Since the mid-to-late 2010s, conservatives with right-wing populist tendencies have become more prominent in the public sphere. Hong Joon-pyo is a good example of a right-wing populist in Korea.
Unlike conservatives in the United States, conservatives in South Korea often define themselves as liberals. Both groups fervently denounce socialism and refer to themselves as anti-socialists. They are distinct from the general liberals in South Korea.[2][3][4]
The anti-communist tendencies of South Korean conservatives has led to perceptions by progressives and liberals that conservatives foster McCarthyist-like red scares among the public.[6][7][clarification needed] This includes an incident before the 1996 Legislative elections, where conservative lawmakers were arrested for secretly meeting with North Korean agents in Beijing to seek North's help in manipulating the outcome of the election in exchange for payoffs.[8] The North fired artillery into the Join Security Zone on the DMZ, which caused panic among South Korean electorates, benefiting the conservative party.[8]
International issues
Conservatism in South Korea is fervently anti-communist. South Korean conservatives oppose warming relations with North Korea, and therefore wish to strengthen the US-ROK alliance in order to improve South Korean security, in contrast to South Korean progressives who prefer détente with North Korea through the Sunshine Policy along with either maintaining the US-ROK alliance as is or softening it.[9] However, there is a split between moderates and hardliners among conservatives, with the former emphasizing issues related to North Korean defectors and identifying themselves as liberals, while the latter takes up the traditional aggressive emphasis on anti-communism and pro-Americanism.[5]
History
Before democratisation in 1987, South Korean conservatives were characterised not only by anti-communism, but also authoritarianism and developmentalism. After 1987, there was a trend in conservatism towards rebranding as the New Right and focusing on economic neoliberalism. In addition, conservatives adapted to the new democratic environment by increasing the number of conservative activist groups and online presence.[5]
Following 1987, the South Korean public became less interested in issues such as class and politics than in the past, and thus, overall, both progressives and conservatives shifted their messaging; the former shifted from radical politics to supporting the likes of social democracy and welfare expansion, whereas the latter emphasised neoliberal values such as "freedom, capabilities, and competition of individuals".[5]
The large city of Daegu, although a site of radical politics in the earlier postwar era, was transformed under the rule of Daegu-born Park Chung-hee and today has been called a "citadel of conservatism" in South Korea.[10] The southeastern region of the country, once collectively known as Gyeongsang, is where Daegu is found and this entire region is known for being particularly conservative, as can be seen in modern election results.
Following the success of Lee Myung-bak in the 2007 presidential election, some viewed it as a return to conservatism in South Korea after a decade of rule under progressive presidents, although an analysis by David C. Kang let him to argue that it was a turn towards centrism among the populace, given Lee's pragmatic business-minded tendencies, rather than traditional "arch-conservatism" of candidate Lee Hoi-chang. For instance, Lee pursued a more constructive and realistic foreign policy relationship with China in contrast to what more strident anti-communists would prefer, indicating the modern unpracticality of demonising China, even among conservative heads of state. During the campaigning seasons, Lee's aides also worked to present his approach as being "neither left nor right".[11]
Jeong Tae-heon, a professor of Korean history at Korea University has expressed concerns that disputes over the term Jayuminjujuui (Korean: 자유민주주의; lit. "liberal democracy" or "free and democracy") reflect a strong conservative bias reacting against North Korea's political ideologies, similar to political views seen in 1950.[12] The term liberal democracy as used by South Korean conservatives has a different connotation than in the Anglosphere, as its reflects the anti-communism and state-guided economic develop of the pre-1987 era.[5]
The Chojoongdong media cartel wields the largest political influence in the South Korean political scene through newspaper and other print publications. The three media cartels have been criticized for fabricating stories against North Korea to support conservative rhetoric.
Chosun Ilbo – right-wing, anti-communist and conservative
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^"[박찬수 칼럼] '자유'와 민주주의, 리버럴" [[Park Chansoo's column] "Liberal" and democracy, liberalism.]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 3 July 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2021. ... '자유'라는 말만큼 요즘 그 의미가 새롭게 다가오는 단어도 드물다. 주말마다 광화문에서 열리는 태극기집회에 가면 '자유민주주의 수호'란 구호를 귀가 따갑도록 들을 수 있다. 그분들이 말하는 자유는 자유한국당의 '자유'와 일맥상통하지만, 1960년 4·19 직후 김수영 시인이 쓴 시의 한 구절 "어째서 자유에는 피의 냄새가 섞여 있는가를"에 나오는 '자유'와는 사뭇 다르다 ... 십수년 전 워싱턴특파원 시절, 가장 곤혹스러운 영어단어 중 하나가 '리버럴'(liberal)이었다. 미국에선 '리버럴' 하면 보통 민주당 지지자나 진보주의자를 뜻하는데 ... [... Few words have a new meaning these days as much as the word "liberal". If you go to the Taegukgi rallies held at Gwanghwamun every weekend, you can hear the slogan "Guardian of Liberal Democracy." The liberal they say is in line with the Liberty Korea Party's "liberal", but it is clearly different from "liberal" in a verse from a poem written by poet Kim Soo-young shortly after 19 April 1960. ... When I was a Washington correspondent decades ago, one of the most embarrassing English words was "liberal". In the United States, "liberal" usually means a Democratic supporter or progressive, but if it is incorporated into a sentence ...]
^"윤석열이 22번 언급한 그 단어... 자유주의의 역습" [The word that Yoon Seok Yeol mentioned 22 times... The counterattack of liberalism.]. OhmyNews (in Korean). 8 July 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021. ... 윤희숙 국민의힘 의원은 민주당 의원들이 발의한 사회적경제기본법을 자유주의의 적이라고 규정했고 ... [... Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the People Power Party National Assembly member, defined the Framework Act on Social Economy proposed by Democratic Party of Korea as an enemy of liberalism ...]
^Jung, Jin-Heon (2016). "The Religious-Political Aspirations of North Korean Migrants and Protestant Churches in Seoul". Journal of Korean Religions. 7 (2): 123–148. ISSN2093-7288. JSTOR24892380. On the other side, the contingencies of the ritual seem to become more tactile and controversial in the public spaces of Seoul where one can witness the extent to which "Red complex" has been reinvigorated. In this scheme, political and religious conservatives view liberal and progressive South Koreans as pro-North leftist Reds. It is fairly common that in any public space, such as Seoul City Hall Plaza, one might find politically conservative evangelical Christians holding pickets on which the terms chongbuk chwappal ("pro-North Korea leftist-red") are printed along with the term tongsŏngae ("homosexuality").
