With election looming, conservatives urged to reclaim their principles

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With election looming, conservatives urged to reclaim their principles

Published: 28 May. 2025, 00:03

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Shin June-bong
The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

With just days remaining before Korea’s 21st presidential election on June 3, public attention is shifting toward the possibility of a last-minute merger between conservative candidates. Two polls released on May 27 — one by the JoongAng Ilbo and another by the Dong-A Ilbo — showed Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung leading by roughly 10 percentage points in both head-to-head and multicandidate matchups. People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo and Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok trailed behind.

A pedestrian walks by presidential candidates' campaign posters attached to a wall in Mapo District, western Seoul, on May 23. [YONHAP]

The PPP is clinging to hopes of merging with the Reform Party, but the prospects remain uncertain. Shin Chang-woon, a visiting professor of statistics at Inha University and an expert in public opinion polling, said the current race resembles previous landslide elections, such as the 2007 and 2017 contests won by Lee Myung-bak and Moon Jae-in, respectively. From a conservative standpoint — assuming the PPP still represents what could be called “rational conservatism” — Shin suggested that focusing on voter turnout may be more effective than pursuing unification. In elections with uneven momentum, the less confident camp often suffers from lower turnout. Conservatives, he argued, must motivate their base to narrow the gap.

That sense of inevitability has left many voters disillusioned. A publisher, referred to as Mr. A, responded to a call asking about the election by saying, “Is that really why you’re calling me?” His tone implied the result was already clear. A history professor at a private university, identified as Professor B, confessed he might not vote at all. He criticized Lee Jae-myung for lacking a clear vision and a clean personal record, accusing him of frequent dishonesty. He was equally critical of Kim Moon-soo, noting the drastic shift in his political beliefs and questioning whether his worldview had veered into ideological fundamentalism. Professor B said he worried Kim might pardon Yoon Suk Yeol if elected, while a Lee victory could threaten judicial independence over the next five years.

Regardless of the mood, the election will proceed and a winner will be determined. But the discomfort surrounding this early vote raises deeper questions — not just about the candidates, but about the state of Korean conservatism. Why, once again, has the conservative bloc found itself unprepared?

Any serious inquiry into conservatism must inevitably return to the 18th-century British philosopher Edmund Burke. According to sociologist Cho Hyung-geun — who resigned from a full-time faculty post at Hallym University in 2019 citing disillusionment with ivory tower pragmatism — American political theorist Samuel Huntington identified key elements of Burkean conservatism in "Reflections on the Revolution in France" (1790). These include the belief that prejudice can sometimes guide us better than reason, that human beings are inherently unequal and that efforts to eradicate existing evils often produce greater harm.

In other words, conservatives should recognize themselves not as owners of society but as long-term tenants. Change, when necessary, should be gradual and graceful. This worldview is rooted in epistemological humility — the awareness of our limited knowledge — and historical utilitarianism, which sees tradition as a source of accumulated wisdom.

This cautious stance is not inherently harmful. For a country surrounded by great powers and facing the ever-present North Korean threat, a degree of strategic restraint may even be prudent.

Still, critics argue that Korea has failed to preserve the virtues of conservatism. Yoon Bi, a political science professor at Sungkyunkwan University, contends that Korea’s conservative tradition was largely dismantled during the Japanese colonial period (1910-45) and the Korean War (1950-53). In its place came an ideology rooted in anti-communism, state-centric nationalism and a growth-first mentality — all of which have lost relevance in today’s political discourse.

How can the conservative movement recover from this state of disarray? The answer is not a mystery. It begins with shedding associations with regressive nationalism. Joo Dae-hwan, head of the Korean Democracy Movement Veterans' Association, warned that now is not the time to indulge in delusions like the “North Korean involvement in the Gwangju Uprising” or baseless election fraud theories.

Lee Jun-seok, the Reform Party’s candidate, should not agree to any merger at the 11th hour, the article argues. Breaking repeated promises to run independently would damage his credibility and undermine the future of his political platform.

Above all, conservatives need to start reading again — and engaging with ideas. Mr. A, the publisher, noted that the DP recently held a policy roundtable with the Korean Publishers Association, organized by Myongji University Professor Yoo Hong-jun and the party’s Korea Cultural Power Committee. They discussed issues such as tax credits for content production. The association reportedly provided the same policy materials to the People Power Party, but received no response — a pattern repeated during the last presidential election.

From left: Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party, Kwon Young-gook of the Democratic Labor Party and Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party pose for a photo ahead of the second televised presidential debate on May 23 at the KBS studio in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The implication is clear: conservatives appear indifferent to cultural and intellectual engagement. This lack of curiosity may be more damaging than any single policy failure.

As Korea prepares to elect its next leader, the conservative movement is at a crossroads. Its survival depends not on short-term electoral tactics, but on the difficult work of ideological renewal. That process starts with reflection — and reading.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.