Liberalism in South Korea

In South Korea, the term "liberalism" generally refers to classical liberalism.^{[note 1][10]} In South Korea, the labels "liberal" (자유주의자; Jayujuuija; chayujuŭija) and "liberal democracy" (자유민주주의; 自由民主主義; Jayuminjujuui) are often claimed by conservatives to denote economic liberalism and anti-communism.^{[note 2][11][12]} Liberals, particularly those with left-leaning views, often use terms like "democrats", "ribuhruhl" (리버럴, the Korean pronunciation of "liberal") or "democratic camp" (민주진영) to set themselves apart from conservatives.^[13]

In South Korea, liberals and progressives are political forces with individual traditions,^[14] but American liberalism is often translated as progressivism in the Korean language.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]} The Justice Party officially supports social democracy, but since it is a party that inherited the political stake of the Uri Party, it is regarded as part of the South Korean progressive political party tradition and at the same time as part of the liberal political party tradition.^[23][24][25]

In South Korea, the terms "liberal," "liberty," "libertarian," and "freedom" all tend to be translated into Jayu (자유; 自由). For example, in South Korea, both Canada's "Liberal Party", Netherlands' "Party for Freedom" and the United States' "Libertarian Party" are read as Jayudang (자유당; 自由黨) in Korean. Also, right-wing socially conservative media in South Korea regard the American tradition of right-libertarianism as progressive because it is culturally liberal.^{[26][27][28][29]}

The main diplomatic point that defines liberalism in South Korea is "independence" (독립). South Korean liberals have a more nationalistic nature based on anti-imperialism in matters related to international affairs. The anti-China Gaehwa Party / Independence Club at the end of the 19th century, and the anti-Japan Korean independence movement during the Japanese colonial era, formed Korea's early liberalism. On the other hand, Korea's conservative elites cooperated with neighboring powers such as Qing China and Japan for practical reasons. North Korea's Juche policy gave the perception to South Korean leftists that North Korea was somehow more authentically Korean (that was based on Korean Confucianism) than the binary view of being just a socialist state as critics contend and that it is somehow able to protect its independence and avoid the perception of just being a subordinate state to great powers.^[30] In modern South Korean politics, socialism and anti-Americanism, which were by-products alongside the rise of democratic movements were thoroughly suppressed with force by conservatives with the support of the United States, which made liberals resent domestic interference by foreign powers. Thus, while they maintain cordial relations with the United States, they also seek to exercise strategic autonomy in its foreign policy.^[31]

South Korean liberals tends to take a nuanced and pragmatic stance towards China and Russia, preferring cooperation to promote peace on the peninsula. Thus, they tend to be more reluctant to take a strong stance on controversial issues such as the issue of Taiwan and disputes in the South China Sea. On the campaign trail, Lee Jae-myung questioned South Korean relevance in the Taiwan Strait issue.^[32] President Moon Jae-in stated that South Korea will not take sides in the US-China rivalry.^[33]

South Korean liberals have represented Korean victims of Japanese war crimes since the 1990s. They oppose any agreement or cooperation with Japan until the Japanese government issues formal apologies to Korean victims and demonstrate sincere reflections on the horrors of the Japanese occupation of Korea.^[34][35] President Moon Jae-in stated the human rights of victims are more important than relations between countries.^[36]

South Korean major liberals mainly criticize mainstream conservatives, distancing themselves from any heritage and relationship with the military dictatorship, insist on political reform and the rule of law, supporting the foreign policy of reconciliation with North Korea. Domestically, they advocated the reform of the monopoly of the large industrial conglomerates known as chaebols. They also proposed the curtailing of investigative powers of the prosecutor's office, with such powers transferred to the police, as they viewed them as powerful political tools.^[37]

During the colonial period, Marxist historian Paek Nam-un evaluated Silhak as "pioneer of early modern period liberalism," while Ahn Jae-hong, a liberal nationalist, evaluated Silhak and Silhak scholar Chŏng Yagyong as "the origin of late modern period liberalism by presenting elimination of (feudal) class and support for equality". Silhak criticized the existing Confucian conservatism and Sadaejuui, aiming for political reform and pragmatism, and also argued for the superiority of Western science and technology as well as Westwe. Some Silhak scholars believed in Christianity while other liberal nationalists turned towards neo-Confucian Donghak ideology, which provided these nationalists with a powerful blueprint for mass mobilization, popular sovereignty, and self-reliance.^[38][39]

Korea's first classical liberal and Enlightenmentists party was the Gaehwa Party, which appeared in 1874. They aimed for radical political and social reform, cut off unequal relations with the powerful Qing Dynasty and tried to create a completely independent Joseon Dynasty, and led by Seo Jae-pil in 1896 was a practical successor to the Gaehwa Party. Influenced by Japanese liberalism, they showed pro-Japanese tendencies, but at the same time insisted on independent Korea. In the 1900s, classical liberals and Enlightenmentists in Korea were largely divided into two groups. Some became Chinilpa who cooperated with Japan, and others who devoted themselves to the Korean independence movement.^[11][40]

During the colonial era, Korean liberalism is closely related to the Korean independence movement. South Korean historians say that the March 1st Movement, which took place in 1919, affected democracy and liberalism in South Korea as a movement involving many Koreans regardless of gender, religion, or occupation.^[41] The Republic of Korean Provisional Government, established thanks to the value of the March 1st Movement, has established a modern national system in name and reality by introducing the separation of powers of government, parliament, and judiciary based on freedom and equality, and common elections including women. (However, since it was located in Shanghai, China, it was more of a Korean independence movement organization than a korean government.)^[42]

After the end of Japanese colonial rule, with the inauguration of the Republic of Korea government, the word "liberal" has been used in South Korea for a while in a similar sense to anti-communism and anti-socialism. That is why not only ideological liberals but also hard-line conservatives and far-right anti-communists called themselves "liberal." A case in point was the "Liberal Party", a South Korean far-right national-conservative party influenced by Shōwa Statism, German and Italian fascism.^[43] In particular, Syngman Rhee, the first president of the Liberal Party, committed authoritarian rule and election fraud based on Ilminism, an anti-liberal individual worship ideology from 1948 to 1960, and liberals and students who opposed it caused April Revolution. This was the first successful liberal revolution in South Korea.^[44]

The 1997 presidential election saw the election of South Korea's first liberal president in modern history, with Kim Dae-jung serving as the country's leader from 1998 to 2003. Later liberal presidents would include Roh Moo-hyun from 2003 to 2008, Moon Jae-in from 2017 to 2022, and Lee Jae Myung since 2025.

The political party that once were ruling party are in bold.

• Hankook Ilbo - centrist, classically liberal
  • The Korea Times (English-language newspapers)
• Kyunghyang Shinmun - centre to centre-left, liberal
• The Hankyoreh - centre-left, socially liberal
  • Cine21 (film magazine)
• OhmyNews - liberal-leaning, progressive liberal

In South Korea, 'political liberalism' and 'non-political liberalism' are distinguished. Therefore, the groups listed below may not be directly related to a particular political party or political power.

• Yun Bo-seon (Democratic) (1960–1962)
• Kim Dae-jung (National Congress for New Politics→Millennium Democratic Party) (1998–2003)
• Roh Moo-hyun (Millennium Democratic Party→Uri Party→United New Democratic Party) (2003–2008)
• Moon Jae-in (Democratic) (2017–2022)
• Lee Jae-myung (Democratic) (2025–present)

• 386 Generation
• Anti-sadaejuui
• Classical liberalism
• Conservatism in South Korea
• Conservative liberalism^[57] (centre to centre-right)
• Economic liberalism
• Economic progressivism
• History of South Korea
• Liberalism in Japan - This influenced the formation of early Korean liberalism.
• List of political parties in South Korea
• Minjudang
• Politics of South Korea
• Progressivism in South Korea
• Social conservatism
• Social liberalism (centre-left)
• Social democracy (centre-left to left-wing)
• Student movements in Korea
• Sunshine policy
• Undongkwon