Elites and Students' Perception of the South Korean Progressive Party

Abstract

South Korean progressive politics has faced a crisis. Some political experts argue that the dissolved Unified Progressive Party (UPP) sacrificed the progressive movement's biggest asset - popular trust in its sincerity and commitment. Both improper handling of primaries in 2012, violence in central committee, the guilty verdict for UPP's lawmaker Lee Seok-kee on charges of "conspiracy to carry out insurrection," and the forced dissolution of the UPP by the Constitutional Court have hurt the progressive cause as a whole. This study purports to analyze elites and students' perception about the crisis of the UPP at a certain point in time before its forced dissolution by the highest court in Korea. Since it is limited in scope and time, its objective is to document how elites and students in Busan and Gyeongnam area viewed the crisis of the UPP and how elites and students in the area perceived the appropriateness of public subvention with tax money to the UPP and its causes. The study offers an instant capture of public perception on the UPP in May of 2014 within the area of Busan and Gyeongnam. The study is also invaluable for its comparative findings not only about the differences between the opinions of the elites and those of the students, but also about the differences between the opinions of the elites in academia and those of other social elites. In short, the perceptual lenses of elites and students, as well as those of professors and other elites, differed from one another. Other social elites were the least sympathetic to the UPP. Next were students. Professors seemed to envision progressive movements which go far beyond the UPP. The public generally views Théâtre de l'Absurde of the South Korean progressive party as absurd. Yet the progressives other than the UPP must realize that time is progressing into a dialectical process in which the movement and the party can do away with old theses and meet the challenges posed by new conditions and generations. Other elites and students may be the nemesis and professors may be willing supporters. Nevertheless, many of them want progressive causes advanced. Adaptation and metamorphosis is a virtue for an evolutionary process.