Has South Korea accomplished democratic consolidation since the Constitution was revised in 1987? Whereas political freedom has improved, the NSL is generally pointed out as the main obstacle to full freedom but it is not the only one to guarantee respect for human rights. Since full respect for human rights is not guaranteed, democratic consolidation has not been achieved. This book analyzes the issue based on the state of human rights that are an important part of democracy. The starting points are the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1987 South Korean Constitution and the 2001 National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Act which are empirically tested. Definitions of democratic consolidation are applied. The study first investiga- tes legislation and human rights institutions, including the National Security Law (NSL), the Con-stitutional Court, the NHRC, adherence to international human rights law and the Universal Periodic Review. Then the impact of inter-Korean relations on human rights are reviewed based on the NSL, dispatches of leaflets across the border and conscientious objectors. Finally, freedom of expression, assembly and association, including the state of sexual minorities, trials of ex-presidents, death penalty, human trafficking and torture are studied.

A review of the dilemmas, tensions and contradictions arising from democratic consolidation in South Korea. It explores the turbulent features of Korean democracy in its first decade, assesses the progress that has been made, and identifies the key obstacles to effective democratic governance.

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Conceptually innovative, up-to-date and timely, the new edition of this successful text examines Korea as one of the most dramatic cases in the world of ordinary citizens participating in the transformation of politics.

The sweeping changes that have taken place in South Korea¿s governing institutions since the adoption of a new constitution in 1987 have affected and even transformed many aspects of Korean society. Dae-Kyu Yoon adopts a legal perspective to explore the trajectory of the country¿s democratic consolidation. Ranging from processes to structures to issues of social justice, he sheds important light on the role of law in democratic development.

What role did civil society play in Korea's recent democratization? How does the Korean case compare with cases from other regions of the world? What is the current status of Korean democratic consolidation? What are the prospects for Korean democracy?In December 1997, for the first time in the history of South Korea (hereafter Korea), an opposition candidate was elected to the presidency. Korea became the first new democracy in Asia where a horizontal transfer of power occurred through the electoral process. Sunhyuk Kim's study of democratization in Korea argues that the momentum for political change in Korea has consistently emanated from oppositional civil society rather than from the state. He develops a civil society paradigm and utilizes Korea's three authoritarian breakdowns (only two of which resulted in democratic transitions) to illustrate the past and present influences of Korean civil society groups on authoritarian breakdowns, democratic transitions, and post-transition democratic consolidations. One of the first systematic attempts to apply a civil society framework to a democratizing country in East Asia, The Politics of Democratization in Korea will be of use to political scientists and advanced undergraduate and graduate students working in comparative politics, political theory, East Asian politics, and the politics of democratization.

This book analyses democratization and democracy in South Korea since 1960. The book starts with an analysis of the distinctive characteristics of bureaucratic authoritarianism and how democratic transition had been possible after inconclusive and protracted “tug of war” between authoritarian regime and democratic opposition. It then goes on to explore what the opportunities and constraints to the new democracy are to be a consolidated democracy, how new democracy had changed the industrial relations in the post-transition period, how premodern political culture such as Confucian patrimonialism and familism had obstructed democratic consolidation, and the improvement of quality of democracy. The author compares empirically, from the perspective of a comparative political scientist, political regime superiority of democracy over authoritarianism with regard to economic development. He concludes that “democratic incompetence” theory has been proven wrong and, in South Korea, democracy has performed better than authoritarian regimes in terms of economic growth with equity, employment, distribution of income, trade balance, and inflation. This book will benefit political scientists, development economists, labor economists, religious sociologists, military sociologists, and historians focusing on East Asian history.