Friday, March 29, 2024
KOREAN HISTORY

What has changed over 30 years of democracy in Korea?

democracy in korea30 years ago this week, on January 14th 1987, a Seoul University Student Park Jong Cheol died in police custody after being tortured by waterboarding. His death sparked protests leading to the democratic political system in Korea that remains in place today.

At the time, Korea was under the military dictatorship of President Chun Doo Hwan (1980-1988) and police brutality was not unusual – at the beginning of his presidency in 1980 hundreds of protestors marching for democracy were killed by police in the infamous Gwangju massacre.

Torture and deaths while in police custody were usually covered up though, but this incident in 1987 was reported and public anger led to more protests and democracy marches.

But now as the 30th anniversary of democracy approaches there are articles in the news reflecting over the changes that have occurred over the years for good or bad. The peaceful anti-president marches held in Seoul at the end of last year certainly reveal how much the country has changed politically.

democracy in korea

picture: joongang daily newspaper

But people have become fed up with politics. Elections are held every 5 years and the president can only stay for one term, but it seems that every president has managed to get tangled up in corruption – usually involving their family members. Even the respected President Roh committed suicide over corruption claims.

Trying to find someone immune to corruption and nepotism is one of the reasons that people have given me for voting for Park Geun Hye. (they are regretting that decision now…) Her policies may have been vague but the fact that she was estranged from her siblings and had no close family (both her parents were assassinated) made her seem like a perfect candidate. That’s how much voters were concerned about corruption. So last year’s revelations that the president had virtually handed over her power to her friend Choi Sun Sil (who made herself very rich indeed) made the scandal even more of a bombshell. Well, no man is an island as they say.

According to this Joongang Daily article, (Korean) after 30 years of democracy, satisfaction with life in general is pretty low. In the OECD Better Life Index Korea ranked 31 out of 38 countries in life satisfaction. (Even the UK was ranked higher at 21 and Brits are miserable as sin 😉 )

In terms of the economy, times are much better. But life feels more unstable. Since 1987 suicide rates have trebled to 26.5 per 100,000 citizens the highest in the world. While the birth rate has dropped to the lowest in the world. And everyone is worried about supporting themselves in old age.

After recent scandals the current president has become a laughing stock with pictures of her as a puppet being handled by Choi Sun Sil just one of many jokes. But at least this shows that people feel they can express their opinions about the president and politics openly.

It hasn’t always been so.

park-geun-hye-puppet

Current president Park Geun Hye depicted as a puppet of Choi Sun Sil. picture: BBC.com

1960s

On the front page (Nov 14th 2016) of the Joonang Ilbo newspaper (Korean), Hwang Seok Young (a famous Korean novelist) compares his experience at the peaceful anti-Park protest to his terrible experience of the student-led ‘April Uprising’ against dictator Syngman Rhee in 1960.

He describes how 56 years ago in April 1960 when he was just a high school student, he went to the same location chanting for President Rhee Syngman to ‘하야 ha-ya‘ (resign) But back then the police didn’t just stand by, they started firing guns with live ammunition into the crowd of protestors.

When the police fired at the protestors, the writer’s friend standing next to him was shot. He took his school cap off to try and stop the bleeding that was coming from the young man’s head. And then with the help of other students, he carried him to an ambulance. But he died. And was placed under a white sheet along with all the other corpses at the hospital. The writer remembers how he went to the hospital bathroom and took off all his clothes to wash his friend’s blood off them. And as he saw the bloody water he couldn’t stop crying.

Rhee was the first president of the Republic of Korea 1948-1960, but his leadership was authoritarian and he finally resigned after allegations of election rigging and corruption. The 1970s continued under the military dictatorship of President Park Chun Hee (Park Geun Hye’s father) until he was assassinated by the head of his own Intelligence Agency in 1979. 

antipark-rally

picture: Joongang Daily newspaper

1980s TEAR GAS

One of my adult students told me that when he was about 12, he and his friends found some kind of tear gas bomb or canister thing in his school playground in Seoul. His friend picked it up. And as they stood there inspecting it, they got tear gassed… He thought he was going to die from the pain as tears streamed down his face! (The worst thing I experienced at my junior school was someone bringing in a stink bomb from a joke shop in French class – nobody cried when we had to evacuate the room though…)

Tear gas was used a lot at pro-democracy marches.

In the 80s many students took part in marches against the authoritarian leadership of President Chun Doo Hwan.  I heard that the fashion for female students at the time was office suits and high heels. So before joining the protests many bought training shoes so that they could run away if and when they got tear gassed.

joonangilbo

protestors at Gwanghwamun Nov 2016 picture: Joongang Daily Newspaper

2016

Recent demonstrations in Gwanghwamun  have been peaceful. There’s even been a kind of festival atmosphere with street stalls  selling tasty snacks from donuts to spicy squid on a stick. Old men enjoying outdoor karaoke.

The Park Geun Hye scandal caused shock and disbelief but it also made people more interested in politics again. And the protests have shown how different Korea is today compared to 30 years ago.

2 thoughts on “What has changed over 30 years of democracy in Korea?

  • Thanks for the update. Ive seen photos of this lady in the newspaper quite often these days, now I know why :s

    Reply

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