Description

Politics

Known as the Republic of Korea, South Korea’s political system is a liberal democratic

political system in which its principles are based on the sovereignty of the people, with

all the authority of state emanating from its citizens. The separations of powers are

among three branches of government: the rule of law, the responsibility to promote

citizen’s welfare, and the attainment of a peaceful unification of Korea (South Korea

Profile). Today the democracy of South Korea is considered pretty vibrant from its

history and transitions.

Koreans lived under a dynastic system until roughly the 1910s. After the liberation from

the Japanese colonization in 1945, as mentioned earlier, Korea was divided by North

and South. The executive branch under the president as the head of the state consists

of the prime minister, the state council, seventeen executive ministries, etc. The

president is elected by popular votes for a single five-year term. The prime minister is

appointed by the chosen president with the approval of the National assembly. “The

legislature of South Korea consists of a single house National Assembly who has 273

members and they all serve a four-year term” (Whitlam).

South Korea elected its first female president, Park Geun-Hye, in December 2012, even

while being known for having the highest gender of inequality in the developing world.

As a daughter of the former president, Park Chung-Hee, who ruled for 18 years, she

was well known in the public eye. At the age 22, Geun-Hye became the first lady when

her mother was killed from a North Korean assassin’s bullet meant for her husband.

On February 2013, when Geun-Hye sworn in for presidency, her commencement

speech promised to prioritize national security, economic revitalization, and social

welfare. She also wanted to seek greater engagement with North Korea by offering

them a “step by step trust building process but vowed she would not tolerate any action

that threatened national security.” According to the Hofstede, South Korea is considered

a feminine society in which the people are motivated in enjoying and caring for what

they do versus wanting to outshine others and being the best. In a feminine country, the

civilization main focus is on “equality, solidarity, and quality in the working lives. Conflict

is resolved by compromise and negotiation.”

Today, South Korea's government consist of Park Geun-hye as head of government, a

head of state, a commander in chief, Kim Byong-Joon as prime minister, and the state

council in the administrative branch. The legislative branch consists of 300 people, and

in the Judiciary, there is the supreme court and constitutional court which is shown in

the image below provided by CNN.

In 2016, there were huge scandals with President Park Geun-Hye that may lead to her

impeachment. The background of this scandal is that for months, many South Korean

citizens have protested the President’s friendship with Choi Soon-sil, daughter of a cult

leader. There are allegations such as the purchase of Viagra pills that plunged the

economy into a crisis.