Reactionary Politics in South Korea: Historical Legacies, Far-Right Intellectuals, and Political Mobilization

In December 2024, South Korean president Yoon Seok-yeol stunned the world by declaring martial law. More puzzling was that Yoon’s insurrection unexpectedly gained substantial support from the ruling right-wing party and many citizens. Why do ordinary citizens support authoritarian leaders and martial law in a democratic country? What draws them to extreme actions and ideas? With the rise of illiberal, far-right politics across the globe, Reactionary Politics in South Korea provides an in-depth account of the ideas and practices of far-right groups and organizations threatening democratic systems. Drawing on eighteen months of field research and rich qualitative data, Myungji Yang helps explain the roots of current democratic regression. Yang provides vivid details of on-the-ground internal dynamics of far-right actors and their communities and worldviews, uncovering the organizational and popular foundations of far-right politics and movements.

• Expands existing scholarship on the far right beyond western and euro-centric analysis
• Promotes a historical understanding of the origins of the current political crisis and democratic decline in South Korea and around the world
• Demonstrates deep connections between political parties and social movements through rich qualitative data

Myungji Yang is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. As a political sociologist, her research interests include state-society relations, authoritarianism, and democracy. She is the author of From Miracle to Mirage: The Making and Unmaking of the Korean Middle Class, 1960–2015 (2018).

Contents

Introduction

1. The Historical Roots of Political Topography: Cold-War Geopolitics and Right-Wing Hegemony
2. Liberal Democracy Without Democracy? Ideological Pillars of the South Korean Right
3. Guarding the Republic of Korea and Resisting ‘Radical’ Reforms: The Institutional Infrastructure of the Right
4. The Specter of the Past: Reconstructing Conservative Historical Memory in South Korea
5. The Conservative Mind: How Taegu-Kyŏngbuk and Gangnam Became Strongholds of Conservatism
6. In the Name of the T’aegŭkki: Why Older South Koreans Took to the Streets Against the Candlelight Protests

Conclusion

Source: publisher’s website