South Korea: Freedom in the World 2023 Country Report | Freedom House (original) (raw)
A Electoral Process
A1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Was the current head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections? | 4.004 4.004 |
|---|
The 1988 constitution vests executive power in a directly elected president, who is limited to a single five-year term. Executive elections in South Korea are largely free and fair. In March 2022, PPP candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, who served as prosecutor general under term-limited Moon Jae-in of the DP, was elected to succeed Moon. Yoon defeated DP candidate Lee Jae-myung with the narrowest margin in South Korean history; Yoon won 48.6 percent while Lee won 47.8 percent.
A2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Were the current national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections? | 4.004 4.004 |
|---|
The unicameral National Assembly has 300 members serving four-year terms, with 253 elected in single-member constituencies and 47 through national party lists. The DP won a majority in the April 2020 legislative elections; after by-elections in June 2022, the DP held 169 seats and PPP 115.
In June 2022, voters participated in local elections, including for 17 metropolitan mayoralties and provincial governorships. The PPP won 12 of those posts. Turnout stood at 50.9 percent, the second-lowest recorded for local polls.
A3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are the electoral laws and framework fair, and are they implemented impartially by the relevant election management bodies? | 3.003 4.004 |
|---|
Elections are managed by the National Election Commission (NEC), an independent nine-member body appointed for six-year terms. The president, National Assembly, and Supreme Court each chooses three members. Elections are generally considered free and fair. While laws have been enacted to address malapportionment, complaints on this issue persist.
In July 2022, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) began investigating the NEC for reportedly using unofficial containers to collect early-voting ballots from COVID-19 patients and quarantined individuals, which prompted vote-rigging concerns.
B Political Pluralism and Participation
B1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system free of undue obstacles to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings? | 3.003 4.004 |
|---|
Political pluralism is robust, with multiple parties competing for power, though party structures and coalitions are very fluid. In addition to the two main parties, several smaller groups and independent members hold legislative seats.
The 1948 National Security Law (NSL) bans pro–North Korean activities. In 2014, the Constitutional Court dissolved the United Progressive Party for violating it.
B2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Is there a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections? | 4.004 4.004 |
|---|
There have been multiple transfers of power between rival conservative and liberal parties since the early 1990s. The orderly election and inauguration of Moon Jae-in in 2017 after the impeachment of his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, reinforced this pattern, as did Yoon Suk-yeol’s 2022 victory.
B3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are the people’s political choices free from domination by forces that are external to the political sphere, or by political forces that employ extrapolitical means? | 3.003 4.004 |
|---|
Family-controlled business empires known as chaebol dominate the economy and wield significant political influence, which has historically protected their interests despite calls for reform. Corruption scandals involving chaebol bribery have affected almost all of South Korea’s former presidents. In August 2022, President Yoon pardoned a number of chaebol executives who were involved in bribery scandals during Park Geun-hye’s 2013–17 administration.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has been implicated in a series of scandals in recent years, including allegations of election tampering. A 2020 reform bill limited the NIS’s mandate to collecting information related to North Korea and overseas interests and prohibited it from conducting domestic surveillance.
In July 2022, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MGEF) was raided over accusations that MGEF officials had assisted the DP in electoral activities ahead of the March polls.
B4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do various segments of the population (including ethnic, racial, religious, gender, LGBT+, and other relevant groups) have full political rights and electoral opportunities? | 3.003 4.004 |
|---|
Although citizens of non-Korean ethnicity have enjoyed full political rights, they rarely win political representation. In December 2022, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon suggested that the government would limit voting rights for permanent foreign residents, who can currently vote in some local elections. Residents who are not ethnic Koreans face extreme difficulties obtaining citizenship, which is based on parentage. North Korean defectors are eligible for citizenship; two won National Assembly seats in 2020.
Women enjoy legal equality but remain underrepresented in politics, holding 19 percent of National Assembly seats as of December 2022. Female representation in the cabinet is also low.
In June 2022, Cha Hae-yeong of the DP won a council seat in a district of Seoul, becoming the country’s first openly LGBT+ elected official.
C Functioning of Government
C1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government? | 4.004 4.004 |
|---|
Elected officials generally determine and implement state policy without undue interference from unelected actors.
C2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are safeguards against official corruption strong and effective? | 3.003 4.004 |
|---|
Despite government anticorruption efforts and robust investigations and prosecutions, practices such as bribery, influence peddling, and extortion persist in politics, business, and everyday life. The 2016 Improper Solicitation and Graft Act establishes stiff punishments for those convicted of accepting bribes and applies to government officials as well as their spouses, journalists, and educators. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials investigates corruption allegations against public officials and can unilaterally indict police officers, prosecutors, and judges. Conflict-of-interest legislation for public servants took effect in May 2022.
Officials appointed during the Moon administration came under scrutiny for their conduct during 2022. In August, the BAI began an audit of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission over absenteeism allegations that included chairperson Jeon Hyun-heui, a Moon appointee; Jeon reported she was facing pressure to resign. As of December, the BAI was considering whether to question Hong Jang-pyo, a Moon administration official, over allegations that the previous administration manipulated economic data.
DP aides and officials, including Lee Jae-myung, came under scrutiny over their conduct relating to a land-development project in Seongnam, where Lee served as mayor between 2010 and 2018. Lee was indicted for violating election laws by allegedly disseminating false information over the affair in September 2022. A staff member of a DP-affiliated think tank was arrested over bribery allegations in October, while a Lee ally in the DP was indicted in December. Authorities raided the offices of the think tank in October, searching for evidence that Lee accepted illegal funds related to the land project.
An investigation into speculative land purchases based on insider information via the Korea Land and Housing Corporation ended in March 2022; a total of 4,251 people were referred to prosecutors, 64 were arrested, and 150.7 billion won ($116.3 million) in profits were seized.
In December 2022, Yoon said he would pardon former president Lee Myung-bak, who received a corruption-related prison sentence in 2018 and exhausted his appeals in 2020.
C3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Does the government operate with openness and transparency? | 2.002 4.004 |
|---|
A 1998 public-disclosure law allows citizens and resident foreigners to request access to the records of public agencies, except those related to national security. Access to some documents has been denied despite lawsuits seeking their disclosure.
While President Yoon has vowed to fight corruption and improve transparency, his administration has also suffered from a series of scandals on matters including nepotism and favoritism.