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The Political Spectrum of Korea Writer: Seunhun Jung Editor-in-chief: Dasol Um Copyeditor: Regine Armann
[Illustration by 케이] Hi, Kommon Readers! On December 16, 1987, citizens of South Korea went to their polling stations in record numbers to vote in what would become the country’s first fair and free presidential election. After the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948, the commitment to democracy waxed and waned for decades through rigged elections, two coups d’état, and authoritarian rule. In the mid-1980s, students, labor unions, and pro-democracy activists successfully secured democratic reforms to the constitution. Today, South Korea has a flourishing culture of democractic control. The U.K.-based Economist Intelligence Unit ranked South Korea higher than Israel, Japan, and the United States on its annual democracy index. Today we are going to introduce you to the major political parties in Korea and the role they play in Korean politics. The term yeodang (여당, ruling party) refers to the party that the president belongs to, while the term yadang (야당, opposition party) is used to refer to every other political party. Although there are many small parties, we will focus on those that have seats in the National Assembly. The Democratic Party (더불어민주당), the party that President Moon Jae-in is part of, has 174 seats in the National Assembly. There are six other parties that have seats in the National Assembly. These parties are:
The Left vs. The Right The differences in ideology between progressives and conservatives are reflected in their stance on various social issues. 1. North Korea The progressives support more open diplomatic engagement with North Korea. This is exemplified in Moon’s “Sunshine Policy” that promotes more interaction between the two Koreas. The conservatives, on the other hand, have always maintained a hardliner stance towards North Korea, by emphasizing deterrence and defense and dialing down inter-Korean exchanges. 2. The United States The progressives support a more autonomous policy when it comes to relations with the United States, while the conservatives are strongly aligned with the country, as they view the ROK-US alliance as an important measure of protection against the threat from North Korea. 3. Wealth redistribution The progressives are more in favor of wealth redistribution and tougher regulations on Chaebols. In contrast, the conservatives want the government to not intervene in the market, and believe that the Chaebols are necessary for Korea’s economic growth. The Colors of Korea’s Political Parties: Korea’s political parties are symbolized by different colors. The Democratic Party is represented by the color blue, which originally represented right-wing parties. Some say that the reason they’re using blue as their color is to attract middle-class voters (Korean link), most of whom are conservatives. The People Power Party uses the color red, although it has often been associated with Communism, because the party believes the color represents passion, determination, change, and freedom. The Political Preferences of Different Regions in Korea: See the infographic map of the 2020 General Election in Korea.
[Photo by Newspim] (Note: The United Future Party (미래통합당) is now called the People Power Party) As you can see in the map above, Honam (호남, a region that includes the North and South Jeolla provinces as well as Gwangju) is very progressive, while Daegu and Gyeongsang Province are relatively conservative. Yeongnam (영남) refers to Gyeongsang Province. In fact, Honam and Yeongnam are also used as political terms, because they represent the political division between the incumbent and opposition parties. This division can largely be traced back to the administration of Park Chung-hee, who heavily favored Gyeongsang region – where he grew up – as opposed to the Jeolla region. How one views the legacy of Park Chung-hee can be a large determining factor in their political orientation. People on the left tend to view Park Chung-hee as a merciless dictator who violated human rights, subverted democracy, and enabled a small number of corporate powers to monopolize the South Korean economy. On the other hand, those on the right view Park Chung-hee as a strong president whose leadership was willing to make difficult sacrifices to bring the country from abject poverty to unprecedented, rapid economic growth. To learn more about the reason for the regional rivalry between Honam and Yeongnam, please check out our old newsletter on the conflict between Jeolla and Gyeongsang. Partisan Media Most Korean media outlets have specific political leanings. Well-known conservative media outlets are Dong-a Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, Segye Ilbo, and Chosun Ilbo. Hankook Ilbo and Seoul Shinmun are considered centrist media outlets, while Hankyoreh and Kyunghyang Shinmun are considered relatively progressive. The differences in political ideologies among these outlets are reflected in the stance they take on various policies. For example, Chosun Ilbo has criticized (Korean link) minimum wage policies for harming small and medium enterprises as it drives up labor costs, thereby leading to massive layoffs. On the other hand, Hankyoreh (Korean link), a progressive media outlet, has taken a softer stance on the minimum wage, arguing that it hasn’t led to a significant increase in unemployment.
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