New Right (South Korea)

History

Before the era of democratisation, South Korea had been ruled almost continuously by a series of dictatorships, such as those of Syngman Rhee and Park Chung Hee. These regimes were characterised by stringent anti-communism, ethnonationalism, authoritarianism, and state capitalism, and as a result these attributes came to be seen as hallmarks of the older generation of Korean conservatives. After 1987, following democratisation, conservatives adapted and modified their previous positions in order to counteract the rising successes of left-wing activism in South Korean politics.

Nonetheless, the conservative parties of the old style continued to hold a negative association with corruption of the past for many, and throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, progressivism characterised by support for social liberalism and a soft attitude towards North Korea became dominant in politics. As a result of this, a number of reform-minded right-wing groups known as the "New Right" developed in the 2000s as a reaction to the ascendency of these progressives, whose ideology they considered harmful. Like the old conservatives, they opposed left-wing economic policies and a soft attitude toward North Korea. However, they also attempted to distance themselves from the sins of the older right-wing, which they viewed as stagnant and out-of-touch. Describing themselves as "rational conservatives," these groups expressed a more flexible attitude towards North Korea through a willingness to recognise it as a separate country and to provide humanitarian aid for the citizens of North Korea. However, they balanced this with an anti-communist attitude and a support for free-market economic policies. They also rejected the totalitarianism of the past and placed an emphasis on civil rights and liberty; overall, their views were associated with classical liberalism.

Initially, these "New Right" groups contained many figures connected to the traditional conservative establishment and as a result they struggled to differentiate themselves from old-school conservatives for a time. This could be seen following the victory of conservative Lee Myung-bak in the 2007 presidential election; Lee's administration succeeded in replacing many progressive members of government-affiliated deliberative and advisory committees with members of "New Right" organisations. Lee's successor, Park Geun-hye (the eldest daughter of dictator Park Chung Hee), continued to maintain close relationships with these modern conservative social groups, even as her administration displayed an antagonistic attitude towards anti-government demonstrations and labor strikes.

Unlike the moderate early New Right movement in the 2000s, the New Right movement has become increasingly extreme since the 2010s. Some New Right scholars have come under criticism for supporting the historical revisionist and extreme right-wing view of Gwangju Uprising.

There is an evaluation that the pro-Japanese New Right movement has a direct or indirect effect on the foreign policy of the Yoon Suk Yeol government.

Political views

The New Right's view of modern and contemporary Korean history is known to be contrary to the view of progressive Korean nationalists. The New Right movement is led by descendants of those who collaborated with the Japanese imperialism and Shōwa Statism (國家主義) during the time when Korea was a Japanese colony. The New Right movement opposes Korean ethnic nationalism (민족주의; 民族主義) and is a radical advocate for South Korean-based state nationalism (국가주의; 國家主義); they oppose anti-Japanese ethno-nationalism, positively evaluate the history of modernization caused by Japanese colonial rule and support the view that South Korea was founded in 1948, when the official government was established, not 1919, when the Provisional Government was established, which has been criticized by opponents for downplaying the history of the independence movement.

New Right scholars try to promote pro-American (친미; 親美) and pro-Japanese (친일; 親日) sentiment among South Koreans. South Korea's New Rightists have a strong anti-communist perception of North Korea and a favorable perception of Japan, an ally with the United States, because they have a stronger pro-American sentiment than liberal-to-progressives. According to South Korean political experts, the New Right movement is based on the Korean sadaejuui sentiment.

Criticism

New Right movement has often been criticized by many South Korean media and experts for being "reactionary" or "far-right".

There is a controversy that New Right scholars support the colonialist view of Japanese people. New Right scholars have been criticized socially for accepting Japanese historical revisionism for Japanese war crimes. Even Hong Joon-pyo, known as a hardline conservative, criticized New Rightist perception of history. Yuji Hosaka, an ethnically Japanese naturalized South Korean, accused New Right of being a new Chinilpa in support of Japanese far-right. Hosaka accused South Korean New Right scholars of sympathizing with Nippon Kaigi's view of history. Lee Woo-yeon, co-author of Anti-Japan Tribalism, was funded by a Japanese far-right groups, according to a report by the Kyunghyang Shinmun.

Chin Jung-kwon, a political commentator, said "Japanese far-right politics is 'sadistic' and South Korean far-right politics is 'masochistic'", and "the 'colonialist historical perspective' is a 'political sadomasochism' directed by Japanese and South Korean far-right as sex partners".

The New Right movement is often criticized for its worship of authoritarian politicians in addition to pro-Japanese historical revisionism. In particular, the number of dictators Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee statues, has been increasing by South Korean conservatives, including New Right activists, since 2009. This is contrary to the example of Taiwan, which has been reducing the number of dictator Chiang Kai-shek statues since the 2010s.

Activism

Historiography

One aspect of the New Right that has been highly notable is the recent production of historical studies by New Right-oriented academics which seek to oppose traditional Korean views of history. Some of these best-selling books argue against the overwhelmingly negative view of Imperial Japan and also dispute specific details about the comfort women discussion. Some of these authors also suggest that Japan helped Korea to modernise, both politically and economically.

Conservative education

Some well-known politicians from the "old right" GNP indicated commonality with the New Right groups, including Park Geun-hye endorse the anti-North Korean New Right's version of alternative Korean History textbooks through a foundation called Text Book Forum. The Lee Myung-bak government's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has tried to implant the next Korean New Right version of Korean history textbook for the public school usage. The NR's groups' demanding pressure to use their hawkish Korean history textbooks has eventually make them inconsistently incompatible with the dovish ethics textbooks.

Media

• Gyegan Sidaejeongsin (계간 시대정신)
• New Daily (뉴데일리)

Organizations

• New Right National Union
• Sidaejeongsin

Members

• An Byeong-jik
• Cho Jun-hyuk
• Hong Jin-pyo (홍진표)
• Lee Young-hoon
• Lee Woo-yeon (이우연)
• Park Yu-ha
• Shin Ji-ho
• Yoon Suk Yeol

Notes

References

References

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