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New Right (South Korea)

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New Right supporters rally against Lee Myung-bak in Myeongdong in 2008.

The New Right (Korean: 뉴라이트; RR: nyulaiteu) movement in South Korean politics is a school of political thought which developed as a reaction against the traditional divide between conservatives (the "old right") and progressives. The New Right broke from past conservatives, who supported state intervention in the economy, by promoting economically liberal ideas. Many figures of the New Right have also become notable for criticising anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea. Opponents of the New Right movement described this as anti-leftism, military dictatorship advocates, pro-sadaejuui, and "pro-Japanese identity".[1]

This article is part of a series on
Conservatism
in South Korea
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Related topics

History

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Before the era of democratisation, South Korea had been ruled almost continuously by a series of dictatorships, such as those of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo-hwan. These regimes were characterised by stringent anti-communism, authoritarianism, and state capitalism, and as a result these attributes came to be seen as hallmarks of the older generation of Korean conservatives. After 1987, following democratisation, conservatives adapted and modified their previous positions in order to counteract the rising successes of left-wing activism in South Korean politics.[2]

Nonetheless, the conservative parties of the old style continued to hold a negative association with corruption of the past for many, and throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, progressivism characterised by support for social liberalism and a soft attitude towards North Korea became dominant in politics. As a result of this, a number of reform-minded right-wing groups known as the "New Right" developed in the 2000s as a reaction to the ascendency of these progressives, whose ideology they considered harmful. Like the old conservatives, they opposed left-wing economic policies and a soft attitude toward North Korea. However, they also attempted to distance themselves from the sins of the older right-wing, which they viewed as stagnant and out-of-touch. Describing themselves as "rational conservatives," these groups expressed a more flexible attitude towards North Korea through a willingness to recognise it as a separate country and to provide humanitarian aid for the citizens of North Korea. However, they balanced this with an anti-communist attitude and a support for free-market economic policies. They also rejected the totalitarianism of the past and placed an emphasis on civil rights and liberty; overall, their views were associated with classical liberalism.[2][3]

Initially, these "New Right" groups contained many figures connected to the traditional conservative establishment and as a result they struggled to differentiate themselves from old-school conservatives for a time.[3] This could be seen following the victory of conservative Lee Myung-bak in the 2007 presidential election; Lee's administration succeeded in replacing many progressive members of government-affiliated deliberative and advisory committees with members of "New Right" organisations. Lee's successor, Park Geun-hye (the eldest daughter of dictator Park Chung Hee), continued to maintain close relationships with these modern conservative social groups, even as her administration displayed an antagonistic attitude towards anti-government demonstrations and labor strikes.[4]

Unlike the moderate early New Right movement in the 2000s, the New Right movement has become increasingly extreme since the 2010s. Some New Right scholars have come under criticism for supporting the historical revisionist and extreme right-wing view of Gwangju Uprising.[5]

There is an evaluation that the pro-Japanese New Right movement has a direct or indirect effect on the foreign policy of the Yoon Suk Yeol government.[6][7][8]

Political views

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See also: Korean nationalism § State-aligned nationalism; and Controversy over National Foundation Day in South Korea § View of August 15, 1948

The New Right's view of modern and contemporary Korean history is known to be contrary to the view of progressive Korean nationalists.[9] The New Right movement is led by descendants of those who collaborated with the Japanese imperialism and Shōwa Statism (國家主義) during the time when Korea was a Japanese colony.[10] The New Right movement is a radical advocate for South Korean-based state nationalism (국가주의; 國家主義); they oppose anti-Japanese ethno-nationalism, positively evaluate the history of modernization caused by Japanese colonial rule and support the view that South Korea was founded in 1948, when the official government was established, not 1919, when the Provisional Government was established, which has been criticized by opponents for downplaying the history of the independence movement.[11][12][13]

New Right scholars try to promote pro-American (친미; 親美) and pro-Japanese (친일; 親日) sentiment among South Koreans. South Korea's New Rightists have a strong anti-communist perception of North Korea and a favorable perception of Japan, an ally with the United States, because they have a stronger pro-American sentiment than liberal-to-progressives. According to South Korean political experts, the New Right movement is based on the Korean traditional conservative sadaejuui sentiment.[1]

Criticism

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See also: Tochak Waegu

New Right movement has often been criticized by many South Korean media and experts for being "reactionary"[14][15][16] or "far-right".[1][17]

There is a controversy that New Right scholars support the colonialist view of Japanese people.[18] New Right scholars have been criticized socially for accepting Japanese historical revisionism for Japanese war crimes.[19] Even Hong Joon-pyo, known as a hardline conservative, criticized New Rightist perception of history.[20] Yuji Hosaka, a non-Korean Japanese-born naturalized South Korean, accused New Right of being a new Chinilpa in support of Japanese far-right. Hosaka accused South Korean New Right scholars of sympathizing with Nippon Kaigi's view of history.[21] Lee Woo-yeon, co-author of Anti-Japan Tribalism, was funded by a Japanese far-right groups, according to a report by the Kyunghyang Shinmun.[22]

Chin Jung-kwon, a political commentator, said "Japanese far-right politics is 'sadistic' and South Korean far-right politics is 'masochistic'", and "the 'colonialist historical perspective' is a 'political sadomasochism' directed by Japanese and South Korean far-right as sex partners".[23]

The New Right movement is often criticized for its worship of authoritarian politicians in addition to pro-Japanese historical revisionism. In particular, the number of dictators Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee statues, has been increasing by South Korean conservatives, including New Right activists, since 2009. This is contrary to the example of Taiwan, which has been reducing the number of dictator Chiang Kai-shek statues since the 2010s.[24]

Activism

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Historiography

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One aspect of the New Right that has been highly notable is the recent production of historical studies by New Right-oriented academics which seek to oppose traditional Korean views of history. Some of these best-selling books argue against the overwhelmingly negative view of Imperial Japan and also dispute specific details about the comfort women discussion. Some of these authors also suggest that Japan helped Korea to modernise, both politically and economically.[25]

Conservative education

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Some well-known politicians from the "old right" GNP indicated commonality with the New Right groups, including Park Geun-hye endorse the anti-North Korean New Right's version of alternative Korean History textbooks through a foundation called Text Book Forum. The Lee Myung-bak government's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has tried to implant the next Korean New Right version of Korean history textbook for the public school usage.[26] The NR's groups' demanding pressure to use their hawkish Korean history textbooks has eventually make them inconsistently incompatible with the dovish ethics textbooks.[27]

Media

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  • (in Korean) Gyegan Sidaejeongsin (계간 시대정신)
  • (in Korean) New Daily (뉴데일리)

Organizations

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  • (in Korean) New Right National Union
  • (in Korean) Sidaejeongsin

Members

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ She doesn't admit she's a New Right scholar. However, South Korean liberals/progressives and most of the South Korean public refer to her as a New Right scholar.[28][29]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Lee Ji-yun ed. (2021). Politics of Rhetoric of ‘Nation’ in Korean Conservative Discourse: Focusing on Anti-Japanese Tribalism(2019) and Struggle against Anti-Japanese Tribalism(2020). Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
  2. ^ a b Kim, Hanna; Cho, Heejung; Jeong, Bokgyo (2011-10-01). "Social Networks and Ideological Orientation of South Korean NGOs Involved in the Unification Issues of the Korean Peninsula". Asian Survey. 51 (5): 844–875. doi:10.1525/as.2011.51.5.844. ISSN 0004-4687.
  3. ^ a b Han, Yuna (2007). "The New Right: Political Winds in South Korea". Harvard International Review. 29 (1): 9–10. ISSN 0739-1854. JSTOR 43650176.
  4. ^ Kim, Sunhyuk; Jeong, Jong-Ho (2017). "Historical Development of Civil Society in Korea since 1987". Journal of International and Area Studies. 24 (2): 1–14. ISSN 1226-8550. JSTOR 44510067.
  5. ^ "5.18 민주화운동도 부정하나?" [Do they deny the May 18 pro-democracy movement?]. 굿모닝충청. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Reframing South Korea's history: Yoon's dance with the New Right". KORENPRO. August 18, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "New Right figures occupy 25 important posts in history institutions under Yoon administration". Kyunghyang Shinmun. 2024-08-14. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  8. ^ a b "Recent moves by Yoon prove he sees eye to eye with Japan's far right". Hankyoreh. 2024-08-12. Retrieved 2024-06-16. From allowing the Sado gold mine to be designated a World Heritage without mention of Korean slave labor to "new right" appointments, Yoon is proving that he's sympathetic to the Japanese right wing's stance that the colonization of Korea was legal
  9. ^ Jung In Kang, ed. (2017). Contemporary Korean Political Thought and Park Chung-hee. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 223. ISBN 9781786602503. Since 2005, conservative New Right scholars and progressive-nationalist historians have been engaged in a fierce debate over the writing of modern and contemporary Korean history in high school textbooks.
  10. ^ "'South Korea: The Politics Behind the History Wars". The Diplomat. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2023. The president's main ally in pushing through the textbook revision has been the Saenuri party chairperson Kim Moo-sung, whose own father was a prominent businessman during the Japanese occupation and actively encouraged Korean youths to enlist in the Imperial Army to fight in the Pacific war. Kim has been struggling to whitewash his family's history and downplay his intimate connections to the nation's corporate and media elite, and thus has been a passionate leader in the New Right movement, the ideological network behind the right wing revisionism.
  11. ^ Myers, Brian Reynolds (14 September 2010). "South Korea: The Unloved Republic?". Archived from the original on May 19, 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  12. ^ "겉은 '민족주의 극복' 속은 '극우 반공주의'". 경향신문. 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  13. ^ "건국절 논란, 국가주의 vs 민족주의 사이에서". 뉴스워치. 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  14. ^ ""민족사의 모든 반동 결딴낸 사학계 녹두장군이셨죠"" [He was the Nockdu Janggun, who defeated all reactionists to the Korean nationalist historiography.]. 한겨레. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  15. ^ "뉴라이트 10년… 보수혁신은 뒷전, 자리만 챙겼다". 미디어오늘. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2023. 한홍구 성공회대 민주자료관장은 "뉴라이트는 정체성으로 유지됐던 것이 아니라 이권으로 뭉쳤다. 이념 운동이라면 이념의 전파자가 새로운 방향을 제시하고 지적인 긴장감을 가져야 하는데, 민주정권의 반동으로 일어선 그들의 철학과 지식은 빈곤했다"며 "이권이라는 깃발에 하이에나들이 모였던 것"이라고 꼬집었다.
  16. ^ a b "'한국판 신반동주의'를 경계한다" [Be wary of Korean Neo-reactionary movement]. 중소기업신문. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  17. ^ "윤 당선자 '친일·독재 미화 국정교과서 주역' 이배용 '특별고문'에". 한겨레. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023. 특히 일부 뉴라이트 학자를 포함한 극우진영의 주장을 그대로 옮겨 1948년 8월15일을 '대한민국 정부 수립'이 아닌 '대한민국 수립'으로 고쳤다.
  18. ^ ""일제 식민지배가 후세 미친 영향까지 두루 보여줄 겁니다"". 한겨레. 23 August 2018.
  19. ^ Shin Dong-kyu ed. (2016). The logic of Holocaust Negationism and Comport Women of the Empire of PARK Yuha: Challenge against Collective memory and emotion through unhistorical narratives. Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
  20. ^ "조국 "구역질 난다"한 이영훈 책, 홍준표도 "비상식적"". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
  21. ^ ""일본 우파 논리를 그대로 가져온 21세기 신친일파"". 연합뉴스. 8 April 2020.
  22. ^ "'반일 종족주의' 이우연, 일본 극우 지원 받았다". 경향신문. 26 August 2019. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023.
  23. ^ "진중권 "한국 극우는 채찍 맞으며 오르가즘"". Views % News. 8 January 2014. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023.
  24. ^ "대만 문화부는 장제스 동상을 없애는데···한국에선 뉴라이트에 의해 부활". 경향신문. 2024-10-07.
  25. ^ Yang, Myungji (2021-09-01). "The Specter of the Past: Reconstructing Conservative Historical Memory in South Korea". Politics & Society. 49 (3): 337–362. doi:10.1177/00323292211033082. ISSN 0032-3292. S2CID 236898640.
  26. ^ Song (송), Yong-chang (용창) (2011-09-21). "뉴라이트 역사관 담아라" 현 정부 임기내에 밀어붙이기. Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2011-09-21. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  27. ^ Song (송), Hyeong-suk (현숙) (2011-11-16). 역사·도덕교과서 집필기준 ‘모순’. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  28. ^ "박유하 '쥴리' 반박에 박노자 "문제는 학력 위조·사문서 위조 등 범죄 혐의가 있다는 것"". 서울의소리. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  29. ^ "'원조 램지어'들에 일갈한 민주당 이원욱 "박유하! 이영훈! 류석춘! 조셉이! 그대들이 부끄럽다"". 뉴스프리존. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
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