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political activities reflecting majority¡¯s demand, and they are
WhyIsPopulismNegativeinKorea?
electedbymajorityofpeople.Inotherwords,allthepoliticians
ThecausesofnegativepopulisminKorea
shouldbeapopulistandenactpopulisticpolicies.
Populism is originally a neutral word. However, it is linked
InKorea,misusingandabusingofpopulismisquitefrequent.
with Peronism, an Argentine political movement based on the
In fact, Korean politicians and the press are unconditionally
programs associated with former President Juan Peron, which
criticizingwelfarepolicies.TheysaidthatKoreacurrentlyhas
the Occident criticized for spoiling Argentina¡¯s economy
no budgetary appropriation for implementing welfare policies
because Peron implemented policies for the public without
and if those policies are implementing, Korean economy will
consideringnationalfinance.Inourcountry,whenajournalist
be ruined like Argentina¡¯s in the 1970s. But, according to
RyuGeun-ilwrotehiscolumnonaKBSprogram,theformer
Professor Ha, success or failure of populism can be judged
President, Kim Dae-joong, had appeared on, he defined
only in the specific situation. The Korean current situation
populism as politician¡¯s image strategy accommodating to
is truly different from Argentine situation of the past. So,
popularity. After that, populism is only negatively used in
unconditionallycriticizingwelfarepoliciesisincorrectwithout
Korea. Ha Sang-sub, Korea-Latin America green convergence
someimplementationtojudgeresults.
centerpriorityresearchprofessor,saidthepressandpoliticians
Therightfunctionofpopulism
in Korea tend to unconditionally criticize welfare policy with
usingpopulismaspoliticalweapon.
Lee Myeon-woo, the head of regional research lab in the
Sejong Institute, said that democracy, presently the fairest
Groundsforcriticizingpopulism
politicalsystem,canbeinterpretedaspopulism.Thatisbecause
First, populism is criticized for having a bad influence upon
democracy is administrated by the people. If the opinions of
nationaleconomy.Thenationaleconomymaysuffereconomic
the most people are fully reflected in politics, implemented
loss from indiscriminate welfare policies. Populism is also
policieswouldsatisfypublicdemands.
criticized for ignoring policies taking different ways. As
populism is a form of political organization implementing
Comparing each country¡¯s ratio of public welfare
expenditurewhenpercapitaGDPisabout$18,000
Shinmun
policies considering the public¡¯s demands, populism can be
Koreawasin2006
described as a giant current. For example, in Korea, these
Unit:%,Source:KoreaInstituteforHealthandSocial
Kyunghyang
days,thepublic¡¯sdemandisfreewelfare,andtoinsistonthat
23.8
demand, the public often demonstrates. In this situation, our
22.0
18.9
country¡¯s populism and current is free welfare. Therefore, so
¨ÏThe
13.7
called conservative party, the Grand National Party-Hannara,
7.3
current ruling party in Korea, had to enact a reducing tuition
feepolicy.
Korea
Northern
Western
England
OECD
AnotherViewonPopulism
Europe
Europe
and
average
America
Populism can be diversely defined scholar by scholar. So
PopulisminOtherCountries
called the definition above and a definition below are correct
definitions.
In Korea, populism is only negatively used. But, in other
country, populism has not only negative effects but also
Anotherdefinitionandinterpretationofpopulism
positive.
Populism is sociopolitical thought that urges social and
InBrazil
political system change handing over political authority from
political leaders to the public, and that demands for politics
Representative welfare policy in Brazil
bynottheelitebutthepeople.Thisisconsideredanacademic
is Bolsa Familia. The policy provides a
definition.
familywithcashiftheirmonthlyincome
Populism can be interpreted as political ideas and activities
islowerthantheminimumcostofliving.
speaking for the people¡¯s demands and desires. So a populist
Income support policy like this was
canincludeallthepoliticians.Thatisbecausepopulismmeans
criticized for kindness policy. However,
OCTOBER 2011

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