Progressivism in South Korea
Pro-reform ideology in the East Asian nation
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Progressivism (Korean: 진보주의; Hanja: 進步主義; RR: Jinbojuui) in South Korea is broadly associated with social democracy, cultural progressivism and left-wing nationalism.[1] South Korea's "progressivism" is often used in a similar sense to 'South Korean Left' or 'leftist'.[note 1]
Historically, there have been communist forces, but most of them have been powerless in contemporary South Korean politics.[5]
Domestically, they advocated the break-up of the large industrial conglomerates known as chaebols and support for trade unions. They also advocated the withdrawal of US troops on the peninsula.
History
Hyukshinkye
South Korea's early left-wing forces were mainly divided into 'communist' and 'non-communist'.
At that time, South Korean non-communist leftists were mainly called Hyukshinkye (Korean: 혁신계; Hanja: 革新系; lit. Innovation-faction). At that time, it was politically repressed by both centre-right liberals and conservatives.[citation needed] In particular, the Korean War led to a significant weakening, as some of the Hyukshinkye were also driven to communism.[citation needed] After the forced dissolution of the Progressive Party led by Cho Bong-am in 1958, it virtually collapsed.[6]
Progressive parties, including the United Socialist Party led by Kim Chul, continued the tradition of Hyukshinkye, but its power was minimal, and since the 1980s, Hyukshinkye's tradition has been completely cut off from power as Kim Chul and other key figures have shifted to pro-military conservative stances.[7]
PD and NL
The United States remained silent about the Gwangju Uprising by the military dictatorship in the 1980s, and backed the Chun Doo-hwan government. This served as an opportunity for some of the democratization movement forces in South Korea to develop anti-American sentiment.[note 2] As a result, some of South Korea's moderate liberal pro-democratization activists gradually accepted socialism and became more left-wing. During this period, the left-wing movement in South Korea was largely divided into Minjungminju-wing (Korean: 민중민주파; lit. People's Democracy-faction, PD) and Minjokhaebang-wing (Korean: 민족해방파; lit. National Liberation-faction, NL). After the collapse of the Cold War in the 1990s, they moderated their tendencies than in the past to form a political party named Democratic Force.[9]
PD was a Western-style leftist party, influenced by American liberalism and social democracy, while NL was a left-wing nationalist party that mixes ethnic nationalism, reunificationism and social progressivism. PD and NL are political terms that refer to the two pillars of South Korea's progressive camp and are still frequently used today. As of now, the representative PD-affiliated progressive party is the Justice Party, and the representative NL-affiliated progressive party is the Progressive Party.[10][11][12][9]
Shinjwapa
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the New Left movement in Europe and the United States and postmodernist discourse became known, creating a Shinjwapa (Korean: 신좌파; Hanja: 新左派; lit. New Left faction) in South Korea. They advocate youth rights, LGBT rights and feminism. Currently, South Korea's representative Shinjwapa parties include the Green Party and Basic Income Party.[13][14]
Progressive parties
Gujwapa (Old Left)
- Workers' Party of South Korea (1946–1949; banned)
- Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front → National Democratic Front of South Korea → Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front (1969–; banned)
- Socialist Revolutionary Workers' Party → Labor Party (2016–2022; unregistered; merged)
- People's Democracy Party (2016–)
Hyukshinkye (Innovation-faction)
- Preparatory Committee for National Construction → People's Party of Korea → People's Labor Party (1945–1950)
- Socialist Party (1951–1953)
- Progressive Party (1956–1958; banned)
- United Socialist Party of Korea (1961–1967; banned 1961–1966)
Minjungminju (PD)
- The People's Party (1990–1992)
- People's Victory 21 → Democratic Labor Party (1997–2011)
- Youth Progressive Party → Socialist Party → Hope Socialist Party → Korea Socialist Party → Socialist Party (1998–2012)
- New Progressive Party (2008–2012)
- Unified Progressive Party (2011–2012)[15]
- Progressive Justice Party → Justice Party (2012–) - However, there are a few Minjokhaebang and Shinjwapa factions in the Justice Party.
- Labor Party (2013–)
- Socialist Revolutionary Workers' Party → Labor Party (2016–2022; unregistered; merged)
Minjokhaebang (NL)
- People's Victory 21 → Democratic Labor Party (1997–2011)
- Unified Progressive Party (2011–2014; banned)[16]
- People's United Party (2016–2017)
- New People's Party (2017)
- Minjung Party → Progressive Party (2017–)
Shinjwapa (New Left)
- Green Social Democrats (2004)
- Green Peace Party (2002–2004)
- Social Democratic Party of Korea (2002–2004)
- Green Party Korea (2012–)
- Future Party (2017–)
- Basic Income Party (2020-)
- New Progressive Alliance (2024)
Progressive-liberal
- Democratic Independent Party (1947–1948)[note 3]
- Progressive Party (1956–1958)
- People's Party (1988)
- Hankyoreh Democratic Party (1988–1991)
- Popular Party (1989–1992)
- Participation Party (2010–2011)
- Unified Progressive Party (2011–2012, factions)[15]
- Youth Party (2012)
- Justice Party (2012–)
- Peace and Justice (2018)
- Future Party (2017–)
- Basic Income Party (2020–)
- Let's Go! Environmental Party (2020–)
- Democratic Alliance of Korea (2024–; satellite of the liberal DPK, the NPA and the Progressive Party)
Progressive media
- OhmyNews - liberal-leaning bias
- Pressian - progressive
- Voice of the People - progressive, resistance nationalism
- Yeoseong Shinmun - feminism
Progressive personalities
- Bong Joon-ho
- Ha-Joon Chang
- Han Sang-gyun [ko]
- Hong Sehwa
- Hong Seok-cheon
- Jang Hye-young
- Kwon In-sook
- Lee Hyori[17]
- Lim ji-hyeon [ko]
- Lee Yeong-hui [ko]
- Lyuh Woon-hyung
- Rhyu Si-min
- Roh Hoe-chan
- Ryu Ho-jeong
- Pak Noja
- Shin Hae-chul
- Sim Sang-jung
- Yun Hyon-seok
Major progressive parties election results of South Korea
Presidential elections
| Election | Candidate | Total votes | Share of votes | Outcome | Party name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Cho Pong-am | 797,504 | 11.4% | Defeated  N | Independent | |
| 1956 | Cho Pong-am | 2,163,808 | 30.0% | Defeated N | Independent | |
| 1987 | Baik Ki-wan | Quit midway through | Independent | |||
| 1992 | Baik Ki-wan | 238,648 | 1.0% | Defeated N | Independent | |
| 1997 | Kwon Young-ghil | 306,026 | 1.2% | Defeated N | People's Victory 21 | |
| 2002 | Kwon Young-ghil | 957,148 | 3.9% | Defeated N | Democratic Labor Party | |
| 2007 | Kwon Young-ghil | 712,121 | 3.0% | Defeated N | Democratic Labor Party | |
| Geum Min | 18,223 | 0.07% | Defeated N | Korea Socialist Party | ||
| 2012 | Lee Jung-hee | Quit midway through | Unified Progressive Party | |||
| Kim So-yeon | 16,687 | 0.05% | Defeated N | Independent | ||
| Kim Soon-ja | 46,017 | 0.15% | Defeated N | Independent | ||
| 2017 | Sim Sang-jung | 2,017,458 | 6.17% | Defeated N | Justice Party | |
| Kim Sun-dong | 27,229 | 0.08% | Defeated N | People's United Party | ||
| 2022 | Sim Sang-jung | 803,358 | 2.38% | Defeated N | Justice Party | |
| Kim Jae-yeon | 37,366 | 0.11% | Defeated N | Progressive Party | ||
| Oh Jun-ho | 18,105 | 0.05% | Defeated N | Basic Income Party | ||
| Lee Baek-yun | 9,176 | 0.03% | Defeated N | Labor Party | ||
Legislative elections
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
| Election | Total seats | Total votes | Share of votes | Outcome | Election leader | Party name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 2 / 210 | 89,413 | 1.3% | new 2 seats; minority | Jo So-ang | Socialist Party |
| 1960 | 4 / 233 | 541,021 | 6.0% | new 4 seats; minority | Seo Sang-il | Social Mass Party |
1 / 233 | 57,965 | 0.6% | new 1 seats; minority | Jeon Jin-han | Korea Socialist Party | |
| 1967 | 1 / 175 | 249,561 | 2.3% | new 1 seats; minority | Seo Min-ho | Mass Party |
0 / 175 | 104,975 | 1.0% | new 0 seats; minority | Kim Cheol | Unified Socialist Party | |
| 1971 | 0 / 204 | 59,359 | 0.5% |  1 seats; minority | Ri Mong | Mass Party |
0 / 204 | 97,398 | 0.9% |  0 seats; minority | Kim Cheol | Unified Socialist Party | |
| 1981 | 0 / 276 | 676,921 | 4.2% | new 2 seats; minority | New Politics Party | |
2 / 276 | 524,361 | 3.2% | new 2 seats; minority | Ko Chong-hun | Democratic Socialist Party | |
0 / 276 | 122,778 | 0.7% | new 0 seats; minority | Kim Cheol | Socialist Party | |
| 1985 | 1 / 276 | 288,863 | 1.4% | new 1 seats; minority | Ko Chong-hun | New Politics Socialist Party |
| 1988 | 0 / 299 | 65,650 | 0.3% | new 0 seats; minority | Jeong Tae-yun | Party of the people |
1 / 299 | 251,236 | 1.3% | new 0 seats; minority | Ye Chun-ho | Hankyoreh Democratic Party | |
1 / 299 | 3,267 | 0.0% | new 0 seats; minority | Unificational Socialist Party | ||
| 1992 | 0 / 229 | 319,041 | 1.5% | new 0 seats; minority | Lee U-jae | People's Party |
| 2000 | 0 / 273 | 223,261 | 1.2% | new 0 seats; minority | Kwon Young-ghil | Democratic Labor Party |
0 / 273 | 125,082 | 0.7% | new 0 seats; minority | Choi Hyeok | Youth Progressive Party | |
| 2004 | 10 / 299 | 2,774,061 | 13.0% |  10 seats; minority | Kwon Young-ghil | Democratic Labor Party |
0 / 299 | 47,311 | 0.22% | 0 seats; minority | Won Yong-su | Socialist Party | |
| 2008 | 5 / 299 | 973,445 | 5.68% | 5 seats; minority | Cheon Yeong-se | Democratic Labor Party |
0 / 299 | 504,466 | 2.94% | new 0 seats; minority | Roh Hoe-chan Sim Sang-jung | New Progressive Party | |
0 / 299 | 35,496 | 0.20% | 0 seats; minority | Choi Gwang-Eun | Korea Socialist Party | |
| 2012 | 13 / 300 | 2,198,405 | 10.3% | new 13 seats; minority | Lee Jung-hee | Unified Progressive Party |
0 / 300 | 243,065 | 1.13% | 0 seats; minority | Hong Sehwa An Hyo-sang | New Progressive Party | |
| 2016 | 0 / 300 | 91,705 | 0.38% | 0 seats; minority | Koo Kyo-hyun | Labor Party |
6 / 300 | 1,719,891 | 7.23% | new 6 seats; minority | Sim Sang-jung | Justice Party | |
0 / 300 | 145,624 | 0.61% | 0 seats; minority | Lee Gwang-seok | People's United Party | |
| 2020 | 6 / 300 | 2,697,956 | 9.7% | 6 seats; minority | Sim Sang-jung | Justice Party |
0 / 300 | 295,612 | 1.06% | new 0 seats; minority | Kim Jong-hoon | Minjung Party | |
0 / 300 | 34,272 | 0.12% | 0 seats; minority | Koo Kyo-hyun | Labor Party | |
| 2024 | 0 / 300 | 609,313 | 2.1% | 6 seats; minority | Sim Sang-jung | Green–Justice Party |
0 / 300 | 25,937 | 0.09% | 0 seats; minority | Na Do-won | Labor Party | |
Local elections
| Election | Metropolitan mayor/Governor | Provincial legislature | Municipal mayor | Municipal legislature | Party name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd (2002) | 0 / 16 | 11 / 682 | 2 / 232 | N/A | Democratic Labor Party |
| 4th (2006) | 0 / 16 | 15 / 733 | 0 / 230 | 66 / 2,888 | Democratic Labor Party |
| 5th (2010) | 0 / 16 | 24 / 761 | 3 / 228 | 115 / 2,888 | Democratic Labor Party |
0 / 16 | 3 / 761 | 0 / 228 | 22 / 2,888 | New Progressive Party | |
| 6th (2014) | 0 / 17 | 3 / 789 | 0 / 226 | 34 / 2,898 | Unified Progressive Party |
0 / 17 | 1 / 789 | 0 / 226 | 6 / 2,898 | Labor Party | |
0 / 17 | 0 / 789 | 0 / 226 | 11 / 2,898 | Justice Party | |
| 7th (2018) | 0 / 17 | 0 / 824 | 0 / 226 | 0 / 2,927 | Labor Party |
0 / 17 | 11 / 824 | 0 / 226 | 26 / 2,927 | Justice Party |
See also
- Conservatism in South Korea
- Feminism in South Korea
- Identity politics - One of the main factors in distinguishing between the liberal and progressive camps in South Korea. (Those who support identity politics are classified as progressives.)
- Left-wing nationalism (left-wing)
- Juchesasangpa (far-left)
- Liberalism in South Korea
- LGBT rights in South Korea
- List of political parties in South Korea
- Socialism
- Democratic socialism (left-wing)
- Social democracy (centre-left to left-wing)
- Undongkwon
Notes
- ^ In South Korea, the fundamental "South Korean Left" means Socialism in South Korea, but left-wing (socialist) activities in South Korea rarely exist due to legal restrictions such as the National Security Law and socio-cultural antipathy. Therefore, in South Korea, the "South Korean Left" usually means a broader progressive than a socialist. (The South Korean socialist movement was briefly popular among the Undongkwon camp in the 1980s, but has almost disappeared since the 2010s.) Socialist forces, which are very few in South Korea, including the Labor Party, criticize non-socialist progressives such as the Justice Party and the Progressive Party for not being leftists/progressives.[2][3][4]
- ^ Until the 1970s, socialism (in a narrow sense) was not popular among the leftist democratization movement forces in South Korea, and Rawls-style modern liberalism became more popular. (Until the 1970s, the United States was regarded by South Korean leftists with an image of a guardian of liberal democracy against military dictatorships.)[8]
- ^ In North Korea, this party existed until the 1960s.
References
- ^ 현연, 조. 2019. 한국 진보 정당 운동사. 후마니타스. pp. 134-134, 141-142
- ^ http://socialist.kr/there-is-no-progressive-left/ [bare URL]
- ^ http://socialist.kr/electoral-coalition-is-how-to-survive-for-pseudo-progressive/ [bare URL]
- ^ ""준비된 사회주의 후보, 공약만으로 충분한 지지 얻을 수 있다"" [If you are a prepared socialist candidate, you will gain sufficient support with just a pledge.]. 참세상. September 11, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
정의당이나 진보당의 색깔은 우리와 같지 않다. ... 민주노동당에서 파생된 정의당과 진보당은 사회주의라는 용어를 다 뺐다. 진보를 포기한 거다.
[The color of the Justice Party or the Progressive Party is not the same as ours. ... The Justice Party and the Progressive Party derived from the Democratic Labor Party do not use the term socialism. They are no different from giving up true progressivism.] - ^ 현연, 조. 2019. 한국 진보 정당 운동사. 후마니타스. pp. 198-199, 221-222
- ^ "대통령 권력욕 꺾은 뒤 총선, 진보는 왜 참패했나". Pressian (in Korean). July 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
- ^ "김종인, 광주 찾아 5.18단체들에 '국보위 전력' 직접 사과". Views & News (in Korean). July 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
- ^ Choi Chi-won , eds. (2013). Understanding Social Justice in the History of Idea of Korean Democratization Movement Memory of Words of the Deads & Those Who Have Been Smashed. KCI dissertation.
- ^ a b 강만길 (Kang Man-gil), ed. (1989). 80년대 사회 운동 논쟁: 월간 사회 와 사상 창간 1주년 기념 전권 특별 기획. 한길사.
- ^ "'NL-PD' 해묵은 갈등이 결국 진보당 발목 잡았다". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). June 4, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
- ^ "NL·PD 갈등 30년···PD계열 조국에 음모론도 등장". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). July 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
- ^ Jesús Velasco (July 4, 2019). American Presidential Elections in a Comparative Perspective: The World Is Watching. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 154. ISBN 978-1498557580.
- ^ "신좌파의 진화는 이제 시작된다". Sisa IN (in Korean). January 9, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
- ^ ""조국 비판 전혀 안 한 사람들" ·· 연합정당 동참". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). March 18, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
- ^ a b "노회찬, 심상정, 유시민 통합진보당 탈당: 민노당 전 최고위원, 지방의원, 참여계 당원 3000여명도 '탈당 러시'" [Roh Hoe-chan, Sim Sang-jung, and Yoo Si-min left the Unified Progressive Party: About 3,000 former supreme council members, local councilors, and participating members of the DLP are also leaving the party.]. 프레시안. September 13, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
- ^ Yonhap News Agency, December 19, 2014, [1], "...South Korea's Constitutional Court on Friday ordered the dissolution of a pro-North Korean minor opposition party..."
- ^ "자기 생각 말하는 게 뭐 어때서…'좌효리'에게 박수!" [What's wrong with saying what me think? ... Applause to "Leftist Hyori"!]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). December 31, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
