South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization

by Gi-Wook Shin (editor)

Like in many other states worldwide, democracy is in trouble in South Korea, entering a state of regressionin the past decade, barely thirty years after its emergence in 1987. The society that had ordinary citizensleading “candlelight protests” demanding the impeachment of Park Geun-Hye in 2016–17 has becomepolarized amid an upsurge of populism, driven by persistent structural inequalities, globalization, and therise of the information society. The symptoms of democratic decline have been increasingly hard to the demonization of politicalopponents, erosion of democratic norms, and the whittling away of the courts’ independence. Perhapsmost disturbing is that this all took place under a government dominated by former pro-democracyactivists. Will the election victory of opposition leader Yoon Suk-Yeol end this democratic erosion, or willthe rift between South Korea’s progressives and conservatives only deepen with the next administration? The contributors to this volume trace the sources of illiberalism in today’s Korea; examine how politicalpolarization is plaguing its party system; discuss how civil society and the courts have become politicized;look at the roles of inequality, education, and social media in the country’s democratic decline; andconsider how illiberalism has affected Korea’s foreign policy.

360 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2022

Reviews

[Anouk · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first couple essays as well as the last few were interesting but the middle was…a slog…

Lots of things to think about when it comes to the Democratic Party and the general state of Korean politics. I was unaware of any of the flaws the authors pointed out. (My family supports the Democratic Party, and even then we don’t talk about it much, so this never would have been on my radar had I not read this book.) I also found the section on education very interesting.

I am curious how the authors’ opinions and analyses may have changed in light of the martial law declaration in 2024, Yoon’s removal and recent sentencing, and the last presidential election.

[Torsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent academic volume, but lacked synthesis and diversity.