Progressivism in South Korea

Progressivism (Korean: 진보주의; Hanja: 進步主義; RR: Jinbojuui) in South Korea is broadly associated with social democracy, cultural progressivism and left-wing nationalism.^[1] South Korea's "progressivism" is often used in a similar sense to 'South Korean Left' or 'leftist'.^{[note 1]}

Historically, there have been communist forces, but most of them have been powerless in contemporary South Korean politics.^[5]

Domestically, they advocated the break-up of the large industrial conglomerates known as chaebols and voiced support for trade unions. They also advocated the withdrawal of US troops stationed on the peninsula.

History

Hyukshinkye

South Korea's early left-wing forces were mainly divided into 'communist' and 'non-communist'.

At that time, South Korean non-communist leftists were mainly called Hyukshinkye (Korean: 혁신계; Hanja: 革新系; lit. Innovation-faction). At that time, it was politically repressed by both centre-right liberals and conservatives.^{[citation needed]} In particular, the Korean War led to a significant weakening, as some of the Hyukshinkye were also driven to communism.^{[citation needed]} After the forced dissolution of the Progressive Party led by Cho Bong-am in 1958, it virtually collapsed.^[6]

Progressive parties, including the United Socialist Party led by Kim Chul, continued the tradition of Hyukshinkye, but its power was minimal, and since the 1980s, Hyukshinkye's tradition has been completely cut off from power as Kim Chul and other key figures have shifted to pro-military conservative stances.^[7]

PD and NL

The United States remained silent about the Gwangju uprising by the military dictatorship in the 1980s, and backed the Chun Doo-hwan government. This served as an opportunity for some of the democratization movement forces in South Korea to develop anti-American sentiment.^{[note 2]} As a result, some of South Korea's moderate liberal pro-democratization activists gradually accepted socialism and became more left-wing. During this period, the left-wing movement in South Korea was largely divided into Minjungminju-wing (Korean: 민중민주파; lit. People's Democracy-faction, PD) and Minjokhaebang-wing (Korean: 민족해방파; lit. National Liberation-faction, NL). After the collapse of the Cold War in the 1990s, they moderated their tendencies than in the past to form a political party named Democratic Force.^[9]

PD was a Western-style leftist party, influenced by American liberalism and social democracy, while NL was a left-wing nationalist party that mixes ethnic nationalism, reunificationism and social progressivism. PD and NL are political terms that refer to the two pillars of South Korea's progressive camp and are still frequently used today. As of now, the representative PD-affiliated progressive party is the Justice Party, and the representative NL-affiliated progressive party is the Progressive Party.^{[10][11][12][9]}

Shinjwapa

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the New Left movement in Europe and the United States and postmodernist discourse became known, creating a Shinjwapa (Korean: 신좌파; Hanja: 新左派; lit. New Left faction) in South Korea. They advocate youth rights, LGBT rights and feminism. Currently, South Korea's representative Shinjwapa parties include the Green Party and Basic Income Party.^[13][14]

Progressive parties

Gujwapa (Old Left)

Communist or far-left socialist

• Workers' Party of South Korea (1946–1949; banned)
• Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front → National Democratic Front of South Korea → Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front (1969–; banned)
• Socialist Revolutionary Workers' Party → Labor Party (2016–2022; unregistered; merged)
• People's Democracy Party (2016–)

Hyukshinkye (Innovation-faction)

• Preparatory Committee for National Construction → People's Party of Korea → People's Labor Party (1945–1950)
• Socialist Party (1951–1953)
• Progressive Party (1956–1958; banned)
• United Socialist Party of Korea (1961–1967; banned 1961–1966)

Minjungminju (PD)

• The People's Party (1990–1992)
• People's Victory 21 → Democratic Labor Party (1997–2011)
• Youth Progressive Party → Socialist Party → Hope Socialist Party → Korea Socialist Party → Socialist Party (1998–2012)
• New Progressive Party (2008–2012)
• Unified Progressive Party (2011–2012)^[15]
• Progressive Justice Party → Justice Party (2012–) - However, there are a few Minjokhaebang and Shinjwapa factions in the Justice Party.
• Labor Party (2013–)
• Socialist Revolutionary Workers' Party → Labor Party (2016–2022; unregistered; merged)

Minjokhaebang (NL)

• People's Victory 21 → Democratic Labor Party (1997–2011)
• Unified Progressive Party (2011–2014; banned)^[16]
• People's United Party (2016–2017)
• New People's Party (2017)
• Minjung Party → Progressive Party (2017–)

Shinjwapa (New Left)

• Green Social Democrats (2004)
  • Green Peace Party (2002–2004)
  • Social Democratic Party of Korea (2002–2004)
• Green Party Korea (2012–)
• Future Party (2017–)
• Basic Income Party (2020-)
  • New Progressive Alliance (2024)
• Social Democratic Party (2024)

Progressive-liberal

• Democratic Independent Party (1947–1948)^{[note 3]}
• Progressive Party (1956–1958)
• People's Party (1988)
• Hankyoreh Democratic Party (1988–1991)
• Popular Party (1989–1992)
• Participation Party (2010–2011)
• Unified Progressive Party (2011–2012, factions)^[15]
• Youth Party (2012)
• Justice Party (2012–)

• Peace and Justice (2018)

• Future Party (2017–)
• Basic Income Party (2020–)
• Let's Go! Environmental Party (2020–)
• Democratic Alliance of Korea (2024–; satellite of the liberal DPK, the NPA and the Progressive Party)

Progressive media

• OhmyNews - liberal-leaning bias
• Pressian - progressive
• Voice of the People - progressive, resistance nationalism
• Yeoseong Shinmun - feminism

Progressive personalities

• Bong Joon-ho
• Ha-Joon Chang
• Han Sang-gyun [ko]
• Hong Sehwa
• Hong Seok-cheon
• Jang Hye-young
• Jeon Tae-il
• Kim Yeo-jin
• Kwon In-sook
• Lim Su-kyung
• Lee Hyori^[17]
• Lim ji-hyeon [ko]
• Lee Yeong-hui [ko]
• Lyuh Woon-hyung
• Moon Ik-hwan
• Park Chan-wook
• Rhyu Si-min
• Roh Hoe-chan
• Roh Su-hui
• Ryu Ho-jeong
• Pak Noja
• Shin Hae-chul
• Sim Sang-jung
• Yun Hyon-seok

Major progressive parties election results of South Korea

Presidential elections

Election	Candidate	Total votes	Share of votes	Outcome	Party name
1952	Cho Pong-am	797,504	11.4%	Defeated N	Independent
1956	Cho Pong-am	2,163,808	30.0%	Defeated N	Independent
1987	Baik Ki-wan	Quit midway through			Independent
1992	Baik Ki-wan	238,648	1.0%	Defeated N	Independent
1997	Kwon Young-ghil	306,026	1.2%	Defeated N	People's Victory 21
2002	Kwon Young-ghil	957,148	3.9%	Defeated N	Democratic Labor Party
2007	Kwon Young-ghil	712,121	3.0%	Defeated N	Democratic Labor Party
	Geum Min	18,223	0.07%	Defeated N	Korea Socialist Party
2012	Lee Jung-hee	Quit midway through			Unified Progressive Party
	Kim So-yeon	16,687	0.05%	Defeated N	Independent
	Kim Soon-ja	46,017	0.15%	Defeated N	Independent
2017	Sim Sang-jung	2,017,458	6.17%	Defeated N	Justice Party
	Kim Sun-dong	27,229	0.08%	Defeated N	People's United Party
2022	Sim Sang-jung	803,358	2.38%	Defeated N	Justice Party
	Kim Jae-yeon	37,366	0.11%	Defeated N	Progressive Party
	Oh Jun-ho	18,105	0.05%	Defeated N	Basic Income Party
	Lee Baek-yun	9,176	0.03%	Defeated N	Labor Party

Legislative elections

Election	Total seats	Total votes	Share of votes	Outcome	Election leader	Party name
1950	2 / 210	89,413	1.3%	new 2 seats; minority	Jo So-ang	Socialist Party
1960	4 / 233	541,021	6.0%	new 4 seats; minority	Seo Sang-il	Social Mass Party
	1 / 233	57,965	0.6%	new 1 seats; minority	Jeon Jin-han	Korea Socialist Party
1967	1 / 175	249,561	2.3%	new 1 seats; minority	Seo Min-ho	Mass Party
	0 / 175	104,975	1.0%	new 0 seats; minority	Kim Cheol	Unified Socialist Party
1971	0 / 204	59,359	0.5%	1 seats; minority	Ri Mong	Mass Party
	0 / 204	97,398	0.9%	0 seats; minority	Kim Cheol	Unified Socialist Party
1981	0 / 276	676,921	4.2%	new 2 seats; minority		New Politics Party
	2 / 276	524,361	3.2%	new 2 seats; minority	Ko Chong-hun	Democratic Socialist Party
	0 / 276	122,778	0.7%	new 0 seats; minority	Kim Cheol	Socialist Party
1985	1 / 276	288,863	1.4%	new 1 seats; minority	Ko Chong-hun	New Politics Socialist Party
1988	0 / 299	65,650	0.3%	new 0 seats; minority	Jeong Tae-yun	Party of the people
	1 / 299	251,236	1.3%	new 0 seats; minority	Ye Chun-ho	Hankyoreh Democratic Party
	1 / 299	3,267	0.0%	new 0 seats; minority		Unificational Socialist Party
1992	0 / 229	319,041	1.5%	new 0 seats; minority	Lee U-jae	People's Party
2000	0 / 273	223,261	1.2%	new 0 seats; minority	Kwon Young-ghil	Democratic Labor Party
	0 / 273	125,082	0.7%	new 0 seats; minority	Choi Hyeok	Youth Progressive Party
2004	10 / 299	2,774,061	13.0%	10 seats; minority	Kwon Young-ghil	Democratic Labor Party
	0 / 299	47,311	0.22%	0 seats; minority	Won Yong-su	Socialist Party
2008	5 / 299	973,445	5.68%	5 seats; minority	Cheon Yeong-se	Democratic Labor Party
	0 / 299	504,466	2.94%	new 0 seats; minority	Roh Hoe-chan Sim Sang-jung	New Progressive Party
	0 / 299	35,496	0.20%	0 seats; minority	Choi Gwang-Eun	Korea Socialist Party
2012	13 / 300	2,198,405	10.3%	new 13 seats; minority	Lee Jung-hee	Unified Progressive Party
	0 / 300	243,065	1.13%	0 seats; minority	Hong Sehwa An Hyo-sang	New Progressive Party
2016	0 / 300	91,705	0.38%	0 seats; minority	Koo Kyo-hyun	Labor Party
	6 / 300	1,719,891	7.23%	new 6 seats; minority	Sim Sang-jung	Justice Party
	0 / 300	145,624	0.61%	0 seats; minority	Lee Gwang-seok	People's United Party
2020	6 / 300	2,697,956	9.7%	6 seats; minority	Sim Sang-jung	Justice Party
	0 / 300	295,612	1.06%	new 0 seats; minority	Kim Jong-hoon	Minjung Party
	0 / 300	34,272	0.12%	0 seats; minority	Koo Kyo-hyun	Labor Party
2024	0 / 300	609,313	2.1%	6 seats; minority	Sim Sang-jung	Green–Justice Party
	0 / 300	25,937	0.09%	0 seats; minority	Na Do-won	Labor Party

Local elections

Election	Metropolitan mayor/Governor	Provincial legislature	Municipal mayor	Municipal legislature	Party name
3rd (2002)	0 / 16	11 / 682	2 / 232	N/A	Democratic Labor Party
4th (2006)	0 / 16	15 / 733	0 / 230	66 / 2,888	Democratic Labor Party
5th (2010)	0 / 16	24 / 761	3 / 228	115 / 2,888	Democratic Labor Party
	0 / 16	3 / 761	0 / 228	22 / 2,888	New Progressive Party
6th (2014)	0 / 17	3 / 789	0 / 226	34 / 2,898	Unified Progressive Party
	0 / 17	1 / 789	0 / 226	6 / 2,898	Labor Party
	0 / 17	0 / 789	0 / 226	11 / 2,898	Justice Party
7th (2018)	0 / 17	0 / 824	0 / 226	0 / 2,927	Labor Party
	0 / 17	11 / 824	0 / 226	26 / 2,927	Justice Party

See also

• Conservatism in South Korea
• Feminism in South Korea
• Hanchongnyon
• Handaeryeon
• Identity politics – One of the main factors in distinguishing between the liberal and progressive camps in South Korea. (Those who support identity politics are classified as progressives.)
• Left-wing nationalism in South Korea
  • Juchesasangpa (far-left)
  • South Korean Socialist Workers' Alliance
• Liberalism in South Korea
  • Progressive-liberalism
• LGBT rights in South Korea
• List of political parties in South Korea
• Socialism
  • Democratic socialism (left-wing)
  • Social democracy (centre-left to left-wing)
• Undongkwon

Notes

1. In South Korea, the fundamental "South Korean Left" means Socialism in South Korea, but left-wing (socialist) activities in South Korea rarely exist due to legal restrictions such as the National Security Law and socio-cultural antipathy. Therefore, in South Korea, the "South Korean Left" usually means a broader progressive than a socialist. (The South Korean socialist movement was briefly popular among the Undongkwon camp in the 1980s, but has almost disappeared since the 2010s.) Socialist forces, which are very few in South Korea, including the Labor Party, criticize non-socialist progressives such as the Justice Party and the Progressive Party for not being leftists/progressives.^[2][3][4]
2. Until the 1970s, socialism (in a narrow sense) was not popular among the leftist democratization movement forces in South Korea, and Rawls-style modern liberalism became more popular. (Until the 1970s, the United States was regarded by South Korean leftists with an image of a guardian of liberal democracy against military dictatorships.)^[8]
3. In North Korea, this party existed until the 1960s.

References

1. 현연, 조. 2019. 한국 진보 정당 운동사. 후마니타스. pp. 134-134, 141-142
2. http://socialist.kr/there-is-no-progressive-left/ ^{[bare URL]}
3. http://socialist.kr/electoral-coalition-is-how-to-survive-for-pseudo-progressive/ ^{[bare URL]}
4. ""준비된 사회주의 후보, 공약만으로 충분한 지지 얻을 수 있다"" [If you are a prepared socialist candidate, you will gain sufficient support with just a pledge.]. 참세상. September 11, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021. 정의당이나 진보당의 색깔은 우리와 같지 않다. ... 민주노동당에서 파생된 정의당과 진보당은 사회주의라는 용어를 다 뺐다. 진보를 포기한 거다. [The color of the Justice Party or the Progressive Party is not the same as ours. ... The Justice Party and the Progressive Party derived from the Democratic Labor Party do not use the term socialism. They are no different from giving up true progressivism.]
5. 현연, 조. 2019. 한국 진보 정당 운동사. 후마니타스. pp. 198-199, 221-222
6. "대통령 권력욕 꺾은 뒤 총선, 진보는 왜 참패했나". Pressian (in Korean). July 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
7. "김종인, 광주 찾아 5.18단체들에 '국보위 전력' 직접 사과". Views & News (in Korean). July 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
8. Choi Chi-won , eds. (2013). Understanding Social Justice in the History of Idea of Korean Democratization Movement Memory of Words of the Deads & Those Who Have Been Smashed. KCI dissertation.
9. 강만길 (Kang Man-gil), ed. (1989). 80년대 사회 운동 논쟁: 월간 사회 와 사상 창간 1주년 기념 전권 특별 기획. 한길사.
10. "'NL-PD' 해묵은 갈등이 결국 진보당 발목 잡았다". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). June 4, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
11. "NL·PD 갈등 30년···PD계열 조국에 음모론도 등장". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). July 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
12. Jesús Velasco (July 4, 2019). American Presidential Elections in a Comparative Perspective: The World Is Watching. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 154. ISBN 978-1498557580.
13. "신좌파의 진화는 이제 시작된다". Sisa IN (in Korean). January 9, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
14. ""조국 비판 전혀 안 한 사람들" ·· 연합정당 동참". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). March 18, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
15. "노회찬, 심상정, 유시민 통합진보당 탈당: 민노당 전 최고위원, 지방의원, 참여계 당원 3000여명도 '탈당 러시'" [Roh Hoe-chan, Sim Sang-jung, and Yoo Si-min left the Unified Progressive Party: About 3,000 former supreme council members, local councilors, and participating members of the DLP are also leaving the party.]. 프레시안. September 13, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
16. Yonhap News Agency, December 19, 2014, , "...South Korea's Constitutional Court on Friday ordered the dissolution of a pro-North Korean minor opposition party..."
17. "자기 생각 말하는 게 뭐 어때서…'좌효리'에게 박수!" [What's wrong with saying what me think? ... Applause to "Leftist Hyori"!]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). December 31, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2021.