Transition from Military to a Democracy Rule in South Korea - Research Paper Example

LDCS and NICS: How South Korea change its military rule to a democracy rule. (Politic and economic system) The emergence of South Korea as a stable political and economic country is an issue that has attracted attention from the world over with academic scholars and government officials from other countries in the world attempting to study and understand the transition that the country has undergone to achieve its current status. Decades ago, the nation of South Korea was similar to most Third World nations, which are characterized by political instabilities and turmoil, poverty, dictatorship and economic woes. However, the country has undergone a series of political and economic transitions which have transformed it to become an economic powerhouse in East Asia, and most importantly a success story and a model which other countries are drawing lessons from1. However, the transition did not come as easy. This paper will therefore look at how the South Korean nation transited from a military dictatorship regime to a democratic led nation, and the resultant political and economic stability. It will also, in a bid to explain this transition, examine the association that exists between democracy, or change in regime, and economic development. The history of the path to democracy in South Korea began in the year 1945 when the country liberated itself from colonial rule by the Japanese. Economic development was envisaged to pick soon after. However, the postcolonial period saw a shift from Japanese led colonial leadership to an authoritarian rule, also referred to as a strong state. This shift was mostly fuelled by political divisions in the period after liberalization and the Korean War2. The continued authoritarian rule elicited country wide protests, which continued to gain support and momentum as the strong state ideology also continued to widen and deepen. The protests were in favor of democratization, with the protestors demanding the adoption of democracy in governance, and consequently formed a resistance union, called the democratization movement’s resistance. Increased confrontations and resultant clashes between the pro democracy and the authoritarian rule parties led to the start of the journey to democracy which was characterized by a series of movements. Examples of these democratization movements include the 1960 revolution which took place on April 19th, the uprising of 1980 popularly known as the Gwangju Popular Uprising, and lastly the 1987 June Democratic Uprising3. The latter movement is widely associated with putting to an end the authoritarian rule and setting the platform for the country’s democratization. As such, democracy in South Korea has been achieved by a series of movements. Having looked at the rise of authoritarian rule and the subsequent emergence of pro democracy movements, it is important to understand how the push for democracy became a success by further examining in detail the three periods under which the movements occurred. The first bid toward democratization was against the dictatorship leadership of Rhee Syng Man. As discussed earlier, historical events such as the Korean War and the political divisions after the liberalization from Japanese colonial rule led to authoritarian leadership in South Korea. Rhee adopted this form of leadership, also referred to as anticommunist dictatorship4. During his tenure in the post-liberation, two political groups emerged each with an ambition to develop the new state. These were the left and right wingers. The left wingers were dominated by peasant farmers and other laborers, while the right wing group was established by Koreans still in support of Japan. These two groups and their divisions further worsened the conflict. Rhee was opposed to the left wing political group, and took coercive action against them through the use of security forces. This open and coercive dictatorship coupled with Rhee’s deliberate prolonged term led to the formation of opposition parties in the 1950s such as the Democratic Party. Rhee’s rule came to an end with the presidential election of 1956 held in the month of May. A rigged election in favor of the incumbent Rhee led to country wide demonstrations, spearheaded by University students, who were more aware of Rhee’s dictatorial rule5. This eventually led to his resignation from office. This was the first major movement toward democracy and is commonly known as the April 19th Revolution. The gains made towards the laying down of the foundation of democracy suffered a blow as a military regime, under the command of Park Chung Hee, took over the country’s leadership through a Coup d’état on May 16th, in the year 1961 further aggravating conflicts in South Korea as military officers and college students engaged in confrontations. Upon the resignation from office by Rhee, the Democratic Party took over the country’s leadership. However, their rule was incompetent and continuously failed to address the needs of the people6. The military also had power, coercive power. The democratic government was thus easily toppled. Park’s military regime initially spearheaded aggressively economic development policies such as the adoption of industries which were export oriented. Five-year economic development plans led to an increase of the nation’s output, also called Gross National Product, to 9.6% (Jongtae, 57). This economic growth was however overshadowed by protest from the pro democracy supporters who were against Park’s plans to prolong his rule and also his policy to normalize diplomatic relations with Japan, which has colonized South Korea. The democratization movement intensified protests and marches, incorporating hundreds of residents from areas such as Gwangju and mostly protested against social issues brought about by industrialization. Despite introduction of oppressive directives such as introduction of martial law, declarations of state emergencies, and eventually the Yushin dictatorial system, massive and intensive demonstrations went on, causing divisions within Park’s regime on how to best address the protests7. The divisions led to the assassination of Park and with brought to an end of the military regime’s dictatorial rule. Park’s assassination set the environment for democratization. However, there still existed remnants from his regime as well as some members of the military, called the neo-military forces. The latter elected a military general, Chun Doo Hwan, as South Korea’s president. Chun’s military regime furthered Park’s oppressive rule, with intensive utilization of martial law and the purging of opponents. However, an appeasement policy developed by the regime to win people’s hearts actually worked against the regime and democratization once again picked up8. In the policy, students and lecturers who had been expelled were allowed back to the universities. Students used the opportunity to plan intensified democracy protests against the regime. Peasants and laborers in urban centers also joined in the protests forming a stronger democratization movement force that eventually forced Chun’s regime to accommodate democratization demands, such as the election of the country’s president directly from the governed. The direct and democratic election of Kim Dae Jung as president of South Korea in 1997 propelled the country into a state of political and economic stability signifying the strong correlation that exists between democracy and economic development. Industrialization has been widely invested in with a focus on export oriented industrial products. Foreign Direct Investments into the country, compared to the periods of authoritarian rule, has more than doubled showing investor confidence in the democracy in South Korea. For instance, the stock of foreign reserves in the year 1967 was over 77 million dollars, while in 1999, two years after Kim’s election, foreign reserves were estimated at 75 billion dollars. South Korea is also less dependent on foreign aid today thanks to democracy rule9. In conclusion, the emergence of South Korea as a stable political and economic has attracted attention from the world over. The country has undergone a series of political and economic transitions which have transformed it to become an economic powerhouse in East Asia, and most importantly a success story and a model which other countries are drawing lessons from. The country changed from a military rule to a democracy rule to support economic growth. Bibliography Chang, Paul. South Korean Social Movements: From Democracy to Civil Society. New York: Routledge, 2013. Jongtae, Kim. Globalization and Development in East Asia. New York: Routledge, 2012. Katsiaficas, George. Asias Unknown Uprisings: South Korean social movements in the 20th century. London: PM Press, 2012. Kyong, Kim. Development of Modern South Korea: State Formation, Capitalist Development and National Identity. New York: Routledge, 2007. Read More