Korean democracy and consolidation: A case study of freedom of dissent

This study investigated the status of consolidation of liberal democracy in Korea. Given Korea's rapid economic growth, the implementation of democratic institutions, and democratic elections where opposition leaders have come to power, Korea seems well on its way to consolidating democracy. However, many scholars of Korean politics have argued that Korea's prospects for movement toward the liberal democratic ideal are somewhat bleak. They point out that traditional authoritarian political values continue to restrict democratic freedoms such as freedom of dissent, especially in the area of government application of the National Security Law (NSL). In the present study, I investigated the nature of the democratic voice of civic groups with regard to the NSL---a law that restricts civil liberties and political freedoms. Civic groups that worked within the dominant political culture successfully promoted change toward democratic consolidation while civic groups that challenged the dominant political culture failed to promote changes leading toward democratic consolidation.