Ideological rift widens in Korea over martial law fiasco

Ideological Rift Widens In Korea Over Martial Law Fiasco

Supporters of President Yoon Suk Yeol hold a rally in front of the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, Jan. 13, ahead of his detention over his Dec. 3 martial law declaration. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Supporters of President Yoon Suk Yeol maintain a rally in entrance of the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, Jan. 13, forward of his detention over his Dec. 3 martial regulation declaration. Korea Instances picture by Shim Hyun-chul

‚Us vs. them‘ mentality threatens democracy: specialists
By Lee Hae-rin

The ideological divide in Korea has deepened, fueled by the political turmoil attributable to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3 declaration of martial regulation final 12 months.

The 2 main political events are seeing elevated assist whereas the variety of undecided voters is shrinking. A survey on public perceptions regarding social divisions amongst Koreans reveals that ideological battle is seen as essentially the most urgent problem, surpassing issues like gender and wealth inequality.

In Gallup Korea’s newest ballot, the ruling Individuals Energy Get together (PPP) obtained 38 p.c assist, whereas the principle opposition Democratic Get together of Korea (DPK) garnered 40 p.c. Each figures surpass the common annual assist price for the 2 foremost rival events, which was at 32 p.c final 12 months.

Gallup Korea surveyed 1,000 adults in telephone interviews from Jan. 21 to 23. The ballot has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 share factors, with a credibility price of 95 p.c. Additional particulars can be found on the Nationwide Election Survey Deliberation Fee’s web site.

By political inclination, 77 p.c of respondents who contemplate themselves conservative stated they assist the PPP whereas 79 p.c of those that declare to be liberal assist the DPK.

In mid-December final 12 months, following the opposition-controlled Nationwide Meeting’s passage of a movement to question Yoon over his martial regulation declaration, the DPK’s assist surged to a report excessive of 48 p.c — the very best because the present administration took workplace. This widened the hole with the PPP, which stood at 24 p.c.

Nevertheless, solely the 2 foremost rival events have seen their assist charges stay neck-and-neck amid the political turmoil, whereas assist for minor events has dwindled.

The proportion of undecided voters — those that haven’t but determined or refuse to assist a celebration — dropped from 19 p.c to 17 p.c between the second and third week of January, after which fell additional to fifteen p.c the next week, in response to the ballot.

The determine is way decrease than final 12 months’s common of 23 p.c and is near the 14 p.c seen within the first week of March 2022, simply earlier than the presidential election.

As well as, a latest survey reveals that almost all of Koreans contemplate the ideological divide between conservatives and liberals to be the nation’s most urgent social problem.

In accordance with the „2024 Public Battle Consciousness Survey of Koreans“ by the Korea Social Battle Decision Middle and Korea Analysis, 91.3 p.c of the 1,000 respondents aged 19 and over stated that the ideological divide between liberals and conservatives is essentially the most urgent problem, far surpassing 13 different sorts of conflicts, together with these between the wealthy and poor, labor and administration, in addition to regional and gender divides.

In consequence, the proportion of Koreans citing the ideological divide as essentially the most urgent concern surpassed 90 p.c for the primary time in 2024, after staying at round 80 p.c because the annual survey began in 2013.

Pushed by tensions between the 2 foremost rival events through the impeachment course of, regionalism intensified to 66.8 p.c final 12 months, up by 8.1 share factors from 58.7 p.c in 2023, the survey confirmed.

Citizens stage a sit-in protest in central Seoul, Jan. 6, demanding President Yoon Suk Yeol's resignation over his martial law declaration. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Residents stage a sit-in protest in central Seoul, Jan. 6, demanding President Yoon Suk Yeol’s resignation over his martial regulation declaration. Korea Instances picture by Choi Received-suk

Korea’s decades-old regional divide — between the southwestern and southeastern areas — is obvious in voting tendencies, with conservatives holding robust within the southeastern area, together with Daegu and the Gyeongsang provinces, whereas liberals dominate the southwestern area, together with Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces.

„Earlier than the emergency martial regulation declaration, the disaster of declining provincial economies was extra urgent than the political divide in how Koreans perceived regional conflicts. Nevertheless, because the battle between political events intensified through the impeachment course of, it started to considerably affect the general public’s notion of the political leanings of the areas,“ stated Lee Kang-won, director of the Korea Social Battle Decision Middle.

The nation’s ideological rift deepened as a consequence of rising political intolerance, information reveals.

In accordance with the Manifesto Challenge on the Social Science Analysis Middle in Berlin, Germany, Korea’s ideological polarization index elevated from 0.36 in 2012 to 1.26 in 2020, reflecting a major widening of the political divide between the 2 main events and voters over the previous decade. And the most recent disaster has solely worsened the scenario.

The Manifesto Challenge collects and analyzes political celebration platforms and voter turnout information from world wide, publishing an annual ideological polarization index. The next index signifies higher polarization.

Korea’s main public coverage suppose tank shares the same view.

In a seminar on political polarization in Asia held by the East Asia Institute and the Asia Democracy Analysis Community on April 6, 2022, the group stated Korea’s political polarization index was 2.69 in 2021, rating eleventh amongst 38 OECD nations. This determine was notably increased than the OECD nations‘ median worth of two.07.

Specialists warn that Korea is probably on the verge of harmful polarization, which might pose a grave problem to democracy.

“Political polarization simplifies politics by presenting either-or decisions to the general public. It often has a detrimental affect on democracy because it divides the voters into two mutually mistrustful camps,“ stated Lee Sook-jong, a professor of Public Administration at Sungkyunkwan College who participated within the seminar as a panelist.

„When the general public is split into ‚us and them‘ and develops antipathy and even hatred towards one another, mutual tolerance and institutional forbearance are in danger,” she stated.

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