South Korean Politics and release of ex-president Park Geun-hye

Both candidates are running neck and neck against each other, with PPP earning 43.3% and DPK gaining 41. 8% of support in the election surveys held by Realmeter (Im, 2022).

South Korea is a democratic country, but its people had to fight a protracted war for their democratic rights. Till 1988, South Korea did not have a democratically elected President. It is because South Korea has a history of authoritarian leadership. Before 1988, leaders came into power through military coups and ruled the nation with iron fists. Moreover, South Korea has had a record of bad presidential endings since the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948. Many ex-Presidents were either convicted of corruption and mass murder or were assassinated or forced to commit suicide. For example, in 2017, President Park Geun-hye was impeached on charges of abuse of power and corruption, for which she was sentenced to 22 years in prison with a heavy fine of $17.8 million. On 31 December 2021, she was pardoned by the current President Moon Jae-in due to her poor health conditions.

Political System of South Korea

History

On 15 August 1948, South Korea established a 'democratic' government. However, the country was still far behind in becoming democratic. After the collapse of Japanese colonial rule, South Korea came under the US' influence, promoting democratic tendencies among Koreans. Yet, Korean presidents emerged and were revered as king-like figures, having absolute powers due to deep-rooted Confucian values. For instance, the first republic of South Korea was characterized by authoritarianism and political instability with stagnant economic development. It is because the First President of South Korea, Rhee Syngman, was directly elected by the members of the National Assembly. After coming to power, President Rhee became an authoritarian ruler as he amended the constitution and abolished presidential term limits. Under President Rhee's reign, South Korea saw a war, several massacres, assassinations, corruption, and suppression of civilians' rights. Ultimately, in April 1960, unrest emerged among the Korean populace, and as a result of the 'April Revolution', President Rhee resigned and went to Hawaii in exile.

Authoritarianism did not go away with President Rhee's resignation. In fact, it continued till 1988, except for a few brief breaks. In 1961, General Park Chung-hee came into power through a military coup. His government aimed to improve the economic conditions of South Korea, for which he normalized relations with Japan. President Park Chung-hee's efforts did work, and South Korea achieved a 'Miracle on the Han River'. However, by 1972, he mobilized the military, dissolved parliament, and suspended the constitutional government. He also introduced the Yushin order, which gave dictatorial powers to President Park, such as no-limit on re-elections, and legislative and executive powers. Anti-government sentiments emerged again, resulting in President Park Chung-hee's assassination in October 1979.

With President Park's demise, some people gained high hopes of democratization. However, their hopes were crushed when another General named Chun Doo-hwan became President in 1980 after a military coup. Like previous authoritarian leaders, President Chun Doo-hwan restricted freedom of the press, workers' rights, and maintained power through indirect elections. He also became notorious for the Gwangju Massacre in 1980. At Gwangju, a democratization movement was led by students, demonstrating against martial law and brutal rule while demanding their democratic rights. The movement was violently crushed by President Chun, in which the military killed hundreds. In June 1987, another series of demonstrations emerged that forced the Chun Doo-hwan government to hold elections and implement democratic reforms. As a result, President Chun Doo-hwan stepped down, and South Korea finally saw the collapse of long-authoritarian dictator-based rule.

Hence, South Korea's democracy is hard-earned by its people. It did not come easy as many of them sacrificed their lives for the nations' transition to a democratic regime. In 1987, the country finally elected President Roh Tae-woo through the first democratically-held elections. Since then, the Presidential elections have taken place every five years, and the presidency is limited to only a single non-renewable five year-term. 

Political Parties of South Korea

The constitution of South Korea has adopted liberal democracy that guarantees the people's freedoms and rights. The laws are made at the country's National Assembly, which has 300 fixed members with a four-year term. Also, South Korea follows a pluralistic, democratic, and presidential system, in which the President is selected after every five years directly via popular voting. The two main political parties in South Korea are Democratic Party and People Power Party. The current President Moon Jae-in belongs to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is a centrist- "liberal party with a left tendency". The party promotes having a harmonious relationship with North Korea and has "reservations against the US presence". Most of its supporters compromise the youth generation, who are against the conservatives. The People Power Party (PPP) is the main opposition party of South Korea. It is a right-wing party that follows an anti-communist ideology and conservatism. The PPP is usually loyal to the United States and rough towards North Korea. It is the older generation that tends to follow the PPP party mostly. Other parties in South Korea are Justice Party, People Party, Basic Income Party, Etc.

Release of Park Geun-hye

Park Geun-hye was the first woman to become the President of South Korea in 2013. She was also the daughter of ex-President Park Chung-hee, who ruled the country from 1963 to 1979. She also led the conservative Saenuri (New Frontier) Party, a right-wing conservative party. Unfortunately, she was impeached in 2017 due to corruption and abuse of power and was sentenced to jail for 22 years. Nonetheless, her successor, President Moon Jae-in, has pardoned the ex-president in a special amnesty on 31 December 2021.

President Moon Jae-in has stated that the decision of pardoning Park Geun-hye is related to her health. She has served four years and nine months of her sentence, during which she had to be hospitalized three times due to shoulder and back pain. Even after release from prison, she needs to be hospitalized to recover from shoulder surgery and back pain. Through her release, President Moon wants to "overcome the pain of the past and move forward into the new era" (McCurry, 2021). He also added that this step would promote national unity and help fill the gaps in society.

Although Ex-President Park Geun-hye has advancing age and health issues, "the amnesty decision made by the President is political" (Dr. Bong Young-shik, Yonsei University). Many experts think that her release could have significant implications and influence on the 9 March presidential election. Also, the impeachment and imprisonment of Park Geun-hye left the country divided. While anti-Park groups celebrated their victory, some Park supporters gathered outside the court and protested for Park's release. Thousands of Pro-Park protesters conducted weekly rallies and called for her freedom, fuelling the differences between conservatives and liberals. Thus, President Moon's decision comes at a suitable time when he is about to leave the office with a positive impact on Korean society through his message of 'unity'.

Moreover, ex-President Park Guen-hye is the daughter of General-President Park Chung-hee, who is highly revered by conservatives for driving the economic development of South Korea. She even received the nickname 'princess' and was endured by people. Park Geun-hye was only 22 years old when her mother was shot to death in an attempt to kill President Park Chung-hee. Five years later, in 1979, her father was also assassinated. Thus, many South Koreans from the older generation sympathized with the ex-President and did not want her to be sentenced to prison. For this reason, the current government could not afford to keep her in jail until 2039 (she will be 87 years old), even though pardoning her could make DPK supporters furious. Her health was already worsening, and if something happened to her, the Korean society would have fallen apart, leading to anti-government protests by the conservatives. Such incidents could negatively impact the ruling party in the upcoming presidential elections in March 2022.

Apart from the fear of a societal divide, many experts like Andrew Salmon of Asia Times believe that President Moon Jae-in is preparing for his future if he ever gets imprisoned. As mentioned above, South Korea has seen corrupt presidential legacies.

The table below shows the 'tarnished' presidential records (Fox News, 2018).

 Out of twelve Presidents, nine of them had bad endings, which suggests that Presidents of South Korea tend to find themselves surrounded by allegations and controversies regularly. Also, President Moon Jae-in has earlier pledged not to pardon criminals convicted of corruption. Yet, after the call for Park's pardon by supporters and conservatives, he pardoned his disgraced predecessor ahead of the presidential elections. This may ensure a 'less vindictive' trial for the current President if he gets accused of corruption charges.

Lastly, pardoning predecessors is an 'expected' move. According to The Korea Herald, the ruling party had earlier suggested that he pardon the ex-President, to which he replied, "now is not the time". Now, the politically motivated pardon has come when he is about to leave the office. With Park Geun-hye, he has also pardoned the former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook of a liberal party, who was also charged with Bribery. Earlier, it was reported that the Moon government constantly tried to prove the innocence of the former PM Han, who is also like a "godmother' figure for the liberals. Thus, it can be said that Park's pardon was a trade-off with the exoneration of Han. Moreover, it can also be an act of 'personality-politics', through which President Moon Jae-in is trying to put the PPP candidate Yoon Suk-yeol in an awkward position and divide the PPP supporters ahead of the presidential elections. Yoon Suk-yeol headed the investigation of President Park's scandal in 2016 as a public prosecutor, leading to her imprisonment. Therefore, Park's re-entry may benefit the left-wing more than the right wing by dividing the voters as Pro-Park v. Pro-Yoon since she belonged to a conservative party and was revered by most of South Korea's population.

References

1.       Democracy in South Korea. ?????????. (n.d.). https://www.much.go.kr/en/contents.do?fid=03&cid=03_91

2.     Fox News Network. (2018, 6 April). South Korea's history of bad presidential endings grows. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/world/south-koreas-history-of-bad-presidential-endings-grows

3.      Im, E. byel. (2022, 6 February). Election remains foggy with Lee, Yoon Neck and neck in polls. The Korea Herald. http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=2022020600016  

4.     McCurry, J. (2021, 25 December). Former South Korean president Park Geun-hye pardoned for corruption. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/24/park-geun-hye-to-receive-pardon-for-corruption-as-south-korean-president  

5.     Park Geun Hye: Once South Korea's princess and de facto first lady, now dethroned in disgrace. The Straits Times. (2017, 11 March). https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/park-geun-hye-once-south-koreas-princess-and-de-facto-first-lady-now-dethroned-in  

Pic Courtsey-Daniel Bernard at unsplash.com

(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)