• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.82-92
• /
• 2017

The Korean state evolved as a distinct entity in a region of major power convergence and conflict. All states, as human constructions, seek sovereignty and life security of their subjects/citizens, and are rotted in organic society. In the Republic of Korea, constitutional order has provided a framework for political action and a succession of regimes - authoritarianism, military dictatorship, and constitutional democracy. Since 1960 two paradigms have undergone a cycle of growth and decline, and a third, since the 2016 candlelight demonstrations in Gwanghwamun, may be the beginnning of a third generation paradigm - populist constitutionalism.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.37-66
• /
• 2017

Massive civic protests and consequent presidential impeachment requires a serious revisiting to democratic theories of Korean democracy. This paper explores the strengths and limitations of macro and micro approaches. Changes in democratic realities was manifested on three fronts. First, the rise of new political subject, that is, participants to massive protest. Second, changing nexus between representative institutions and civic protests. Third, parliamentarization of presidential democracy. Specifically macro approach has changed its negative assessment of democracy into positive evaluation. Macro theory has to revisit it's notion of 'minjung' to cope with the rise of new subject. Also macro approach has to struggle with the declining role of civic organizations and political activists. Micro approach has to deal with new mode of networking among citizens and to unravel the evolving relation between democratic institutions and civic protests. In sum, theories need to expand the analytic scope, to revitalize analytic tools and to rebalance value judgment and analytical efforts.

• Informatization Policy
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.61-79
• /
• 2010

This study focuses on the emergence of collective intelligence and its impact on the democracy in the information era. Scholars have posed very different-optimistic and pessimistic-views on the possibility of collective knowledge produced by the public. Focusing on the cases of a free online encylopedia known as wikipedia and 2008 Candlelight Demonstration against the imports of US beef in Korea, this paper analyzes the mechanism of collective intelligence and its political implications on the democracy. Specifically, this article approaches changes in new knowledge paradigm with two different variables: the degree of connectivity and the quality of deliberation. Applying two different sets of variables helps us to distinguish the possibilities of collective intelligence and anti-intelligence, which would suggest social and political implications for the democracy in a country. This study finds a critical difference in terms of the quality of deliberation, measured by the indicators such as diversity, independence, and integration mechanism for online deliberation.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
• /
• no.119
• /
• pp.1-33
• /
• 2017

This article explore the relation between meritocracy and democracy in the context of South-Korea's confucian modernity. It starts with the confirmation that South-Korea's confucian-meritocratic tradition has positive influence on democracy, in similar way as in the western countries where meritocracy was as a basis for democracy evaluated. But meritocracy has not always the positive implication for democracy. This article shows that meritocracy is in its essence 'an ideology of the betrayal' which destroy the basis of democracy through producing and justifying extreme socio-economic inequalities between citizens. But the long confucian-meritocratic tradition of East Asia makes meritocracy ideology attractive for the people, so even the temptation of the 'political meritocracy' is strong, as we see in Singapore and China. This article argues that the political meritocracy cannot be the alternative of democracy, seeks the different way to overcome the crisis of democracy than meritocracy indicate. Finally, it discusses shortly which implications this sort of relation between meritocracy and democracy for the future of South-Korean democracy can have.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.5-36
• /
• 2017

"The Candle Revolution" impeached the Park government and elected the Moon government. The candlelight protesters demonstrated public anger associated with accumulated corruption and deep-rooted irregularities. Complete political reform is required to perform deep fundamental reform. It aims to transform democracy in a way that is more inclusive. Inclusive democracy contributes to making welfare state stronger. Inclusive democracy is made possible by proportional representation that allows progressive parties more seats and leverages. Proportional representation systems are characterized by higher degrees of redistribution and larger welfare state. Constitutional reform has to be focused on introducing parliamentary government. "Imperialistic" presidential system in Korea has no mechanism of checks and balances which are key characteristics of presidential systems. It has failed to attend the poverty and social inequality arising from globalization and neoliberal change since 2000s. Parliamentary government is supposed to deliver social policy when parties are more disciplined than in presidential system where political parties remain weak.

• Journal of Popular Narrative
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.221-254
• /
• 2020

This paper finds a solution in the social context which cannot be explained thoroughly by well-timed release date, revival of comedy films, and the attraction of Lee Byeong-heon's comedy etc. while it throws question of how the film, Extreme Job captivated 16 million audience. The incredible hits of Extreme Job cannot be explained by analyzing the text alone. After this essay investigates a function and a role of comedy as a public sphere, it examines people's desires and wishes in the comedy and other genres since 2008 when the conservative government has seized power. Since 2008 a series of dark tone's action thriller, social problem film, and disaster film have emerged, these genres showed absence of public security, crisis of democracy and criticism against rulling class. On the other hand, hit comedy films have showed escapism such as weepie, nostalgia, and fantasy at the same time, generally. Although Veteran (2015) is not full-blown comedy, after this film's big success, "comic mode" has gradually revived. A light tone's films which are truer to genre rules has started representing the wishes of people toward social reforms and changes. Meanwhile, "Candlelight Protest" served as a momentum to recover the democracy which has been in crisis, but it could not lead changes in economic and daily lives. Exreme Job can be read as a question how we will survive since "Candlight Protest." The lives of detectives as self-employed workers who has taken over a fried chicken restaurant for going undercover are appearances of ordinary persons who must survive in the edless conpetition. Furthermore, this film shows a dream of a "great success myth" which becomes well-known as a famous restaurant and a self-management such as brand-naming and an exapansion of franchise business. We can read ganster's chicken franchises as a huge distribution industry which disturbs market system by delivering drugs secretly. While applauses that we give to the police having identities of self-employed workers which sweeps the ganster are giving support to oridinary neighborhood like us, they are also wishes of people who long for the restoration of publicness of police in the market which is becoming increasingly privatized today. A significance of this essay is to examine Extreme Job in terms of the geography of film genres and the revival of comic mode sicne 2008 at the macro level, and is to read the film in the perspective of the problems of economic and daily lives which has been still unsolved since "Candlelight Protest" at the micro level.

• Journal of Popular Narrative
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.159-190
• /
• 2019

This paper aims to examine to the political unconsciousness of social movies that have caused social repercussions in the 2010s, and to study the social imagination of Korean films at that time. Korean Movies such as (2013), <1987>(2017) and (2017) reflect the ethos of civil society based on common sense and justice. The epic structure was the same as that of ordinary citizens, who move toward a public space (court, square) after awakening their political correctness. More than anything else, the fact that such films were based on "a historical fact" could have been a strategy to avoid censorship in the era of the blacklist. In these social films, courts and squares have become places for democracy. The conservative government of the time was tired of anti-government resistance and the politics of the square. Thus, films from directors and producers blacklisted were difficult to produce. That's why the court in the movie during this period could become a symbolic proxy for the "legitimate" reenactment of the politics of the square, which was subject to censorship and avoidance by the regime of the time. Meanwhile, the square has gradually become the main venue for political films that advocate "historic true stories." The square of the 1980s, which appeared in the movies, will be connected to the Gwanghwamun candlelight square that audiences experienced in 2017. Furthermore, it was able to reach the concept of an abstract square as an "open space for democracy." At the foundation of these works is a psychological framework that equates the trauma of the failed democratic movement of the 1980s to the trauma of the failed progressive movement of the 2010s. Through this study, we were able to see that social political films in the 2010s were quite successful, emphasizing "political correctness" and constitutional common sense. But they also had limitations as "de-political popular films" that failed to show imagination beyond the censorship of the blacklist era.