In December 2024, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, shocking the world and plunging the country into political turmoil. Last Friday, April 4, South Korea’s constitutional court removed Yoon from office. Elections for a new president will be held within sixty days. As Joan Cho and Aram Hur argue in the new issue of the Journal of Democracy, the political chaos has revealed deep-seated divisions within South Korean society and politics. Will democracy prevail, or will nationalist polarization continue to tear at the country’s institutions and civil society?
The Perils of South Korean Democracy
When South Korea’s president declared martial law last December, he shocked the country and sparked a political crisis that laid bare deep-seated divisions. Can Korean democracy overcome the nationalist polarization that has always defined it?
By Joan E. Cho and Aram Hur
What Happened to South Korea’s Democracy?
The quick reversal of President Yoon’s martial-law order is being celebrated as a democratic victory. But the problems run deeper than one man. What comes next?
By Gi-Wook Shin
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