Division and strife have become the fuel powering politics.
Meanwhile, democracy is dying.
In the face of a rising tide of authoritarianism and populism, democracies around the world are under siege.
This democratic decline is being accelerated by widening polarization across national, racial, regional, and class lines.
And South Korea is no exception.
Since undergoing political democratization in 1987, South Korea has continued to operate as a seemingly well-functioning democracy. Yet deep fissures are forming beneath the surface.
Democracy is built on the belief that free competition between contending views rooted in contending interests is what enables sound, reasonable decisions.
Our politicians are undermining our democratic foundations.
The quality of democratic engagement is deteriorating under “fandom politics.”
Yet our political leaders, the very people who have been entrusted with the responsibility of helping facilitate the democratic process, are instead actively undermining our democratic foundations.
Instead of mediating between individuals and groups with different interests to help them find common ground, they are stoking division and discord and feeding off the ensuing mutual antagonism to ensure their own survival.
Such attitudes in the political sector have caused the quality of political engagement to deteriorate.
People are increasingly voting along party lines rather than on the basis of policy successes, showing unquestioning support in fandom-like followings that have given rise to “political hooliganism.”
This situation calls for nothing less than a rewriting of democracy.
If we are to move beyond conflict towards a politics of respect for all, we must rewrite our democracy to go beyond the achievements of 1987.
Will our political leaders ever be able to leave their ongoing factionalism and feuding behind them and work towards collaborative governance based on compromise and a commitment to finding middle ground?
What must change for our political bodies to truly be a representation of us, the people, and of the problems most relevant to us, and to light the path toward a better future?
We look forward to your interest and support as we set out on another bold journey to continue the important work that earlier Korean generations began in 1987: building a thriving democracy where all people are respected and happy.