Conclusion

Abstract

The concluding chapter begins by pointing out that all the chapters of this book come to a common conclusion: that democracy has been regressing over the course of the first decades after democratization, and in particular ever since the conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in 2008. It then discusses the impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye in 2016 and 2017 as a manifestation of the various aspects that were dealt with in the preceding chapters. It is argued that “Choi-gate” and the mass demonstrations by the people demanding the resignation of President Park leading to the impeachment can be understood as a kind of kaleidoscope which shows the diverse problems Korean democracy is struggling with. The main thrust of the chapter then summarizes central insights of the chapters, and where applicable relates their findings to each other to make clear how the eight dimensions of democratic quality are interrelated, and where efforts for improvement of that quality could be focused on.