Progressivism in South Korea

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]

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Progressivism in South Korea
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Historically, there have been communist forces, but most of them have been powerless in South Korean politics.[5]

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 liberal and far-right ultra-conservatives. In particular, the Korean War led to a significant weakening as some of the Hyukshinkye were also driven to communism. After the forced dissolution of the Progressive Party led by Cho Bong-am in 1958, it virtually collapsed politically.[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 massacres in Gwangju by new-military coup forces 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, social democracy and Soviet communism, while NL was a left-wing nationalist party that mixed South Korean indigenous ideas, radical 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 Minjung 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]

Socialism in South Korea

South Korea's 'legitimate' socialist movement is considered part of South Korean progressivism. But not all progressives are socialists, so the two need to be distinguished.

Progressive parties

Communist or far-left socialist

Hyukshinkye (Innovation-faction)

Minjungminju (PD)

Minjokhaebang (NL)

Shinjwapa (New Left)

Progressive-liberal

Progressive media

Progressive personalities

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 Red XN Independent
1956 Cho Pong-am 2,163,808 30.0% Defeated Red XN Independent
1987 Baik Ki-wan Quit midway through Independent
1992 Baik Ki-wan 238,648 1.0% Defeated Red XN Independent
1997 Kwon Young-ghil 306,026 1.2% Defeated Red XN People's Victory 21
2002 Kwon Young-ghil 957,148 3.9% Defeated Red XN Democratic Labor Party
2007 Kwon Young-ghil 712,121 3.0% Defeated Red XN Democratic Labor Party
Geum Min 18,223 0.07% Defeated Red XN Korea Socialist Party
2012 Lee Jung-hee Quit midway through Unified Progressive Party
Kim So-yeon 16,687 0.05% Defeated Red XN Independent
Kim Soon-ja 46,017 0.15% Defeated Red XN Independent
2017 Sim Sang-jung 2,017,458 6.17% Defeated Red XN Justice Party
Kim Sun-dong 27,229 0.08% Defeated Red XN People's United Party

Legislative elections
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% Decrease 1 seats; minority Ri Mong Mass Party
0 / 204
 97,398 0.9% Steady 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% Increase 10 seats; minority Kwon Young-ghil Democratic Labor Party
0 / 299
 47,311 0.22% Steady 0 seats; minority Won Yong-su Socialist Party
2008
5 / 299
 973,445 5.68% Decrease 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% Steady 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% Steady 0 seats; minority Hong Sehwa
An Hyo-sang		 New Progressive Party
2016
0 / 300
 91,705 0.38% Steady 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% Steady 0 seats; minority Lee Gwang-seok People's United Party
2020
6 / 300
 2,697,956 9.7% Steady 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% Steady 0 seats; minority Koo Kyo-hyun 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

Notes
  1. 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]
  2. 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 far-right military dictatorships.)[8]
  3. In North Korea, this party existed until the 1960s.

References
  1. 현연, 조. 2019. 한국 진보 정당 운동사. 후마니타스. pp. 134-134, 141-142
  2. http://socialist.kr/there-is-no-progressive-left/
  3. http://socialist.kr/electoral-coalition-is-how-to-survive-for-pseudo-progressive/
  4. ""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.]
  5. 현연, 조. 2019. 한국 진보 정당 운동사. 후마니타스. pp. 198-199, 221-222
  6. "대통령 권력욕 꺾은 뒤 총선, 진보는 왜 참패했나". Pressian (in Korean). July 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  7. "김종인, 광주 찾아 5.18단체들에 '국보위 전력' 직접 사과". Views & News (in Korean). July 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  8. 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.
  9. 강만길 (Kang Man-gil), ed. (1989). 80년대 사회 운동 논쟁: 월간 사회 와 사상 창간 1주년 기념 전권 특별 기획. 한길사.
  10. "'NL-PD' 해묵은 갈등이 결국 진보당 발목 잡았다". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). June 4, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  11. "NL·PD 갈등 30년···PD계열 조국에 음모론도 등장". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). July 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  12. Jesús Velasco (July 4, 2019). American Presidential Elections in a Comparative Perspective: The World Is Watching. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 154. ISBN 978-1498557580.
  13. "신좌파의 진화는 이제 시작된다". Sisa IN (in Korean). January 9, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  14. ""조국 비판 전혀 안 한 사람들" ·· 연합정당 동참". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). March 18, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  15. "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.
  16. Yonhap News Agency, December 19, 2014, , "...South Korea's Constitutional Court on Friday ordered the dissolution of a pro-North Korean minor opposition party..."
  17. "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.
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