Politics of South Korea

Separation of powers and the election system of South Korea
South Korea
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
the Republic of Korea
Constitution

Politics of the Republic of Korea takes place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the head of state, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises a Supreme Court, appellate courts and a Constitutional Court. Since 1948, the constitution has undergone five major revisions, each signifying a new republic. The current Sixth Republic began with the last major constitutional revision in 1987.

National government

Executive branch

Main office holders
Office Name Party Since
President Moon Jae-in Democratic Party 10 May 2017
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon Democratic Party 31 May 2017

The head of state is the president, who is elected by direct popular vote for a single five-year[1] term. The president is Commander-in-Chief of the armed force of South Korea and enjoys considerable executive powers.

The president appoints the prime minister with approval of the National Assembly, as well as appointing and presiding over the State Council of chief ministers as the head of government. On 12 March 2004, the executive power of then president Roh Moo-hyun was suspended when the Assembly voted to impeach him and Prime Minister Goh Kun became an Acting President. On 14 May 2004, the Constitutional Court overturned the impeachment decision made by the Assembly and Roh was reinstated.

On 10 March 2017, Park Geun-hye became the first president to be removed by the Constitutional Court after impeachment by the National Assembly. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is temporarily serving as an acting president since the suspension of Park since 9 December 2016 until the next presidential election, which will be held in May 2017.

On 9 May 2017, Moon Jae-in became the 19th president of South Korea. He replaced acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn.

Legislative branch

National Assembly of South Korea in Seoul

The National Assembly (국회, 國會, gukhoe) has 300 members, elected for a four-year term, 244 members in single-seat constituencies and 56 members by proportional representation.

Judicial branch

The South Korean judiciary is independent of the other two branches. The highest judiciary body is the Supreme Court, whose justices are appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly. In addition, the Constitutional Court oversees questions of constitutionality. South Korea has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

Political parties and elections

South Korea elects on national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The National Assembly (Gukhoe) has 300 members, elected for a four-year term, 246 members in single-seat constituencies and 54 members by proportional representation.

The main political parties in South Korea are the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (lit. "Together Democratic Party", DPK), the conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP), the centrist People's Party (PP), and the left-wing Justice Party (JP). The liberal Democratic Party of Korea and the conservative Liberty Korea Party are the traditional dominant forces of South Korean politics.

Parties in the 20th National Assembly of South Korea
(as of 17 June 2017)
Group Floor leader Seats % of seats
  Democratic Woo Won-shik 120 40.13%
  Liberty Korea Chung Woo-taek 107 35.79%
  People's Kim Dong-cheol 40 13.38%
  Bareun Joo Ho-young 20 6.69%
  Justice Roh Hoe-chan 6 2.01%
  Independents 6 2.01%
Total 299 100.0%

Notes:

  1. Negotiation groups can be formed by 20 or more members. There are currently 4 negotiation groups in the Assembly, formed by the Democratic Party, the Liberty Korea Party, People's Party, and the Bareun Party.

Latest elections

 Summary of the 13 April 2016 South Korean National Assembly election results[2][3]
Parties Local seats ± Block seats ± Constituency votes % PR block votes % Total seats ±
Democratic Party of Korea (더불어민주당) (DPK) 1 110 Increase 4 13 Decrease 8 8,881,369 37.0% 6,069,744 25.5% 123 Decrease 4
Saenuri Party (새누리당) (SP) 2 105 Decrease 25 17 Decrease 10 9,200,690 38.3% 7,960,272 33.5% 122 Decrease 35
People's Party (국민의당) (PP) 25 (new) 13 (new) 3,565,451 14.9% 6,355,572 26.7% 38 (new)
Justice Party (정의당) (JP) 3 2 Decrease 5 4 Decrease 2 395,357 1.6% 1,719,891 7.2% 6 Decrease 7
Christian Liberal Party (기독자유당) (CLP) 0 (new) 0 (new) 1,376 0.0% 626,853 2.6% 0 (new)
Minjoo Party (민주당) (MP) 4 0 (new) 0 (new) 17,034 0.1% 209,872 0.9% 0 (new)
Other parties 0 Steady 0 Steady 257,879 1.1% 818,773 3.4% 0 Steady
Independents 11 Increase 8 N/A 1,683,264 7.0% N/A 11 Increase 8
Total 253 Increase 7 47 Decrease 7 24,002,420 100.0% 23,760,977 100.0% 300
Turnout: 58.0%[4]

Seat changes are compared to previous election, not the outgoing Assembly
1 Comparison based on 2012 Democratic United Party result
2 Comparison includes members elected in 2012 for the Liberty Forward Party
3 Comparison based on 2012 Unified Progressive Party result
4 Non-parliamentary grouping: not to be confused with the larger Minjoo Party of Korea, more usually referred to as the Minjoo Party Template:South Korean presidential election, 2017

Political pressure groups and leaders

Administrative divisions

One Special City (Teukbyeolsi, Capital City), six Metropolitan Cities (Gwangyeoksi, singular and plural), nine Provinces (Do, singular and plural) and one Special Autonomous City (Sejong City).

International organization participation

AfDB, APEC, AsDB, BIS, CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG, UNU, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, Zangger Committee

References

  1. ↑ "Korea, South". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "4.13 총선" (in Korean). Naver News. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "개표진행상황" (in Korean). Republic of Korea National Election Commission. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "20대 총선 잠정투표율 58.0%…19대보다 3.8%p↑" (in Korean). Yonhap News. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
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