POLITICAL CHANGE IN SOUTH KOREA
Ilpyong J. Kim and Young Whan Kihl, eds.
New York: Korean PWPA, 1988
263 pp., $17.95
Periodically in a nation's life, a moment arrives when the country stands at a historic crossroads to determine its future. Such a moment occurred in South Korea during 1986-88, when the Korean government and people elected to pursue a democratic political system despite a tradition of authoritarianism and unwillingness to compromise. Political Change in South Korea explores the background to this political crisis, examines the role played by major personalities and political institutions, and considers the impact of the crisis on the future of Korean politics.
An edited volume of several contributors, most of its chapters are revised papers presented in a 1986 scholarly conference on political change in South Korea sponsored by THE WORLD& I and Professors World Peace Academy, Inc. A few chapters were subsequently added to reflect developments from fall 1986 through spring 1988.
In a well-written overview surveying political challenges facing South Korea since the establishment of the Republic of Korea (ROK) on August 15, 1948, Kihl Young Whan argues that "Korea is a country in search of a new and stable political order." After reviewing the sometimes violent history of the First through Fifth republics (1948-1987), Kihl notes that for the first time in South Korea's history, a peaceful transition of power was made between outgoing President Chun Doo Hwan and newly elected Roh Tae Woo as a result of free elections held on December 16, 1987.
Kihl clearly identifies the most important political dynamics at work in South Korea during the crucial 1986-87 period, as well as the principal actors. These included, of course, President Chun; Roh Tae Woo, Chun's chosen successor and head of the ruling Democratic Justice Party; opposition leader Kim Dae Jung, head of the Party for Peace and Democracy; opposition leader Kim Young Sam, head of the Reunification Democratic Party; and former Prime Minister Kim Jong Pil, head of the New Democratic Republican Party.
In the December 16 election, Roh emerged as the winner with a plurality of 36.6 percent of the vote. Kim Young Sam and Kim Dae Jung won 28 percent and 27 percent respectively, and Kim Jong Pil received 8.1 percent of the vote. According to most analysts, Roh won the election because the opposition could not unify behind a single party or presidential candidate. Thus, despite the fact the opposition was able to pressure the government into accepting direct elections for the president, an opposition candidate did not win as expected. Because of the inability of any single party to win a clear majority, Kihl predicts that "South Korea's search for a new political order will not end."
In his chapter on constitutional changes from the First to Sixth republics, Gregory Henderson outlines South Korea's frustrating search for a viable constitutional democracy. The problem, according to Henderson, has been the difficulty of reaching compromise between two firmly held points of view: the desire for security and social stability, emphasized by the military, and the desire for freedom and national unification, held most
...
Read Full Article
|
