What is Kongchŏn?

A campaign poster in Wŏnju for a candidate in Saenuri-dang, Korea’s conservative majority party. (Author’s own image)

It’s election season again in Korea! Campaign posters have gone up all over and candidates have begun meeting with voters in earnest. Local politicians are up for election this year, which includes city and provincial council members and city mayors. It’s an exciting time to be in Korea for a researcher of gender and politics, since this year is the first election after the inauguration of Korea’s first woman president, Park Geun-hye.

There’s a lot to look forward to in this year’s elections, but first we have to get through the kongchŏn stage of the pre-campaign process. For those unfamiliar with Korean politics, the kongchŏn causes a great deal of confusion. Bewilderment is a natural reaction given that the process differs by party, region, and election year. I will try to deconstruct the kongchŏn enigma, and hopefully it will help readers to understand some of the current events in Korean politics regarding the elections.

Statement on the Sewol Tragedy

The world’s attention has turned to South Korea after reports of the Sewŏl ferry sinking on the southwestern coast of the peninsula on the morning of April 16, 2014.

This tragedy hits close to home, and we at Wireless Peninsula stand in solidarity with the passengers’ families as the search continues for the missing. We are thankful for the safety of those who were rescued. However, in our celebration of those who have been rescued, we also remember the deceased and their families as they cope with the loss of their loved ones. Rescue personnel are doing their best despite difficult conditions to find passengers that may still be inside the ship, and we maintain our hope that the remaining passengers will be found alive.

We encourage you to stay up to date on events as they unfold by consulting international news sites as well as Korean domestic reporting. Please keep those involved in the rescue effort, as well as the passengers and their families, in your thoughts and prayers.

English-language editions of Korean dailies:

Arirang News – Chosun Ilbo – Donga Ilbo – The Hankyoreh

 

The Great Charade of Democracy: Minority Parties in Korea and the Kongchŏn Reform Debates

An enduring debate among Korean politicians has been the utility and fairness of the kongchŏn, or the Korean committee-based party candidate nomination system. The system is generally considered to be unfair, to the point of being downright corrupt. With each election comes renewed discussion of how to change the system. Newspapers and the political parties ask: Would primaries be a better option? How open should the primaries be? To what extent should the general public be involved in the candidate nomination process?

Despite their longevity, the kongchŏn debates prove time and again to be merely political spin.

Wireless Peninsula’s Feature on Infusion Korea

Wireless Peninsula’s Feature on Infusion Korea

Check out Infusion Korea‘s feature of Wireless Peninsula on their website! While you’re there, be sure to browse their blog and blogroll, which will direct you to sites maintained by other Fulbright Korea teachers and researchers. It’s also a great source if you’re looking for travel information about Korea, since they feature Fulbright English Teaching Assistants’ city guides and votes for best local restaurants.

Honoring False Idols: The Undue Pursuit of “Development” in Korean Scholarship

“Miracle on the Han River” by James Rhee and Pat V. for “Tiger and Bear Korea.” (c) James Topple and Colin Riddle. Used with permission from the authors.

Something I have noticed in my reading on politics in Korea is Korean academics’ fixation on the question of Korea’s level of “development.” Like the familiar chant of a young child on a long trip, they constantly ask themselves and their readers, “Is Korea ‘developed’ yet?” A release of statistics and rankings from the OECD can inspire either societal euphoria or panic in Korea, depending on the news. A recorded rise in living standards prompts (justifiably) celebratory columns of Korean economic policy and Koreans’ work ethic in Seoul dailies. On the other hand, last year’s announcement of South Korea’s low global ranking in terms of gender equality incited an anxious return to the question of Korea’s level of economic and social development. While Koreans reap the fruits of the “Miracle on the Han River” daily–a subway system far cleaner and efficient than any line in most areas of the world, high-speed internet nearly everywhere in Korea, relatively clean air and high environmental standards, and other comforts of a modern lifestyle–the memory of Korea’s less comfortable past continues to lurk in the minds of Korean intellectuals and haunt casual discussion of Korean economics and politics.

The Vortex: Presidential Power in Korean Politics

The president’s centrality in Korean politics is often compared to a vortex. (Image from Wikimedia Commons.)

Korean politics has often been described as a “vortex.” It’s a word that’s come up often in my interviews with Korean politicians, and there’s even a book titled Korea: The Politics of the Vortex. But what is this vortex? How can a political system be a “vortex?” The answer lies in a study of the distribution of power in Korean politics, and the quick discovery that the president stands at the center of Korean political activity.

An Introduction to Korean Electoral Politics for the Casual Observer

By Chelsea Carlson

South Korea’s National Assembly building in Seoul.       (Image from Wikimedia Commons.)

This post is intended to be a brief introduction to Korean politics for our readers. While I wanted to jump into more argument-based content from the very beginning, I thought you might appreciate a concise tour through the modern Korean electoral system. I will cover the election process in Korea, the structure of the National Assembly, and gender quotas in the National Assembly. A working knowledge of this material will be helpful when reading my future posts, so I hope that I’ve made this relatively easy to read and understand. For brevity’s sake, I’ll focus on the national level of politics in this post and elaborate on local politics in future discussions.