Conservatism in South Korea

Starting from the dictatorship of Syngman Rhee, South Korean conservatism has been influenced from the military dictatorships of Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan. In domestic policy, South Korean conservatism has a strong elitist streak and promotes rapid modernisation and social stability. Since the mid-to-late 2010s, conservatives with right-wing populist tendencies have become more prominent in the public sphere. Hong Joon-pyo and Han Dong-hoon are notable examples of a right-wing populist in Korea.

Unlike conservatives in the Anglosphere, conservatives in South Korea often define themselves as liberals. Both groups fervently denounce anarchism, communism, socialism and liberalism and refer to themselves as anti-socialists. They are distinct from the general liberals in South Korea.

Values

Domestic issues

Conservatives are more likely to support upholding the National Security Act.

The anti-communist tendencies of South Korean conservatives has led to perceptions by progressives and liberals that conservatives fostering McCarthyist-like red scares among the public in order to score political points. This includes an incident before the 1996 Legislative elections, where conservative lawmakers were arrested for secretly meeting with North Korean agents in Beijing to seek North's help in manipulating the outcome of the election in exchange for payoffs. The North fired artillery into the Join Security Zone on the DMZ, which caused panic among South Korean electorates, benefiting the conservative party.

International issues

Conservatism in South Korea is fervently anti-communist. South Korean conservatives oppose warming relations with North Korea, and therefore wish to strengthen the US-ROK alliance in order to improve South Korean security, in contrast to South Korean progressives who prefer détente with North Korea through the Sunshine Policy along with either maintaining the US-ROK alliance or softening it as well as pursuing a hostile policy towards Japan. However, there is a split between moderates and hardliners among conservatives, with the former emphasizing humanitarian issues related to North Korean defectors and identifying themselves as liberals, while the latter, in possible addition to the former, takes up the traditional aggressive emphasis on anti-communism and pro-Americanism.

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History

Before democratisation in 1987, South Korean conservatives were characterised not only by anti-communism, but also authoritarianism and developmentalism. After 1987, there was a trend in conservatism towards rebranding as the New Right and focusing on economic neoliberalism. In addition, conservatives adapted to the new democratic environment by increasing the number of conservative activist groups and online presence.

Following 1987, the South Korean public became less interested in issues such as class and politics than in the past, and thus, overall, both progressives and conservatives shifted their messaging; the former shifted from radical politics to supporting the likes of social democracy and welfare expansion, whereas the latter emphasised neoliberal values such as "freedom, capabilities, and competition of individuals".

The large city of Daegu, although a site of radical politics in the earlier postwar era, was transformed under the rule of Daegu-born Park Chung-hee and today has been called a "citadel of conservatism" in South Korea.

Following the success of Lee Myung-bak in the 2007 presidential election, some viewed it as a return to conservatism in South Korea after a decade of rule under progressive presidents, although an analysis by David C. Kang let him to argue that it was a turn towards centrism among the populace, given Lee's pragmatic business-minded tendencies, rather than traditional "arch-conservatism" of candidate Lee Hoi-chang. For instance, Lee pursued a more constructive and realistic foreign policy relationship with China in contrast to what more strident anti-communists would prefer, indicating the modern unpracticality of demonising China, even among conservative heads of state. During the campaigning seasons, Lee's aides also worked to present his approach as being "neither left nor right". In 2012, South Korea elected its first female president, Park Geun-hye of the conservative Saenuri Party. She would later be removed from office in 2017.

Jeong Tae-heon, a professor of Korean history at Korea University has expressed concerns that disputes over the term Jayuminjujuui (Korean: 자유민주주의; lit. '"liberal democracy" or "free and democracy"') reflect a strong conservative bias reacting against North Korea's political ideologies, similar to political views seen in 1950. The term liberal democracy as used by South Korean conservatives has a different connotation than in the Anglosphere, as its reflects the anti-communism and state-guided economic develop of the pre-1987 era.

Rise of the New Right

Since the 2010s, the New Right began dominating South Korean conservative politics. It began with the rise of "Taegukgi rallies" (Street Mobilization), who were outraged by the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, which was seen by her supporters as politically motivated. Mainly elderly conservatives, they became increasing disillusioned at the conservative establishment for having supported the impeachment process, an unforgivable act in the politically polarized environment of South Korean politics. The movement previously operated via seminars and books then escalated into massive weekly street protests aimed at delegitimizing the liberal Moon Jae-in government, which was further fueled by conservative YouTube channels, which weaponized disinformation, extreme anti-communism and conspiracy theories regarding Park's downfall. Critics viewed Moon's engagement policies toward North Korea as either a dangerous delusion or a deliberate capitulation to Pyongyang and argued that his administration was overly trusting of the Kim regime, undermined national security and weakened the alliance with the United States.

In the early 2020s, the movement broadened its reach to disenfranchised young men in their 20s and 30s after having shifted part of its focus towards modern grievance politics, utilizing fierce anti-feminist rhetoric and economic populism to court young voters who felt alienated by the liberal social policies of the Moon administration. Mainstream conservative politics began to integrate these hardline elements, which was a contributing factor to Yoon Suk-yeol election as president in 2022.

New Right scholars began to come under criticism for supporting the historical revisionist and extreme right-wing view of Gwangju Uprising. In 2020, People Power Party's leader Kim Chong-in apologized for the Gwangju Uprising. But some conservative citizen groups such as the Korean Council for Restoration National Identity and American and Korean Friendship National Council protested at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in May 2011 to prevent inscribing the records of the Gwangju Uprising in the Memory of the World Register, and to petition for "reconsidering identifying North Korean Special Forces as the perpetrators of the GDM.

They also began to hold strong anti-Chinese and anti-North Korean views, having viewed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a threat to South Korea economic and security interests and accused liberals and progressives of working with China and North Korea to undermine the South Korea-US-Japan military alliance.

In 2022, PPP candidate Yoon Suk Yeol was elected as the president of South Korea; Yoon declared martial law in December 2024, prompting his impeachment. The PPP has since experienced factionalism in its ranks, and has lost the 2025 presidential election and the 2026 local elections. The conservative Reform Party has also gained traction since 2024, led by former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok.

Conservative parties

The political party that once were ruling party are in bold. KIP is the exception for being a ruling party during Provisional Governmental era.

Mainstream parties

National Alliance for the Rapid Realization of Korean Independence (1946–1958; Governing period: 1948–1950)
Korea Nationalist Party (1948–1958; Governing years: 1950–1954)
Liberal Party (1951–1970; Governing period: 1954–1960)
Democratic Republican Party (1963–1980)

Korean National Party → New Democratic Republican Party (1980–1990)

Democratic Justice Party (1980–1990 also as governing period)
Democratic Liberal Party → New Korea Party (1990–1997)

United Liberal Democrats (1992–2006)

Grand National Party → Saenuri Party → Liberty Korea Party (1997–2020; Governing period: 2007–2017)

Liberty Forward Party → Advancement Unification Party (2006–2012)
Pro-Park Coalition → Future Hope Alliance (2007–2012)
Bareun Party (2016–2018)
Bareunmirae Party (2018–2020)
New Conservative Party (2020)

United Future Party → People Power Party (since 2020; Governing period: 2022–2025)

Future Korea Party (satellite party for the 2020 election)
People Future Party (satellite party for the 2024 election)

Minor parties

Korea Independence Party (1928–1970)
Korean National Youth Association (1946-1949)
Federation Korean National Independence (1947–1951)
Korea National Party (1947–1958)
Conservative Party (1963)
Righteous Citizens Party → Justice Party (1963–1967)
New People's Association → People's Party (1963–1971)
New Political Reform Party (1992)
United People's Party → Democratic Party (1992–1995)
Democratic Republican Party (1997–2009)
New Korea Party of Hope (2000–2001)
National Integration 21 (2004)
People First Party (2005–2008)
Pro-Park United (2006–2012)
Party of Future Union (2010–2012)
Go! Party for the Grand People (2011–2012)
Korea Vision Party (2012)
Hannara Party (2012–2016)
Chinbak Yeondae (since 2012)
Ghana Anti-Communist Korean Party (since 2012)
Republican Party (2014–2020)
Patriotic Party → United Korean Party → New National Participation Party (since 2015)
Korean National Party (2016–2020)
Pro-Ban Unification Party → Korea Economic Party → Free Korea 21 → Liberty and Democracy Party (since 2016)
Evergreen Korea Party (2017–2018)
Saenuri Party (since 2017)
New Korean Peninsula Party (since 2017)
Dawn of Liberty Party (since 2019)
People Party (2020–2022)
Liberty Party (2020–2024)
Our Republican Party (since 2020)
Pro-Park New Party (since 2020)
Future of Chungcheong Province Party (since 2020)
Reform Party (since 2024)
Freedom and Innovation Party (since 2025)

Conservative media in South Korea

The Chojoongdong media cartel wields the largest political influence in the South Korean political scene through newspaper and other print publications. The three media cartels have been criticized for fabricating stories against North Korea to support conservative rhetoric.

Chosun Ilbo – right-wing, anti-communist and conservative
- TV Chosun (broadcasting)
Dong-a Ilbo – right-wing, conservative
- Channel A (broadcasting)
JoongAng Ilbo – centre-right, moderate conservative and pro-Chaebol
- Korea JoongAng Daily (English-language newspapers)
- JTBC (broadcasting)
Korea Economic Daily – pro-business and conservative
Kukmin Ilbo – centrist, Christian values
Maeil Business Newspaper – pro-business
Munhwa Ilbo – right-wing, conservative and pro-Chaebol
Segye Ilbo - right-wing, pro-Unification Church

Conservative presidents

Rhee Syng-man (Liberal Party, 1948–1960)
Park Chung-hee (Military junta/Democratic Republican Party, 1962–1979)
Chun Doo-hwan (Military junta/Democratic Justice Party, 1980–1988)
Roh Tae-woo (Democratic Justice Party→Democratic Liberal Party, 1988–1993)
Kim Young-sam (Democratic Liberal Party→New Korea Party→Grand National Party, 1993–1998)
Lee Myung-bak (Grand National Party→Saenuri Party, 2008–2013)
Park Geun-hye (Saenuri Party→Liberty Korea Party, 2013–2017)
Yoon Suk-yeol (People Power Party, 2022–2025)