Two main ideological foundations of South Korea, Western democracy and Western capitalism, have emerged as two biggest campaign issues in the presidential election. 

The people are divided on the meanings of these two constitutional orders. The conservatives maintain that since Western democracy is the political system of South Korea, any persons who advocate pro-North Korea policies are worshippers, if not agents, of North Korea and therefore they should either immigrate to North Korea or be subject to punishment.

The progressives, on the other hand, counterattack the former, arguing that such an accusation is Korean-style McCarthyism and tantamount to the denial of democracy itself.

After the National Assembly elections in April this year, the debate has aggravated into a verbal war because the radicals have come to political forefront and inflamed the whole debate.

They attack both conservatives and progressives by propagating what can be called the Korean nation-first principle. Their theory seems to be based on the premise that both Koreas subordinate their ideological foundations to Korean nationalism.

According to this view, whether a soft-line (engagement) or hard-line (containment or confrontation) policy toward North Korea is good or bad should be determined by whether it strengthens or undermines Korean nationalism. This kind of theory may appeal to some people but is pernicious propaganda, if not a half-baked idea.

Since modern nationalism emerged in the mid-18th century, states had tried to build a state based on a nation (homogenous ethnic or racial entity) but after World War II, multinational states have become more common.

More importantly, during the Cold War period, ideology became another determinant of state formation. The two Koreas were the products of ideological division. The Korean people were ideologically divided and formed separate states.

This means that South Korea cannot abandon democracy just as North Korea will not abandon communism. Therefore, the South Koreans cannot sacrifice democracy for Korean reunification, because democracy is the raison d’etre of the Republic of Korea. The kind of North Korea policy South Korea pursues must be determined by how to preserve its political system and how to peacefully achieve reunification.

As to the economic order of South Korea, the conservatives hold that the Korean economic order is free-market capitalism, while the progressives emphasize revised capitalism (a balanced form of free-market capitalism and European socialism). The radicals go further and advocate social democracy. They argue over the true meaning of “democratization of the economy.”

Actually, they are debating on the degree of state intervention in the market. Nowadays there is no state which practices classical capitalism. In the complicated modern economy dominated by financial capital, the market cannot function properly without state intervention.

The question is to what extent and in what form the state should intervene. It depends on the domestic and international economic conditions. If the state finds that the proper functioning of the market is hindered by monopoly or oligopoly and national wealth is unfairly distributed among the people, it can intervene strongly to remedy the situation.

Conservatives tend to abhor the term socialism or social democracy. But the Korean constitution makes it clear that the Korean economic order is a balanced form of free market capitalism and European socialism.

The former emphasizes individual freedom and the latter community solidarity. If economic freedoms are overemphasized, rapid economic growth may be realized, but political democracy will be undermined. If community solidarity and the fair distribution of wealth are overemphasized, economic growth may suffer. The Korean constitution is to avoid both situations.

The kind of policy which should be adopted must be determined by the democratic process. The only problem with the constitutional clause on the economic order is the phrase “to democratize the economy.” It is a misnomer, if not an oxymoron.

By Park Sang-seek

Park Sang-seek is a professor at the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyung Hee University. ― Ed.