Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Politics in South Korea - statistics & facts
Since its founding in 1948, South Korea has undergone significant economic and political changes and has developed from a war-torn nation into one of the largest economies in the world. In 1987, mass protests led by students ended the military dictatorship of 30 years, paving the way for democratization in the country. Amendments to the Constitution allowed for direct presidential elections and limited the presidential term to five years without the possibility of re-election. Since then, nine presidents have been elected. Of those, President Park Geun-hye (2013-2016) and President Yoon Suk Yeol (2022-2025) were ousted during their terms.
South Korea has a multi-party system, but the political landscape is highly polarized. The liberal Democratic Party and the conservative People Power Party are currently the country's two largest political parties, whose foundations date back to the 1990s. The last few years have seen an intensification of political polarization, especially when opposing political identities and ideologies have clashed with sensitive socio-political and economic issues such as the minimum wage or rising property prices. This was particularly evident in the most recent presidential elections in 2022, in which conservative Yoon Suk Yeol won the closest race in the country's history by a margin of 0.8 percentage points over his liberal rival Lee Jae-myung.
The political landscape in South Korea
The Constitution of South Korea establishes a clear separation of powers in the government. As head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the president has the authority to enact laws, appoint the prime minister, and declare war. Legislative power is exercised by the National Assembly, which is a unicameral parliament of 300 members who are elected for four-year terms. Judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and other high and district courts.South Korea has a multi-party system, but the political landscape is highly polarized. The liberal Democratic Party and the conservative People Power Party are currently the country's two largest political parties, whose foundations date back to the 1990s. The last few years have seen an intensification of political polarization, especially when opposing political identities and ideologies have clashed with sensitive socio-political and economic issues such as the minimum wage or rising property prices. This was particularly evident in the most recent presidential elections in 2022, in which conservative Yoon Suk Yeol won the closest race in the country's history by a margin of 0.8 percentage points over his liberal rival Lee Jae-myung.
The “imperial presidency”
As recently as 2017, Park Geun-hye became the first South Korean president to be removed from office following mass protests over her corruption scandal. Less than a decade later, President Yoon Suk Yeol became the second president to be ousted after shocking the nation by declaring martial law and deploying armed troops to the National Assembly. While these incidents underscored the resilience of South Korea’s democracy in holding its leaders accountable, they also exposed a fundamental weakness in the country’s political system, mainly that the checks and balances on the "imperial presidency" defined in the existing constitutional framework were not sufficient for guaranteeing a strict separation of powers. Amid widespread frustration with the government’s failure to address urgent societal issues, public dissatisfaction with the political system has deepened, fueling growing calls for reform.
