Conservatism in South Korea

Before democratisation in 1987, South Korean conservatives were characterised not only by anti-communism, but also authoritarianism and developmentalism. After 1987, there was a trend in conservatism towards rebranding as the New Right and focusing on economic neoliberalism. In addition, conservatives adapted to the new democratic environment by increasing the number of conservative activist groups and online presence.^[5]

Following 1987, the South Korean public became less interested in issues such as class and politics than in the past, and thus, overall, both progressives and conservatives shifted their messaging; the former shifted from radical politics to supporting the likes of social democracy and welfare expansion, whereas the latter emphasised neoliberal values such as "freedom, capabilities, and competition of individuals".^[5]

The large city of Daegu, although a site of radical politics in the earlier postwar era, was transformed under the rule of Daegu-born Park Chung-hee and today has been called a "citadel of conservatism" in South Korea.^[10]

Following the success of Lee Myung-bak in the 2007 presidential election, some viewed it as a return to conservatism in South Korea after a decade of rule under progressive presidents, although an analysis by David C. Kang let him to argue that it was a turn towards centrism among the populace, given Lee's pragmatic business-minded tendencies, rather than traditional "arch-conservatism" of candidate Lee Hoi-chang. For instance, Lee pursued a more constructive and realistic foreign policy relationship with China in contrast to what more strident anti-communists would prefer, indicating the modern unpracticality of demonising China, even among conservative heads of state. During the campaigning seasons, Lee's aides also worked to present his approach as being "neither left nor right".^[11]

Jeong Tae-heon, a professor of Korean history at Korea University has expressed concerns that disputes over the term Jayuminjujuui (Korean: 자유민주주의; lit. '"liberal democracy" or "free and democracy"') reflect a strong conservative bias reacting against North Korea's political ideologies, similar to political views seen in 1950.^[12] The term liberal democracy as used by South Korean conservatives has a different connotation than in the Anglosphere, as its reflects the anti-communism and state-guided economic develop of the pre-1987 era.^[5]

In 2020, People Power Party's leader Kim Chong-in apologized for the Gwangju Uprising.^[13] But some conservative citizen groups such as the Korean Council for Restoration National Identity and American and Korean Friendship National Council protested at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in May 2011 to prevent inscribing the records of the Gwangju Uprising in the Memory of the World Register, and to petition for "reconsidering identifying North Korean Special Forces as the perpetrators of the GDM.^[14]

The political party that once were ruling party are in bold. KIP is the exception for being a ruling party during Provisional Governmental era.

The Chojoongdong media cartel wields the largest political influence in the South Korean political scene through newspaper and other print publications. The three media cartels have been criticized for fabricating stories against North Korea to support conservative rhetoric.

• Chosun Ilbo – right-wing, anti-communist and conservative
  • TV Chosun (broadcasting)
• Dong-a Ilbo – right-wing, conservative
  • Channel A (broadcasting)
• JoongAng Ilbo – centre-right, moderate conservative and pro-Chaebol
  • Korea JoongAng Daily (English-language newspapers)
  • JTBC (broadcasting)
• Korea Economic Daily – pro-business and conservative
• Kukmin Ilbo – centrist, Christian values
• Maeil Business Newspaper – pro-business
• Munhwa Ilbo – right-wing, conservative and pro-Chaebol
• Segye Ilbo - right-wing, pro-Unification Church

• Rhee Syng-man (Liberal Party, 1948–1960)
• Park Chung-hee (Military junta/Democratic Republican Party, 1962–1979)
• Chun Doo-hwan (Military junta/Democratic Justice Party, 1980–1988)
• Roh Tae-woo (Democratic Justice Party→Democratic Liberal Party, 1988–1993)
• Kim Young-sam (Democratic Liberal Party→New Korea Party→Grand National Party, 1993–1998)
• Lee Myung-bak (Grand National Party→Saenuri Party, 2008–2013)
• Park Geun-hye (Saenuri Party→Liberty Korea Party, 2013–2017)
• Yoon Suk-yeol (People Power Party, 2022–2025)

• Conservative political parties in South Korea (in Korean)
• Economic liberalism
• Economic interventionism
• Korean collaborators with Imperial Japan
• Neo-Confucianism
• New Right (South Korea)
• Liberalism in South Korea
  • Liberal conservatism (centre-right)
• October Restoration
• One-People Principle
• Progressivism in South Korea
• Sadaejuui (factions)
• Social conservatism