NORTH KOREA, THE LEFT, AND THE RIGHT: FREEDOMS RESTRICTIONS IN SOUTH KOREA

How has the existence of North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) reduced freedoms in democratic South Korea (Republic of Korea)? Exploring what effect the North has had on freedoms in the South post-democratization, and the association between the threat from North Korea, whether the left or right is in power, and the degree of freedom restrictions in South Korea, is useful for better understanding the ROK’s domestic and security policies. This thesis explores how the existence of North Korea has reduced freedoms, using South Korean presidential administrations as case studies. During the ROK’s authoritarian period, the regime used the genuine and contrived national security threat of North Korea to justify severe curtailment of freedoms for the purpose of maintaining political power. After democratization, restrictions in freedoms related to North Korea overall are consistently higher under conservative administrations and lower under progressive administrations due to how the legacy of authoritarianism interacts with the genuine North Korean threat and the right versus left. However, freedoms restrictions due to North Korea occur under both conservative and progressive administrations. Conservatives cite the North Korean threat as justification for freedoms curtailment, while progressives restrict freedoms in order to foster an environment conducive to positive engagement with the North.

Department dc:contributor.department

National Security Affairs (NSA)

Grantor dc:publisher

Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Park, Grace Y.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Weiner, Robert J.

Statement dc:rights

• This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10945/63491

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/63491