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Liberalism in South Korea

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Liberalism in South Korea
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This article gives an overview of liberalism and its related history in South Korea. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support and representation in the National Assembly.

Historically, liberalism in South Korea emerged as an anti-military dictatorship movement. In contemporary South Korean politics, it represents a movement positioned opposite the conservatives. Liberal political parties include the Democratic Party of Korea and the Justice Party.

The Democratic Party of Korea is a reformist party and internationally considered centrist to center-left.[1][2] Although it is usually classified as a center-left party within South Korea, some studies consider its social and fiscal conservative policies more right-leaning than center-right parties in Western Europe such as Christian Democratic Union of Germany.[3] The Justice Party is to the left of the DPK but takes a more moderate stance than the far-left parties of Western Europe.[4]

South Korean liberals tend to unite around several key issues: a conciliatory approach to North Korea, reparations for Japanese colonial rule, and, wherever possible, autonomy from interference by major powers, including the United States.[5] South Korean liberalism is also based on a national liberalist independence movement against Japan. South Korean liberals support the Sunshine Policy toward North Korea.[6][7]

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Introduction

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See also: Centrist reformism

In South Korea, the term "liberalism" generally refers to classical liberalism.[note 1][10] In South Korea, the labels "liberal" (자유주의자; Jayujuuija; chayujuŭija) and "liberal democracy" (자유민주주의; 自由民主主義; Jayuminjujuui) are often claimed by conservatives to denote economic liberalism and anti-communism.[note 2][11][12] Liberals, particularly those with left-leaning views, often use terms like "democrats", "ribuhruhl" (리버럴, the Korean pronunciation of "liberal") or "democratic camp" (민주진영) to set themselves apart from conservatives.[13]

In South Korea, liberals and progressives are political forces with individual traditions,[14] but American liberalism is often translated as progressivism in the Korean language.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] The Justice Party officially supports social democracy, but since it is a party that inherited the political stake of the Uri Party, it is regarded as part of the South Korean progressive political party tradition and at the same time as part of the liberal political party tradition.[23][24][25]

In South Korea, the terms "liberal," "liberty," "libertarian," and "freedom" all tend to be translated into Jayu (자유; 自由). For example, in South Korea, both Canada's "Liberal Party", Netherlands' "Party for Freedom" and the United States' "Libertarian Party" are read as Jayudang (자유당; 自由黨) in Korean. Also, right-wing socially conservative media in South Korea regard the American tradition of right-libertarianism as progressive because it is culturally liberal.[26][27][28][29]

The main diplomatic point that defines liberalism in South Korea is "independence" (독립). Modern South Korean liberals tend to be more negative on immigration than the conservatives.[30] South Korean liberals have a more nationalistic nature based on anti-imperialism in matters related to neighboring powers such as Japan. The anti-China Gaehwa Party / Independence Club at the end of the 19th century, and the anti-Japan Korean independence movement during the Japanese colonial era, formed Korea's early liberalism. On the other hand, Korea's conservative elites cooperated with neighboring powers such as Qing China and Japan for practical reasons. In modern South Korean politics, where socialism and anti-Americanism were thoroughly suppressed by conservatives with the support of the United States, liberals resent domestic interference by foreign powers. Thus, while they maintain cordial relations with the United States, they also seek to exercise strategic autonomy in its foreign policy.[31]

South Korean liberals tends to take a nuanced and pragmatic stance towards China and Russia, preferring cooperation to promote peace on the peninsula. Thus, they tend to be more reluctant to take a strong stance on controversial issues such as the issue of Taiwan and disputes in the South China Sea. On the campaign trail, Lee Jae-myung questioned South Korean relevance in the Taiwan Strait issue.[32] President Moon Jae-in stated that South Korea will not take sides in US-China rivalry.[33]

South Korean liberals have represented Korean victims of Japanese war crimes since the 1990s. They oppose any agreement or cooperation with Japan until the Japanese government issues formal apologies to Korean victims and demonstrate sincere reflections on the horrors of the Japanese occupation of Korea.[34][35] President Moon Jae-in stated the human rights of victims are more important than relations between countries.[36]

South Korean liberals have a contradictory standard on international human rights violations. South Korean liberals are less critical of North Korea than conservatives and oppose the 'North Korean Human Rights Law' (북한인권법).[37] However, South Korean liberals are more strongly opposed than conservatives to human rights violations in other authoritarian states (e.g., China, Myanmar, etc.) with the exception of North Korea. In 2021, Moon Jae-in government opposed Myanmar's military dictatorship and supported strong sanctions against Myanmar's military, but deliberately ignored North Korea's human rights violations. (This is related to the resistance-nationalist sentiment of South Korean liberals.)[38][39] In 2022, the liberal Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol for ignoring the human rights issue of Xinjiang.[40]

South Korean major liberals mainly criticize mainstream conservatives, distancing themselves from any heritage and relationship with the military dictatorship, insist on political reform and the rule of law, supporting the foreign policy of reconciliation with North Korea. They are distinguished from progressives and cultural liberals. South Korea liberals tend to be socially conservative in LGBT rights, Disability rights, abortion and minority rights issues. (The socially conservative tendency of South Korean liberals is not traditional conservatism based on Confucianism, but is more influenced by Christianity.)[41] They also tend to distance themselves from the (Including social democracy) "socialism" or fundamental "left-wing". Modern South Korean liberals tend to be more negative on immigration than the conservatives.[42]

Domestically, they advocated the reform of the monopoly of the large industrial conglomerates known as chaebols. They also proposed the curtailing of investigative powers of the prosecutor's office, with such powers transferred to the police, as they viewed them as powerful political tools.[43]

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History

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During the colonial period, Marxist historian Paek Nam-un evaluated Silhak as "pioneer of early modern period liberalism," while Ahn Jae-hong, a liberal nationalist, evaluated Silhak and Silhak scholar Jeong Yak-yong as "the origin of late modern period liberalism by presenting elimination of (feudal) class and support for equality". Silhak criticized the existing Confucian conservatism and Sadaejuui, aiming for political reform and pragmatism, and also argued for the superiority of Western science and technology. Some Silhak scholar also believed in Christianity.[44]

Korea's first classical liberal and Enlightenmentists party was the Gaehwa Party, which appeared in 1874. They aimed for radical political and social reform, cut off unequal relations with the powerful Qing Dynasty and tried to create a completely independent Joseon Dynasty, and led by Seo Jae-pil in 1896 was a practical successor to the Gaehwa Party. Influenced by Japanese liberalism, they showed pro-Japanese tendencies, but at the same time insisted on independent and independent Korea. In the 1900s, classical liberals and Enlightenmentists in Korea were largely divided into two groups. Some became Chinilpa who cooperated with Japan, and others who devoted themselves to the Korean independence movement.[11][45]

During the colonial era, Korean liberalism is closely related to the Korean independence movement. South Korean historians say that the March 1st Movement, which took place in 1919, affected democracy and liberalism in South Korea as a movement involving many Koreans regardless of gender, religion, or occupation.[46] The Republic of Korean Provisional Government, established thanks to the value of the March 1st Movement, has established a modern national system in name and reality by introducing the separation of powers of government, parliament, and judiciary based on freedom and equality, and common elections including women. (However, since it was located in Shanghai, China, it was more of a Korean independence movement organization than a korean government.)[47]

After the end of Japanese colonial rule, with the inauguration of the Republic of Korea government, the word "liberal" has been used in South Korea for a while in a similar sense to anti-communism and anti-socialism. That is why not only ideological liberals but also hard-line conservatives and far-right anti-communists called themselves "liberal." A case in point was the "Liberal Party", a South Korean far-right national-conservative party influenced by Shōwa Statism, German and Italian fascism.[48] In particular, Syngman Rhee, the first president of the Liberal Party, committed authoritarian rule and election fraud based on Ilminism, an anti-liberal individual worship ideology from 1948 to 1960, and liberals and students who opposed it caused April Revolution. This was the first successful liberal revolution in South Korea.[49]

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Liberal parties

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The political party that once were ruling party are in bold.

Before 1945

Minjudangkye tradition

In South Korea, South Korean's unique liberal and korean nationalist parties are often referred to as Minjudangkye parties (Korean: 민주당계 정당; Hanja: 民主黨系政黨; lit. Democratic-line political parties). In South Korea, usually "liberal" political parties mean "Minjudangkye" parties.[50][51][52]

Mainstream parties

Minor parties

Non-Minjudangkye

In South Korea, these political parties are not often referred to as general "liberal" in Korean language, but in an international context, they are clearly referred to as "liberal" political parties.

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Liberal media in South Korea

Liberal organizations

In South Korea, 'political liberalism' and 'non-political liberalism' are distinguished. Therefore, the groups listed below may not be directly related to a particular political party or political power.

Civil rights organizations

Labour organizations

Nationalist (liberal-nationalist) organizations

Libertarian organizations

South Korean libertarians define themselves as Jayujuuija (자유주의자). But South Korean center-left liberals also define themselves as Jayujuuija, so it is important in what context the South Korean political term is used

Other

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Liberal presidents in South Korea

Major liberal parties election results of South Korea

Presidential elections

More information Election, Candidate ...

Legislative elections

More information Election, Total seats won ...

Local elections

More information Election, Metropolitan mayor/Governor ...
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See also

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Notes

  1. [N 1]
    In South Korea, the term "liberal" (자유 or 자유주의) used in the media and the term "liberal" used by politicians and the public are very different in context. "Liberal" in South Korean media usually means "liberal" in the sense of the United States or Europe, but "liberal" in South Korean politicians and the public usually means a form of politics close to the right, such as economic liberal and anti-communist.[8][9]
  2. [N 2]
    Conservative parties in South Korea often put "liberal" (자유) in their party names. (Example: Liberal Party, Democratic Liberal Party, United Liberal Democrats, Liberty Korea Party, etc.)
  3. [N 3]
    Since 2012, American-style left-liberals (social liberals and some social democrats) within the UPP have fled in large quantities, and far-left (anti-Americanists or left-wing nationalists)[55][56] have since become the main players.[57]
  4. [N 4]
    Dawn of Liberty Party is a far-right party aimed at 'alt-right', but it is often described as a "liberal" or "right-liberal" party in the South Korean media because it rejects Confucian conservatism and advocates Western-style classical liberalism.[60]
  5. [N 5]
    Including candidates from Progressive Party, Basic Income Party, Open Democratic Party and Social Democratic Party

References

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