javascript is disabled, enable it otherwise the site will not work properly!

javascript est désactivé, activez-le sinon le site ne fonctionnera pas correctement !

Politics of South Korea

The politics of South Korea take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state, and of a multi-party system. To ensure a separation of powers, the Republic of Korea Government is made up of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The government exercises executive power and legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises a Supreme Court, appellate courts, and a Constitutional Court.

Since 1948, the constitution has undergone five major revisions, each signifying a new republic. The current Sixth Republic began with the last major constitutional revision that took effect in 1988. From its founding until the June Democratic Struggle, the South Korean political system operated under a military authoritarian regime, with the freedom of assembly, association, expression, press and religion as well as civil society activism being tightly restricted. During that period, there were no freely elected national leaders, political opposition is suppressed, dissent was not permitted and civil rights were curtailed.

The Economist Intelligence Unit rated South Korea a "full democracy" in 2022. According to the V-Dem Democracy indices South Korea was 2023 the third most electoral democratic country in Asia. South Korea is often cited as a model of democracy due to its relatively peaceful and internally-driven democratic transition.

However, the mid-2000s to mid-2010s are often considered South Korea's backsliding period. Although, some have argued South Korea has hit a democratic ceiling and changes are more characteristic of democratic stagnation in lieu of regression. This took the form of more state involvement (particularly through the Korea Communications Commission or KCC) in media control and less editorial independence among journalists with conservative media owners. Overall, political expression lagged behind comparable democracies. Additionally, South Korea has very strict election and campaign finance regulations, that includes no door-to-door canvassing and, consequently, some have cited these regulations as barriers to political expression and free and fair elections. These changes have largely attributed to South Korea's weak political party structure that emphasizes leaders and, consequently, hyper-presidentialism. Moreover, a right-left ideological divide has been more deeply entrenched into South Korean political society.However, South Korea is considered to have a strong civil society or simin sahoe manifested through a large number of civic organization that prevented further backsliding via the 2016-2017 Candlelight Demonstrations.

Under more recent administrations such as President Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea has taken a stance as a "Global Pivotal State," which involves a greater role in East Asia as a democratic power. Despite its own democratic struggles, South Korea has taken an active role on democracy on the global stage having hosted the 2024 Summit for Democracy and committing to "strengthen coordination on promoting democracy and protecting human rights" at the 2023 Camp David Summit with the U.S. and Japan, bolstering their trilateral relationship.

National government

Executive branch

The head of state is the president, who is elected by direct popular vote for a single five-year term. The president is Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and enjoys considerable executive powers.

The president appoints the prime minister with approval of the National Assembly, as well as appointing and presiding over the State Council of chief ministers as the head of government. On 12 March 2004, the executive power of then President Roh Moo-hyun was suspended when the Assembly voted to impeach him and Prime Minister Goh Kun became an Acting President. On 14 May 2004, the Constitutional Court overturned the impeachment decision made by the Assembly and Roh was reinstated.

On 10 May 2022, Yoon Suk Yeol succeeded Moon Jae-in as president of South Korea.

Legislative branch

The National Assembly (Korean: 국회; Hanja: 國會; RR: gukhoe) has 300 members, elected for a four-year term, 253 members in single-seat constituencies and 47 members by proportional representation. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is the largest party in the Assembly.

Judicial branch

The South Korean judiciary is independent of the other two branches of government, and is composed of two different highest courts. Inferior ordinary courts are under the Supreme Court, whose justices are appointed by the president of South Korea with the consent of the National Assembly. In addition, the Constitutional Court oversees questions of constitutionality, as single and the only court whose justices are appointed by the president of South Korea by equal portion of nomination from the president, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Court Chief justice. South Korea has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

Political parties and elections

South Korea elects on national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The National Assembly (Gukhoe) has 300 members, elected for a four-year term, 253 members in single-seat constituencies and 47 members by proportional representation.

The main two political parties in South Korea are the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (lit. "Together Democratic Party", DPK) and the conservative People Power Party (PPP), formerly the United Future Party (UFP). The liberal camp and the conservative camp are the dominant forces of South Korean politics at present.

Political nature

South Korea's political history has always been prone to splits from and merges with other parties. One reason is that there is a greater emphasis around the 'politics of the individual' rather than the party; therefore, party loyalty is not strong when disagreements occur. The graph below illustrates the extent of the political volatility within the last 10 years alone. These splits were intensified after the 2016 South Korean political scandal.

Latest elections

Presidential election

By region

Major candidates

Breakdown of votes by region for candidates with at least 1% of the total votes.

Minor candidates

Breakdown of votes by region for candidates with less than 1% of the total votes.

In March 2022, Yoon Suk-yeol, the candidate of the conservative opposition People Power Party, won a close election over Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung by the narrowest margin ever. On 10 May 2022, Yoon was sworn in as South Korea's new president.

Legislative election

Political pressure groups and leaders

Federation of Korean Industries
Federation of Korean Trade Unions
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
Korean National Council of Churches
Korean Traders Association
Korean Veterans' Association
National Council of Labor Unions
National Democratic Alliance of Korea
National Federation of Farmers' Associations
National Federation of Student Associations

Administrative divisions

One Special City (Teukbyeolsi, Capital City), six Metropolitan Cities (Gwangyeoksi, singular and plural), nine Provinces (Do, singular and plural) and one Special Autonomous City (Sejong City).