SEOUL, February 28 (AJP) - If President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment is upheld by the Constitutional Court next month and if Lee Jae-myung or another Democratic Party candidate wins the election to replace him, media will predictably report that Korea’s leadership has changed from right to left.
Some might modify these words a little and say we have moved from the center-right to the far-left. Or, they might say we have gone from the far-right to the center-left.
But what do we mean when we use these terms, right and left? What exactly do we mean when we say we have moved from one to the other?
In some way, the words are so familiar to us, and it is so obvious what they refer to, that it seems unnecessary to ask the question. For example, we may forget the names of the parties which previous presidents belonged to – because they changed their names a lot – but we know that Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in were on the “left.” While Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye were on the “right.”
But imagine that we are talking to someone who knows nothing about Korea or our politics. What information are we conveying when we say Yoon is on the right and Lee is on the left?
Sometimes, instead of saying right and left, we say conservative and progressive. Unlike right and left, which describe positions on a spectrum, progressive and conservative as terms seem to describe what a person or party believes and promotes.
These words carry some relevant meaning. One of the key features of liberal democracy is the idea of constant progress. Nobody in a democracy, for example, imagines that the best future would be if 100 years from now society were to be in the same place as it is today, ruled by the same party pursuing the same policies. We believe not just in change, but in progress – in other words, change for the better. Thus, we are, as democrats, progressive.
Another feature of democracy is the need to conserve what is good. For example, if freedom or religion or freedom of speech were threatened, we would be worried. These are good things that we need to conserve. Thus, as democrats, we are conservative.
In a healthy society, we need to keep what is good and improve what isn’t. The two sides of the political aisle are both loyal to the state but differ over what to keep and what to improve and when and how to do it.
But do these words accurately describe our politicians? What is conservative about the People Power Party and what is progressive about the Democratic Party. Consider, for example, the foreign policy regarding Japan. The DP seems to want to keep fighting the Japanese occupation, while the PPP is trying to move on. Surely in this example, the DP is conservative and the PPP is progressive?
But let’s return to “right” and “left.” Broadly speaking, to be on the left means you are a fan of government. When there are problems, the first thing a leftist does is ask what the government is or is not doing. This is natural and reasonable.
To be on the right means to prefer the market. The rightists still want a strong government. In fact, they want to run the strong government themselves. But they believe in the market, and don’t like the government to interfere with it excessively.
For another way at looking at political attitudes, in his book “The Righteous Mind,” the American sociologist Jonathan Haidt distinguishes people on the right and left in terms of their moral values. The left, he says, emphasize fairness and care for the less fortunate, which is why they tend to be soft on crime and in favor of welfare. People on the right also have these values but they are more likely to emphasize liberty and respect for authority.
When we consider these explanations, it is hard to apply this global pattern to Korean politics. For example, both sides in Korea believe in strong central government control. Both sides believe in “the people” and in helping farmers and giving us all welfare. This common ground would suggest that both main parties in Korea are leftist.
When you think about it, the two sides in Korea have more common ground than points of difference. They both complain about and yet believe in the chaebol. Both believe in strong ties with America and good relations with China and other non-democratic states for the purpose of economic benefit. Both see North Korea as a massive existential problem and believe in a strong defense.
So, what makes them different? The main theme that separates them is what to do about North Korea. The “right” wants to do an M&A at some point. The “left” wants to negotiate a new joint venture. That explains why the PPP prefers to threaten the North with military superiority, while the DP prefers dialogue.
At the end of 2023, North Korea declared that it is no longer interested in re-unification and it characterized South Korea as a foreign enemy. If this posture remains unchanged and as the implications become clearer, the difference between the two main parties in South Korea may disappear altogether.
If that happens, it will make it even more important than ever to stop using right and left, and conservative and progressive, and come up with different words, so that we might have more reasonable political debates and make more informed choices when we vote.
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This article was contributed by Michael Breen, CEO of Insight Communications and a former foreign correspondent.
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