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Political Parties in Korean Society
| Article
# : |
10398 |
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Section : |
Modern Thought
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1986 |
4,119 Words |
| Author
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Young Whan Kihl
Young Whan Kihl, a professor of political science at Iowa
State University, Ames, specializes in international
relations and comparative Asian politics. His latest book is
Security, Strategy, and Policy Responses in the Pacific Rim
(coedited with Lawrence Grinter, 1989). |
South Korea in 1986 stands at the crossroads on the path of political development. An inter-party dialogue on the political future of Korea beyond 1988 is now being shaped, with prospects for either democracy or renewed authoritarianism confronting the nation. The governing Democratic Justice Party (DJP or Min Jung-dang) and the major opposition New Korea Democratic Party (NKDP or Shin Han Min-dang) agreed in June 1986 to set up a parliamentary Special Constitution Revision Committee (SCRC) to chart a new government structure, including the method of selecting the country's next president.
The favorable outcome of the resuscitated parliamentary dialogue will increase the chance of institutionalizing an orderly transition of power beyond 1988, the year when the current president Chun Doo-hwan's tenure in office will end. The failure of the inter-party negotiation on constitutional revision, however, will likely increase the danger of radicalizing the domestic politics in South Korea. This paper will speculate on South Korea's political future by examining the dynamics of party politics and elections in South Korea in recent years.
Weak Legitimacy and Strong State
The root cause of political instability in South Korea today is the weak legitimacy of the present regime of President Chun Doo-hwan, going back to the founding of a new authoritarian political order in 1980. South Korea's Fifth Republic under Chun's rule was established by the military coup led by then-Major General Chun on May 17, 1980. From the inception, therefore, Chun's regime has been marred by the question of doubtful political legitimacy.
What aggravated the situation further was the bloody suppression of the Kwangju riots by Chun's Special Forces. The Kwangju uprising, lasting from May 18 to May 27, 1980, began as a popular protest movement against the proclamation of nationwide martial law. It was led initially by the militant university students at Chonnam National University but they were subsequently joined by concerned citizenry in Kwangju. As Korea's fourth largest city with close to one million people, Kwangju is the capital of South Cholla Province which, in turn, is the home province of dissident politician Kim Dae-jung.
The forceful suppression of the riots in Kwangju, which left 191 dead and thousands wounded, left a deep scar and schism on South Korea's body politic. The Kwangju episode, moreover, has come to be identified as a protest against the
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