ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the historical origins that undermined the development of political parties in Korea and documents some notable divergences in party politics in the post-democratization decades. This historical examination asserts that the trajectories of political parties cannot be understood without referencing the presence of the strong state and contentious civil society. Under the dominance of developmental autocracy and its imposition of anti-communism, the institutional and ideological growth of political parties was severely constrained. After democratization, contentious civil society mobilized to reform the political society and a labor party emerged in the 2000s. Political parties that engaged in frequent organizational splits and mergers gradually moved from regionalism to social welfare cleavages, while introducing a gender quota, various forms of primaries, and campaign fund regulation. These reforms contributed to enhanced inclusiveness and transparency of political parties but at the risk of weakening internal cohesion. Often bypassed by popular mobilization in the street, Korean parties remain weak, raising hard questions about their role in a representative democracy.
