politics of South Korea

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{{About|the politics of the Republic of Korea|other uses|Politics of Korea (disambiguation)|the article about the politics of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea|Politics of North Korea}}

{{More citations needed|date=April 2014}}

{{Infobox political system

| name = Politics of the Republic of Korea

| native_name = {{Native name|ko|대한민국의 정치}}

| image = Emblem of South Korea.svg

| image_size =

| caption = National emblem of the Republic of Korea

| type = Unitary presidential
constitutional republic{{Citation |last=Han |first=JeongHun |title=Presidentialism with Parliamentary Characteristics |date=2023-01-24 |work=The Oxford Handbook of South Korean Politics |pages=49–67 |editor-last=Han |editor-first=JeongHun |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/37082/chapter-abstract/323175184?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2025-04-28 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192894045.013.4 |isbn=978-0-19-289404-5 |editor2-last=Pacheco Pardo |editor2-first=Ramon |editor3-last=Cho |editor3-first=Youngho|url-access=subscription }}

| constitution = Constitution of the Republic of Korea

| legislature = National Assembly

| legislature_type = Unicameral

| legislature_place = National Assembly Building

| legislature_speaker = Woo Won-shik

| legislature_speaker_title = Speaker of the National Assembly

| title_hosag = President

| current_hosag = Lee Jae-myung

| appointer_hosag = Direct popular vote

| cabinet = State Council

| current_cabinet =

| cabinet_leader = President

| cabinet_deputyleader = Prime Minister

| cabinet_appointer = President

| cabinet_hq = Yongsan, Seoul

| cabinet_ministries = 18

| judiciary = Judiciary of South Korea

| judiciary_head =

| judiciary_head_title =

| courts =

| court = Supreme Court

| chief_judge = Cho Hee-dae

| court_seat =

| court1 = Constitutional Court

| chief_judge1 = Lee Jongseok

| court_seat1 =

}}

File:ROK election system and separation of powers (en).svg and the election system of South Korea]]

{{Politics of South Korea}}

The politics of South Korea take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state, and of a multi-party system. To ensure a separation of powers, the government of the Republic of Korea is made up of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The government exercises executive power, and legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises a Supreme Court, appellate courts, and a Constitutional Court.

Since 1948, the constitution has undergone five major revisions, each signifying a new republic. The current Sixth Republic began with the last major constitutional revision that took effect in 1988. From its founding until the June Democratic Struggle, the South Korean political system operated under a military authoritarian regime, with the freedom of assembly, association, expression, press and religion as well as civil society activism being tightly restricted. During that period, there were no freely elected national leaders, political opposition was suppressed, dissent was not permitted and civil rights were curtailed.

{{Democracy Index rating|South Korea|full democracy|2022}} According to the V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023, South Korea was the third most electoral democratic country in Asia.{{cite web |last=V-Dem Institute |date=2023 |title=The V-Dem Dataset |url=https://www.v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ |access-date=14 October 2023 |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208183458/https://www.v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ |url-status=live }} South Korea is often cited as a model of democracy due to its relatively peaceful and internally-driven democratic transition.{{Cite web |title=How South Korea's Authoritarian Past Shapes Its Democracy |url=https://thediplomat.com/2022/11/how-south-koreas-authoritarian-past-shapes-its-democracy/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=An Unpromising Recovery: South Korea's Post-Korean War Economic Development: 1953-1961 |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/an-unpromising-recovery-south-koreas-post-korean-war-economic-development-1953-1961/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Association for Asian Studies |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal |last1=Mansfield |first1=Edward D. |last2=Snyder |first2=Jack |date=1995 |title=Democratization and the Danger of War |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2539213 |journal=International Security |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=5–38 |doi=10.2307/2539213 |jstor=2539213 |issn=0162-2889|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Damon Wilson, Lynn |date=2024-05-02 |title=South Korea Can Be a Democratic Leader |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/03/18/south-korea-summit-democracy-leader-yoon-korean-wave/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Foreign Policy |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal |last=Cotton |first=James |date=1989 |title=From Authoritarianism to Democracy in South Korea |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9248.1989.tb01481.x |journal=Political Studies |language=en |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=244–259 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9248.1989.tb01481.x |issn=0032-3217|url-access=subscription }}

The period from the mid-2000s to mid-2010s are often considered South Korea's backsliding period. Although, some have argued South Korea has hit a democratic ceiling and changes are more characteristic of democratic stagnation, rather than outright regression. This took the form of more state involvement (particularly through the Korea Communications Commission or KCC) in media control and less editorial independence among journalists with conservative media owners.{{Cite journal |last=Min |first=Byoung Won |date=2013 |title=Biting Back Against Civil Society: Information Technologies and Media Regulations in South Korea |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43111518 |journal=Journal of International and Area Studies |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=111–124 |jstor=43111518 |issn=1226-8550}}{{Cite journal |last1=Gong |first1=Qian |last2=Rawnsley |first2=Gary |date=2018 |title=Media freedom and responsibility in South Korea: The perceptions of journalists and politicians during the Roh Moo-hyun presidency |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1464884916688287 |journal=Journalism |language=en |volume=19 |issue=9–10 |pages=1257–1274 |doi=10.1177/1464884916688287 |issn=1464-8849|hdl=2381/38770 |hdl-access=free }}

Overall, political expression lagged behind comparable democracies.{{Cite journal |last1=Haggard |first1=Stephan |last2=You |first2=Jong-Sung |date=2015-01-02 |title=Freedom of Expression in South Korea |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00472336.2014.947310 |journal=Journal of Contemporary Asia |language=en |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=167–179 |doi=10.1080/00472336.2014.947310 |issn=0047-2336|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Son |first=Byunghwan |date=2024-04-18 |title=Consequences of democratic backsliding in popular culture: evidence from blacklist in South Korea |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13510347.2024.2343103 |journal=Democratization |language=en |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1080/13510347.2024.2343103 |issn=1351-0347}} Additionally, South Korea has very strict election and campaign finance regulations, that includes no door-to-door canvassing and, consequently, some have cited these regulations as barriers to political expression and free and fair elections.{{Cite journal |last1=You |first1=Jong-sung |last2=Lin |first2=Jiun-Da |date=2020 |title=Liberal Taiwan Versus Illiberal South Korea: The Divergent Paths of Election Campaign Regulation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-east-asian-studies/article/abs/liberal-taiwan-versus-illiberal-south-korea-the-divergent-paths-of-election-campaign-regulation/6F8893B002CD6CDE50CDFEFAFFE8E680 |journal=Journal of East Asian Studies |language=en |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=437–462 |doi=10.1017/jea.2020.12 |issn=1598-2408|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Mobrand |first=Erik |date=2015-12-01 |title=The Politics of Regulating Elections in South Korea: The Persistence of Restrictive Campaign Laws |url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/paaf/paaf/2015/00000088/00000004/art00002 |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=88 |issue=4 |pages=791–811 |doi=10.5509/2015884791|url-access=subscription }} These changes have largely attributed to South Korea's weak political party structure that emphasizes leaders and, consequently, hyper-presidentialism. Moreover, a right-left ideological divide has been more deeply entrenched into South Korean political society.{{Cite web |title=Keeping Autocrats at Bay: Lessons from South Korea and Taiwan |url=https://www.globalasia.org/v15no1/cover/keeping-autocrats-at-bay-lessons-from-south-korea-and-taiwan_aurel-croissantjung-eun-kim |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Global Asia |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Im |first=Hyug Baeg |date=2004-01-01 |title=Faltering democratic consolidation in South Korea: democracy at the end of the 'three Kims' era |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13510340412331304642 |journal=Democratization |language=en |volume=11 |issue=5 |pages=179–198 |doi=10.1080/13510340412331304642 |issn=1351-0347|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last1=Hur |first1=Aram |last2=Yeo |first2=Andrew |date=March 2024 |title=Democratic Ceilings: The Long Shadow of Nationalist Polarization in East Asia |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00104140231178724 |journal=Comparative Political Studies |language=en |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=584–612 |doi=10.1177/00104140231178724 |issn=0010-4140|url-access=subscription }} However, South Korea is considered to have a strong civil society or simin sahoe manifested through a large number of civic organizations that prevented further backsliding via the 2016-2017 Candlelight Demonstrations.{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Andrew Eungi |date=2006 |title=Civic activism and Korean democracy: the impact of blacklisting campaigns in the 2000 and 2004 general elections |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09512740600984937 |journal=The Pacific Review |language=en |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=519–542 |doi=10.1080/09512740600984937 |issn=0951-2748|url-access=subscription }} South Korea was also plagued by strong regionalism, dating back to the Silla-Baekje rivalry.{{cite news |date=October 9, 1963 |script-title=ko:유설낙수 |language=ko |newspaper=Kyunghyang Shinmun |url=http://newslibrary.naver.com/viewer/index.nhn?articleId=1963100900329202022&editNo=2&printCount=1&publishDate=1963-10-09&officeId=00032&pageNo=2&printNo=5526&publishType=00020 |access-date=May 28, 2018 |via=Naver News Library}}

Under more recent administrations such as President Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea has taken a stance as a "Global Pivotal State," which involves a greater role in East Asia as a democratic power. Despite its own democratic struggles, South Korea has taken an active role on democracy on the global stage, having hosted the 2024 Summit for Democracy and committing to "strengthen coordination on promoting democracy and protecting human rights" at the 2023 Camp David Summit with the U.S. and Japan, bolstering their trilateral relationship.{{Cite web |last=House |first=The White |date=2023-08-18 |title=The Spirit of Camp David: Joint Statement of Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/08/18/the-spirit-of-camp-david-joint-statement-of-japan-the-republic-of-korea-and-the-united-states/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=The White House |language=en-US}}