Korean Democracy under Kim Dae Jung: A Stalled Progression?

Abstract

South Korea underwent fundamental economic and social transformation from the l960s. Within three decades, a once-poor, overwhelmingly agrarian society was transformed into a nation with the fastest economic growth rate in the world and strong middle-class social aspirations. In terms of politics, however, the country remained, until the mid-1980s, a case where democracy lagged far behind the dynamic economy and society of increasing complexity. It was only in 1987 that South Korea entered an era of significant political transformation and made a decisive tum away from authoritarianism to democracy. Since then, Korean politics has been characterized by a search for a political structure that aims to achieve both economic prosperity and political democracy. South Korea has lived under six Republics since 1948, each having its distinctive constitutional arrangements.