[Insight & Opinion] The Black Hole of Korean Political Decadence: Populist Factional Politics

Extreme Factional Conflict and the Decline of Democracy
Party Power Brokers Exercise Absolute Authority
Even the Constitutional Court Is Entangled and at Risk

Recently, Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, said that democracy in the Republic of Korea has passed the 90% mark. It seems he believes that the ousting of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration would signify the restoration of democracy. This likely means that the ousting is approaching. However, Lee Jae-myung's Democratic Party has also been one of the forces that have dragged Korean democracy into a quagmire. As we see right before our eyes, regardless of whether the Yoon administration is ousted, the foundation of Korea's representative democracy is shaking. Even the Constitutional Court, the focal point of the democratic republic order, is in jeopardy, entangled in the whirlpool of factional politics.

Even before the declaration of martial law, Korea's representative democracy was already in decline. The political sphere itself destroyed the social consensus, which is the foundation of democracy. It was extreme factional politics. Populism shook the representative system, and judicial accountability was evaded by turning it into a victory in political power struggles. Both of Korea's two representative institutions?the presidency and the National Assembly?exercised power arbitrarily or abusively without faithfully representing the people. The principle of representative democracy, which requires responding to the people's demands and exercising delegated power with restraint, collapsed. The past few years have made tangible the pessimistic view of representative democracy expressed by J-J. Rousseau, who said that democracy cannot be expected through a representative system where sovereignty is delegated.

President Yoon neglected the public's distrust of his governance, which became apparent from the second month of his administration, all the way to the impeachment crisis. He seemed to have been complacent, using the opposition party's judicial risks as leverage, or regarded it as a tit-for-tat situation. The Democratic Party, which won a landslide victory in the 22nd general election and seized parliamentary power due to the president's leadership failure, poured that power into shielding Lee Jae-myung from judicial risks. They transformed the people's representative institution into a fortress defending judicial accountability. The politicization of the judiciary, which began with protecting Lee, spread widely. Politicians who became criminal suspects or defendants did not show restraint but rather used the National Assembly as a defensive position, acting like warriors. This is the decadence of Korean politics.

Populism, backed by legislative power, was a resource for the Democratic Party's shielding politics. During the impeachment crisis, conservative forces pressured the Constitutional Court, joining as another form of populism. It looks like a regression to a primitive political era confronting populism in a state of anarchy. Populism can be a form of direct democracy that breaks through the limitations of the existing representative system. However, like most populism, it is a hegemonic or factional method of mobilizing groups. It is not the expression of democratic opinion but individuals gravitating toward groups. Todd Rose, in his book The End of Average, called this not collective intelligence but collective ignorance.

Recently, both sides have accused each other of fascism rather than democracy over this populism. Both sides should take this seriously. Political organizations, i.e., political parties, have become cartel organizations or quasi-religious groups. The real power holders in parties exercise unconditional absolute power like cult leaders, and the rest are no different from their guards. This is more pronounced in the Democratic Party, where Lee Jae-myung's unique leadership serves as the focal point. Lee recently condemned the People Power Party for protecting President Yoon Seok-yeol, saying, "A party that embraces criminals is a criminal party." However, the same statement applies to Lee's Democratic Party. Moreover, the third party, the Joguk Innovation Party, is no different. This symbolically reflects the decadent reality of Korean party politics.

The decadence of Korean representative democracy?manifested in the distortion of representative functions, abuse of representative power, politicization of the judiciary, cartelization of parties, and their quasi-religious group characteristics?is intertwined with extreme factional politics. Factional politics, where factional interests are the standard for all values, conceals and exploits these problems. It is a black hole. Not only the question of presidential impeachment but also creating an opportunity to innovate factional populism politics will allow the pains of the impeachment crisis to become a turning point for positive change.

Kim Man-heum, Former Director of the National Assembly Research Service