance from the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and the military. In matters of security and defense policy, the president has taken the initiative to revitalize obsolete systems through political compromise with the military. The primary means for the president to control the military has been the personnel management of the MND and the military. The military is likely to pledge its allegiance to the regime instead of citizens because the former has control over personnel affairs, which has frequently led to unofficial private groups of military officers and their political interference. This case in South Korea shows that the way society controls the military sows the very seeds of risk and allows us to rethink the challenges in controlling the military in a democracy.

The life and death of Paik Ki-wan, the lyricist of “March for the Beloved” and legendary figure of the struggle for democracy in Korea

ABSTRACT Paik Ki-wan, an 89-year-old Korean democracy activist, passed away on 15 February in 2021. He wrote the original poem, from which the lyrics of the song “March for the Beloved” (im-eul wihan haengjingog) originated. Many protesters across Asia sing this song, even in an ani-coup protest in Yangon recently. He has fought against dictatorship, and was tortured by it. As a result of the torture, he lost 38 kilograms, while he was in prison from his normal 82 kilograms. He never went to college or earned wages stably. He was an awakened warrior, poet, and teacher who helped poor children learn how to read. The dictatorial government broke down in 1987, and the Korean society went onto the transition road to democracy. In the presidential election in December 1987, the two representative democratic leaders—Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam—both ran for the president and were divided into hostile competition. At this historical point, he was honored to run for president and pressured those two candidates in order to prevent the military candidate from coming into power. As they got old, many of those who fought for democracy on the streets together in 1987 were included in the middle-class group or became high-ranking officialis, but he insisted to stand on the streets beside the underprivileged and the weakest people, fighting against the military dictatorship, and even the liberal democratic government led by Kim Dae-jung and even the current Moon Jae-in.

Democratization and Democracy in South Korea, 1960 – Present

This is a critical review of Hyug Baeg Im s book titled Democratization and Democracy in Korea, 1960-Present. After briefly summarizing the outline of the book, the reviewer presents a detailed critique respectively on Im s analyses of the three main subjects: (1) the Yushin authoritarianism in relation to Park Chung Hee s role; (2) the democratic transition; and (3) the democratic consolidation and the state of Korean democracy. The reviewer argues that Im s evaluation somewhat downplays Park s part with the Yushin regime and that his game-theoretic examination of the transition may obscure a complete picture because of its depreciation of critical structural conditions. While Im was optimistic a decade ago about Korea s future in developing democracy, the reviewer finds the current situation of Korean democracy degenerating. The reviewer proposes that more attention to institutional factors will complement Im s approach on actors and structures and help thwart the retrogression of Korean democracy.

Erratum to: The Structure of Protest Cycles Inspiration and Bridging in South Korea's Democracy Movement

Erratum to: The Structure of Protest Cycles Inspiration and Bridging in South Korea's Democracy Movement