South Koreas Democracy in Crisis

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 201617 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 miss: 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 Koreas progressives and conservatives only deepen with the next administration? The contributors to this volume trace the sources of illiberalism in todays 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 countrys democratic decline; andconsider how illiberalism has affected Koreas foreign policy.