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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

The Democratic Party’s established order is heading downhill again

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Opinion Named sources Context piece
  • The columnist argues that South Korea’s progressive camp, once a force challenging entrenched power, has itself become an established order.
  • Recent controversies involving Democratic Party figures are presented as examples of politicians justifying their conduct through broad political causes.
  • The article warns that continued failure to reflect and debate criticism could push climate and inequality issues further to the margins.

South Korea’s progressive camp once attacked the establishment. Now, the columnist argues, it has become the establishment itself, leaving it vulnerable to the same criticism it once directed at conservatives.

The article begins with a discussion by two stand-up comedians about who holds power. Their point is that young people who grew up seeing progressives as the dominant political force may view attacks on the progressive camp not as attacks on progress itself, but as challenges to an entrenched establishment. Even left-wing critics can be branded extremists when they criticize the left, the comedians say.

The columnist connects that argument to the Democratic Party’s recent convention and the criticism that followed. Sharp debate is essential, the article says, but the party’s internal disputes have looked less like arguments about the direction of the era and more like weapons turned against fellow party members. The writer points to Assembly member Kim Seung-won’s text seeking a favor and Representative Yong Hye-in’s plan to hold a ministerial post while retaining her parliamentary seat. The article asks how the same politicians would respond if conservatives took similar steps.

The column also draws on Daron Acemoglu’s book, “What Happened to Liberal Democracy?” Acemoglu’s argument, as presented here, is that liberalism produced visible gains by challenging established forces, but later became part of the establishment. It then struggled to adapt, lost its sense of what mattered, and became less responsive to inequality and difficult lives.

The writer says this is not a rejection of liberalism or progressive thought. Rather, any movement that holds power for too long can drift away from its core. Without continuous self-examination and exposure to criticism, the progressive camp may be sustained by an ineffective conservative opposition while climate change and inequality remain on the margins.

Young people are not attacking progressives. They are attacking the establishment.

· Stand-up comedians quoted in the columnThe discussion frames why younger voters may now view South Korea’s progressive camp as an entrenched power.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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