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Korean Politics (POLI 133J) , April 05 The initial failure of democracy & the cold war politics

Korean Politics (POLI 133J) , April 05 The initial failure of democracy & the cold war politics. What explains the swift collapse of both the Rhee government and the Second Republic? What explains the authoritarian interventions of Yushin and 1980? What role did the US play?

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Korean Politics (POLI 133J) , April 05 The initial failure of democracy & the cold war politics

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  1. Korean Politics (POLI 133J), April 05The initial failure of democracy & the cold war politics What explains the swift collapse of both the Rhee government and the Second Republic? What explains the authoritarian interventions of Yushin and 1980? What role did the US play? How was Park’s regime able to last so long?What are the positive and negative legacies of Park?

  2. Effects of the division and the war • External threat as a rationale for authoritarian rule in both Koreas -SK: Anticommunist state rather than a democratic state -Elimination of the left and “red complex” in SK -Why does the NK regime not collapse? • Fierce competition between the two Koreas -NK: A model of socialist development until the early 1970s -SK: A model of developmental state • Unusually equal distribution of income and wealth: • Strategic importance of Korean peninsula • Long-term peace under intense tension (armistice)

  3. Political landscape in Korea, 1953-1987 • After the Korean War, the military and students were most powerful groups. • Leftist political groups were almost completely eliminated. (Revival in 1980s) • Chaebol began to grow under Park, and became increasingly powerful after 1980. • Labor movement began to grow in the 1970s and 1980s, but not powerful until 1987.

  4. US influence in Korean politics • Military: US Forces in Korea, Operational control • Political: US support for regime • Economic: Aid, Loan (IMF, World Bank) • Korea’s bargaining power: Anti-communist containment

  5. Key events, 1948-1981 • May 10, 1948: General election for “Constitutional Assembly” • July 7, 1948: Constitution as a compromise of presidential and parliamentary systems. • August 15, 1948: Establishment of ROK, with Syngman Rhee as president • 1948-50: Enactment of punishment of anti-national activities, national securities law, land reform act • 1952: Balchwe (Selected) Constitutional Amendment: Direct presidential election

  6. Key events, 1948-1981 • 1954: Sasaoip (Rounding off) Constitutional Amendment: Removal of the two-term limit for the first president • April 19, 1960: Student Revolution • July 1960: 2nd Republic (parliamentary system) launches w/ Chang Myon as Prime Minister • May 16, 1961: Military coup led by Park Chung-hee • 1963: 3rd Republic (presidential system) launches w/ Park Chung-hee as President • 1969: Samsun (Third term) Amendment • 1972: 7/4 North-South Joint Statement

  7. Key events, 1948-1981 • 1972: Yushin Constitution (4th Republic), with imperial presidency • 1974-75: Presidential Emergency Decrees No. 1-9 • October 26, 1979: Park assassinated by KCIA chief, Kim Jae-kyu • December 12, 1979 & May 17, 1980: General Chun Doo-hwan’s two-stage coup • May 18-May 27, 1980: Kwangju Uprising & Massacre • February 1981: 5th Republic launches w/ Chun Doo-hwan as President (7-year signgle term)

  8. Mutual discontents between Park and the US • Park’s concerns on unreliable, dwindling US commitment in Korea: Nixon doctrine and 20,000 troop withdrawal (out of 62,000), US failure in Vietnam, Carter’s planned troop withdrawal • US concerns on Park’s clandestine nuclear program, human rights violations, the Koreagate

  9. Inter-Korean dialogue • August 1971: First meeting of the two Red Cross societies • July 4 Joint Statement by the South and the North (1972): Three principles • Unification through independent efforts • Unification through peaceful means • National unity first • Red Cross meetings, North-South Coordinating Committee meetings: ended in March 1975 without any meaningful results. Why?

  10. Authoritarian rule and developmental state Developmental dictatorship -Park Chung-hee, “Korean-style democracy” -Lee Kuan Yew, “Asian values” -Kim Dae-jung, “democracy and market economy” Samuel Huntington (1968): - Military intervention is caused by the lack of effective political institutions. - The significance vary according to the size of the middle class: -middle class <15%: military=modernizing force -middle class >15%: military=conservative force The military and the university students: Contending forces for modernization in South Korea

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