Neoliberal politics in South Korea and the Democratic Labour Party’s counter-campaign

• Main Author: Yoon, Hoppi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: College of Law, Government and International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia 2014
• Subjects: JQ Political institutions Asia
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/12452/1/7%20137-161.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/12452/; http://jgd.uum.edu.my/

his article reviews the South Korean Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) anti-neoliberal campaigns of the 2000s.While the centrist government implemented abortive economic reform and pro-capitalist labour policies, the DLP had a great window of opportunity to replace the centrist tendency with a moderate socialist program.Contrary to expectations, the DLP’s counter neoliberalism campaigns were unsuccessful as the party’s campaigns went through within an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist struggle which resembled the radical Latin American leftist parties in the 1970s.Due mainly to this radical strategy, the DLP was unable to create a broad coalition with civil movements and the centre-left tendency.The DLP’s radical anti-neoliberalism campaign was unsuited to the Korean constituency and the party was defeated in a series of presidential elections.