Being a left-winger in South Korea has always been difficult, according to former shop employee and labor advocate Yoon Jong-oh.
The rulers in cost for most of the first four years after the Republic of Korea gained independence in 1948 saw communists under every sleep and, especially, did not like workers organizers one little – much less give them a say in regional politics.
The” 386 generation” of rebels from Yoon’s generation, who were born in the 1960s and started organizing and protesting for democracy in the 1980s before turning 30.
Their political union began to elude liberals as they came into power. But, despite the passage of years, some people failed to forgive and forget extreme behavior– including some , dalliances with North Korea , – that 386ers and their sympathizers tried to dismiss as young indiscretions.
The Asian left is also facing popular distrust and a fresh wind of misery is blowing in halfway through the next decade of the 21st century as a result of an attempt at the top of the major opposition Democratic party, which had self-identified as centrist but diverse, to remove and stand out from determined progressives like Yoon.
Representative Lee Jae-myung, the party’s leader, is moving to the right as a possible “political display to court confused voters” is drawing near as a possibility of a snap election.
Moving to the’ center-right’
On February 19, Lee said that the Democratic Party is” no progressive” and made an appearance on a pro-Democratic Party YouTube channel. We actually hold a place that is” about center-right.” The liberal station needs to be just established”, Lee added.
Lee’s abrupt move to the right has drawn criticism from all over the hallway.
Shin Dong-wook, a mature director for the decision People’s Power Party, blasted Lee’s statement, calling it an “impersonation of conservatism.” According to Shin, Lee is shedding” reptile tears” to appeal to confused citizens, as Lee’s scores become “boxed in” to the traditionally liberal demographic.
Despite Lee’s immediate remarks, some Democratic Party members have expressed concerns that their party’s identity might become less identifiable.
Lee In-young, the DP’s five-term top senator, said,” The DP is not the PPP.” ” I have read the party mandate and manifesto several times, and I still do not know which part to visit conservative. The DP is a compilation of the social struggle to advance democratic norms.
The ruling PPP is viewed as conservative while the DP is generally viewed as a liberal force in South Korea’s two-party social circle. Yet, some experts argue that the DP may truly be labeled democratic and that South Korea’s social spectrum has frequently shifted to the right.
Yoon Tae-ryong, an honorary professor at Konkuk University and without any affiliation to Yoon Jong-oh, wrote in a column published in local media that” South Korea’s entire political spectrum has shifted unnaturally to the right as conflict on the Korean Peninsula has persisted for 76 years. Instead of a conflict between the conservative and far-right forces, the party politics of today is one between the far-right and the progressives.
Ji Byung-geun, a political science professor at Chosun University, made similar observations. The DP is not a true progressive party, Ji told Asia Times.” If you look at the traditional standards that we use to determine which party is progressive, it is not one.”
They “made policy choices that are traditionally progressive parties unthinkable,” Ji continued, citing former President Kim Dae-jung’s decision to support the International Monetary Fund’s structural reform initiatives and former President Roh Moo-hyun’s decision to participate in the Gulf War. The DP, he said, “moves within the range of center-left to center-right”.
Historical barriers to progressivism
From the end of World War II through the majority of the rest of the 20th century, crackdowns on leaders and a focus on economic development were a source of resistance, as Professor Ji points out.
Although the first truly progressive party earned parliamentary seats in 2004, the number of progressive seats has significantly dwindled since then, Ji noted.
Representative Yoon Jong-oh, one of the far-lefters in the National Assembly, is the leader of the minor opposition Progressive Party. He was a labor organizer before moving to the United States. He claimed that the political climate in the country has historically provided” a challenging environment for left-leaning parties.”
After a hard-scrabble youth, Yoon entered local politics in 1998 in industrial Ulsan. He supported progressive policies and agendas, including universal healthcare, universal school meals, and a wealth tax scheme, despite not having any affiliation with a party at the time.
Yoon, 61, stated in an interview that” these]policy requests were regarded as radically progressive” back then. ” However, they are very much universal”.
The former labor activist recalls oppressive experiences in South Korea’s pre-democratization society. We worked nonstop for a local automaker when I was there. Our breaks were 30 minutes. On Saturdays, we worked. Low wages were displayed.
Yoon asserts that the developmental dictatorship of South Korea produced a society where national development and interests predominated over individual rights and happiness. It was taboo to go against the government’s developmental drive and advocate for labor rights.
Threat from North Korea
According to Ji, the professor, the relative ideological proximity of the progressive parties to the socialist regime in North Korea serves as a political vulnerability, making them easy targets for crackdowns under the National Security Act.
Indeed, Yoon points to South Korea’s authoritarian past and the ongoing Threat from North Korea as limiting the expansion of progressive politics.
He claimed that in the past, South Korea “lacked the perception of individual rights,” because the ruling party put the country first on the basis of wealth. The National Security Act was a tool for denying these rights.
Signed in 1948, the National Security Act sought to eradicate pro-North Korean and anti-state forces. However, historical accounts demonstrate how authoritarian governments abuse them to thwart political opposition and thwart democratization movements.
Right-leaning governments still use the “pro-North Korea frame” to impede progressive parties, Yoon contends.
” Think about President Yoon Suk Yeol’s most recent martial law decree”, said Representative Yoon. ( These two Yoons are not related either. ) The conservative president “labeled all those who oppose him and those who support workers ‘ rights as pro-North Korean forces.” The president’s administration “oppresses labor movements and civic groups to prolong its grip on power”.
This is not unique to the recently impeached government, according to the progressive politician.
All conservative regimes persecuted civil society and stifled the progressive movement, putting them under a pro-North Korean frame, even President Yoon Suk Yeol is more blunt. That is how they disbanded the Unified Progressive Party”, Representative Yoon added.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court disbanded The Unified Progressive Party in 2014 under the National Security Act for allegedly “holding a hidden purpose of realizing North Korean-style socialism.” Lee Seok-ki, a UPP lawmaker, was accused by the National Intelligence Service of planning a pro-North Korean rebellion, and he was given a prison term.
Yoon is a veteran of the military in a nation where military service is still required. Having reached the rank of sergeant as a combat intelligence specialist in an airborne special forces brigade, he dares anyone to impugn his loyalty to the country.
Before the UPP was disbanded and lost, he ran for local office under the UPP. He was the only minor left-wing candidate to win a seat in South Korea’s 2024 Legislative Elections while representing the successor party, the Progressive Party.
Professor Ji argues that institutional constraints systematically disadvantage progressive parties from winning legislative and presidential elections.
The electoral system in South Korea is a “winner-takes-all system.” Such a system favors two-party politics and impedes ideological diversity across the aisle”, the academic said. It is a system that doesn’t properly represent the populace.
South Korea uses a system that combines constituency-based representation with proportional representation. While the system was inaugurated in 2020 with the intention of ensuring fair representation to minor parties, it ultimately backfired. Minor parties were further marginalizing minor parties as they swept constituency seats and established satellite parties to secure the most proportional seats.
A brighter future for progressivism?
Lawmaker Yoon believes a runoff electoral system would help the South Korean legislature better reflect the public’s ideological distribution.
” South Korea employs over 20 million people and employs 1 million farmers. However, he claimed that the majority of lawmakers are former lawyers, professors, journalists, and executives of major conglomerates.
” We have to change the electoral system, but the established power is clenching onto the existing system, and not letting go”, he added. For the development of progressive parties in South Korea, institutional improvements are essential.
The lawmaker maintains hope despite these setbacks.
” South Korea’s political soil was unfavorable for the seeds of progressivism to grow. I have persevered, and I’ve now reached the point where I can say what he said. I’ll make an ongoing appeal to the people, stand with them, and work to improve their means of income. ”  ,
The DP’s shift to the right and the political turmoil brought on by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law decree offer opportunities for leverage, according to Yoon and other progressives.
We, the Progressive Party, can become a strong leftist stronghold that fights for the rights of ordinary people and hardworking laborers, Yoon said.
” People today need a force that stands up to the far-right hardcore conservatives. We can act like that force, the lawmaker continued.
Professor Ji has more skepticism.
” I think the DP’s decisions to position itself center-right and abandon the left was very strategic. They think the progressive bloc has a bad future, he said.