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Past Event

A Foreign Policy and Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies Event

Democratic Consolidation in the Republic of Korea: Progress and Challenges

South Korea

Event Summary

On February 2, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings, the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation and the Seoul National University’s Institute for Korean Political Studies and the Political Science BK21 Project hosted a symposium to examine the progress South Korea has made over the last 20 years in building its democratic institutions, and in areas in which the system can be improved to better reflect the will of the voters.

Event Information

When

Monday, February 02, 2009
8:45 AM to 4:45 PM

Where

Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Map

Event Materials

Contact: Brookings Office of Communications

Email: events@brookings.edu

Phone: 202.797.6105

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A distinguished panel of Korean and American experts analyzed how popular will is conveyed to the political system; how the political system operates and uses these inputs; how the political system interacts with Korea’s economy; and how the political system affects its foreign relations.

Transcript

RICHARD BUSH: Now, some of you may be asking why the conference is necessary in the first place. Korea's transition to democracy began about 22 years ago, and there have since been five popular presidential elections. The National Assembly is a lively institution. The press is free and aggressive. Prosecutors pursue corruption wherever they find it. Civil society is active. So, you might ask, what's the problem? Why should we care about the health of Korea's democracy?

I can think of a couple of reasons. On the one hand, Korea's political transition was a significant event in third-wave democratization. Here's an example of an authoritarian political system in an Asian society that made a gradual shift to full democracy while preserving relative stability. So, the Korean example offers hope regarding democratization everywhere, including, for example, China.

Participants

8:45 AM -- Welcome

Richard C. Bush III

Director, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies

Jung Bock Lee

Professor of Political Science, Seoul National University

Bruce Klingner

Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia, The Heritage Foundation

9:15 AM -- Panel 1: How Popular Will is Conveyed to the Political System

L. Gordon Flake

Executive Director, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation

Sang-shin Lee

Research Fellow, Institute of Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University

Scott Snyder

Senior Associate, The Asia Foundation

10:45 AM -- Panel 2: How the Political System Operates

Jong O. Ra

Professor of Political Science, Hollins University

Won-Taek Kang

Associate Professor of Political Science, Soongsil University

Chan-Wook Park

Professor of Political Science; Director, Political Science BK21 Project, Seoul National University

Jeong-Ho Roh

Director, Center of Korean Legal Studies, Columbia University

12:30 PM -- Lunch

Evans Revere

President, Korea Society

1:45 PM -- Panel 3: How Democracy Affects the Economy

Haeran Lim

Associate Professor of Political Science, Seoul National University

Amy Jackson

Director, C&M International

James Lister

Vice President, Korea Economic Institute

Frank Shin

Advisor, KEFICO Corporation

3:30 PM -- Panel 4: How Democracy Affects Foreign Relations

Taehyun Kim

Professor of International Relations, Chungang University

Dal-joong Chang

Professor of Political Science, Seoul National University

Kongdan Oh

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies

Bruce Klingner

Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia, The Heritage Foundation


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