[Insight & Opinion] How Long Will the Factional Politics of "Lord of the Flies" Continue?

[Asia Economy] The political forces' factional confrontations are excessively dividing Korean society as a whole. The indicators from various public opinion polls are also serious. Over 40% of respondents say they would hesitate to marry or even dislike eating together if their political party affiliations differ. These days, under the constitutional order of a democratic republic, there is an emphasis on embracing multiculturalism, yet it seems we are regressing into tribal states divided by political camps. I hope this is the final hurdle created by the bare-faced power struggle.

This is a reality created by power struggles and over-politicization. When issues become politicized, perceptions of facts also change. It is less about ideological differences and more about differing perceptions created by division. As the judiciary becomes politicized and politics judicialized, factional confrontations become more extreme. Even common sense increasingly differs between groups. Fake news combined with partisan claims replaces common sense. Consequently, there is no shame in the irrational behavior of the political sphere. Nowadays, positions on almost all political and social issues are polarized along factional lines.

In addition to the whirlpool-like political characteristics of Korean society, the SNS era environment, where confirmation bias and populism are easily mobilized, also forms the background. Above all, political forces and leadership that mobilize this era’s environment as a resource for power struggles have recently shaped our society this way. The political energy of Korean society, once the driving force of industrialization and democratization, is now being mobilized for divisive factional politics.

The novel Lord of the Flies comes to mind. It is a work by William Golding, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. It was also made into a film and is often used as a reference for political power and collective madness phenomena. It depicts political and clique phenomena arising in the group life of stranded youths. Rational leadership gradually loses power, and a leader who mobilizes madness and violence emerges. The original goal of rescue is replaced by factional fights becoming the center of group life. The fear of a monster, later revealed to be fictitious, also became a background for mobilizing madness. Some align with power, some are swept up in madness, creating a collective of madness. Similar patterns can be seen in today’s political reality.

Institutionalization of the political system is an important measure of political development. Recently, South Korea is moving in the opposite direction. There is an increasing tendency for national public matters to become partisan confrontation issues. Even judicial decisions, the last bastion of conflict mediation, often become partisan issues. Of course, this can be seen as the growing pains of properly organizing state institutions?that is, the institutionalization process. However, the bare-faced power politics aspect is largely making public institutions partisan. As is well known, even the press, which is supposed to monitor and check power, is factionalized along partisan lines.

Fortunately, it does not seem that the majority of the public supports tribal-state leadership. Concerns about the expansion and deepening of factional politics are emerging here and there. According to an SBS survey at the end of last year, the non-partisan group reached 42.7%. Evaluations of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s “first-time” leadership remain much more negative than positive. Representative Lee Jae-myung’s “judicial risk” is gradually making even the Democratic Party’s party functions anachronistic.

Since the easing of indoor mask mandates on the 30th of last month, the COVID-19 pandemic is also trending toward an end. Along with this, I hope the madness of factional politics will change as well. I hope that face-to-face politics without masks will awaken a sense of shame and become a turning point toward symbiotic politics based on empathy and mutual understanding.

Kim Man-heum, Chair Professor at Hansung University, Former Director of the National Assembly Research Service