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Is democracy healthier today than it was a year ago?

Published: 03 Dec. 2025, 00:02

Ko Jung-ae

The author is the editor-in-chief at JoongAng Sunday.

I often revisit this date in my mind. It marks the day when a president, already weakened by conflict with the legislature, detonated his own authority by declaring emergency martial law. Why did he do it? Was he always that kind of person, or did the presidency distort him? We ask, and we will keep asking. Future generations will too. Even if they forget other presidents, they will remember this one: Yoon Suk Yeol.

Then-President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a public address on Dec. 3, 2024 at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

His downfall collapsed the old political order in which conservatives and progressives competed for power and ushered in a new system dominated by the progressive bloc — President Lee Jae Myung and the Democratic Party (DP). But has Korean democracy returned to a healthier path?

Before the presidential election, I wrote that if a Lee Jae Myung–DP government came to power, Korea would face an unprecedented single-centered ruling structure. Even in opposition, the party had already shown it could do almost anything it wished. With control of both the executive and the legislature, its efficiency — and dominance — would only grow. I also noted the Constitutional Court’s earlier reminder that the National Assembly must serve the public interest, respect minority voices and seek agreement with the government through dialogue, restraint and compromise. I wondered whether such principles would reemerge once the party held the presidency and a legislative majority. And I asked whether a political force that had drawn parts of the judiciary into its orbit could resist the natural tendency of power toward expansion.

Now the picture is clearer. They chose capitulation. Still, their power continues to expand. One expects such momentum to ease, yet it does not. Allies have been rewarded with posts, and some may soon become “tycoons.” Prosecutorial authority has been hollowed out, while a de facto special-prosecutor framework — soon entering its second sweeping phase — has been structured to deploy state punitive power for partisan ends. The administration scolds the Board of Audit and Inspection while mobilizing it through the veneer of “National Assembly–approved audits,” which effectively means audits approved by the Democratic Party. Under the banner of settling the “legacy of insurrection,” the government has sidelined, fragmented and reshuffled the civil service, pushing officials into so-called healing programs. Even the judiciary now finds itself inside the storm. For judges, issuing rulings disliked by the ruling bloc in political cases means preparing for public humiliation — and worse.

President Lee Jae Myung presents himself as maintaining distance, but when he speaks of “religious wars” or “acts of insurrection hidden everywhere,” it raises doubts about whether he truly seeks to be the president who ends division and serves all citizens. Perhaps power is, by nature, wielded harshly.

Meanwhile, the People Power Party (PPP), reduced to roughly 100 seats, has nearly vanished from relevance. Its remaining influence is weakened further by the stubbornness of the “Yoon-Again” faction, which insists on retaining control of the PPP even if it means shrinking it into a minor party. The former president, still refusing to apologize, has become a political burden dragging the party down. In practice, the DP could not have asked for a more helpful opposition.

Both sides have the ability to mobilize loyal fandoms who will support them no matter what. Neither will be meaningfully checked for some time.

President Lee Jae-myung salutes the flag at his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in western Seoul on June 4. [LIM HYUNG-DONG]

If there is any consolation, it is that Korea is not alone. As anthropologist Arjun Appadurai writes in “The Great Regression” (2017), “Elections today are not a means of correcting politics through democratic debate but a mechanism for exiting democracy itself.” Political theorist Ivan Krastev adds in the same volume that “what we witness now is the rise of majoritarian regimes that convert the state into private property, where the will of the masses becomes the sole source of legitimacy.” The descriptions resonate far beyond Korea.

Healthy democracy requires lawful procedures, careful judgment, and political patience because humans are imperfect and disagreements unavoidable. Yet liberalism is now threatened by those who once called themselves liberals, and democracy is being eroded by those who once championed it. A year ago, after martial law was blocked and impeachment succeeded, I hoped the same civic energy would build a new political order. Instead, the situation has grown worse.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.