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How South Korea’s Democracy Saved Itself [1]
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Date: 2025-04
South Korea’s mobilization networks have not only empowered grassroots activism but also deeply influenced the growth of the progressive Democratic Party Korea (DP). The DP’s close ties to organizations such as labor unions, student groups, human rights advocates, and professional associations have empowered it to mobilize both electoral and event-based support during critical junctures over the past thirty-plus years. Many prominent progressive leaders in contemporary South Korea—including former presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in—played vital roles in mobilization in the 1980s.
These legacies are often framed as imbuing the contemporary DP with moral authority to root out corruption and government overreach, providing it with a powerful rhetorical strategy that resonates with many South Koreans’ direct lived experience. That said, Seoul’s national track record on civil liberties, particularly when it comes to minority rights, is anemic compared to similar postindustrial societies, and the DP is no stranger to scandals of its own. In fact, the assumed frontrunner for a future presidential election, the populist former governor Lee Jae-myung, has faced legal controversies, including a recent conviction related to election law violations. Many on the right see him as too left-wing or overly friendly toward China and North Korea, which is a central partisan issue driving South Korean politics.
Another organization at the forefront is the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of Asia’s most powerful labor organizations that represents 1.2 million workers across South Korea’s key industries. Instead of fragmented labor movements, umbrella organizations such as the KCTU create cross-sector incentives for coordinated action, amplifying organized labor’s leverage. Within hours of Yoon’s announcement, the KCTU called for a general strike—a move that, pending the member unions’ decisions, will threaten production at many of the nation’s most vital industries, as well as critical public services such as healthcare and transportation. The KCTU’s mobilization carries particular weight with the pro-business Yoon administration, given South Korea’s position as the world’s twelfth-largest economy and a crucial link in global supply chains, especially for semiconductors and electronics. The KCTU’s strike threat will put tangible economic pressure on the leadership, and combined with nationwide mobilization by citizens and student groups, it demonstrates how deeply democratic values have become embedded in South Korean political culture.
Conservative leaders now have to choose between democratic principles and party loyalty. Yoon’s domestic authority appears severely compromised, with his administration paralyzed by historically low approval ratings and significant internal party divisions. The DP has escalated efforts for redress, although its impeachment motion failed on Saturday due to a walkout by members of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) that blocked the two-thirds majority required for passage. The DP has since advanced a bill to appoint a permanent special counsel to investigate Yoon’s martial law declaration. The DP is likely to pressure the PPP to hold its president accountable, keeping the political crisis at the forefront of national debate.
The unfolding crisis is not just a test of Yoon’s political future or the future of the PPP, but also a critical moment for South Korea’s democracy. Last week’s events demonstrate the maturity of the country’s democracy, largely thanks to a robust demand for protecting democratic practices and for accountability at the highest levels of power. The proliferation of investigations and special counsel bills also expose deep political and institutional fault lines and could have the consequence—whether unintended or part of a DP political gambit—of miring South Korean politics in the very deadlock and polarization that Yoon stated he sought to circumvent or curtail.
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[1] Url:
https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2024/12/south-korea-democracy-yoon-protests?lang=en
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