Problems and Reform Measures in Korean Constitutional Democracy in the 21st Century

초록

The Republic of Korea was established in 1948 by ordaining Korean Constitution. Hence, as of now, the Korean Constitution has the history of 61 years. Korea has been rapidly changing as the new trend of globalization proceeds. And it confronts new challenges in constitutional democracy in this first decade of the 21st century. In this paper, first of all, I will present four major problems in Korean Constitutional democracy in this new era. First, the representative democracy is at a crisis. As the rule of political party over the Congress becomes more and more intensified, the voting trade has started to be made among political parties in Korea like in the Unites States. In passing a bill, the extreme confrontations between the political parties take place pretty often in Korean Congress. Second, the rapid inflow of foreigners due to the increase of international marriage and the incessant inflow of foreign workers causes the increase of multi-cultural home in Korea which yields new constitutional problems including the protection of constitutional rights to these new members. Third, the freedom of expression is at a crisis in Korea, which violates the Clear and Present Danger Doctrine. The PD Notebook case and Minerva case could be the examples. Fourth, the more polarized the Korean society becomes, the more neglected the minority's rights are in Korea. The social rights in a welfare state are often neglected in the polarized Korean society. In the conclusion, I propose some reform measures to solve the problems that undermine the constitutional democracy in Korea in the 21st century.

키워드