Political Conflict: Regionalism in Korea 1. Introduction South Korea has been one of Asian countries that became developed states, beside Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Hongkong. She managed to get in OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) as Asian representative in 1996, preceded by Japan in 1964 and Israel in 2010. South Korea also has reached its most democratic period after 1987 uprising, marked by election of Kim Young-Sam as first civilian president in 1993. Although South Korea has reached so many achievements, it still has its share of problems. Regionalism, the favoring or disfavoring of people from particular region, still plagued Korean society in politics, economy, academy and other fields. This regionalism usually happens to people from Honam ( Jeollabuk-do and Jeollanam-do provinces) and Yeongnam (Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsonam-do provinces) where Honam 1
Transcript
Political Conflict: Regionalism in Korea
1. Introduction
South Korea has been one of Asian countries that became developed states, beside Japan,
Singapore, Taiwan and Hongkong. She managed to get in OECD (Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development) as Asian representative in 1996, preceded by Japan in 1964 and
Israel in 2010. South Korea also has reached its most democratic period after 1987 uprising,
marked by election of Kim Young-Sam as first civilian president in 1993. Although South Korea
has reached so many achievements, it still has its share of problems. Regionalism, the favoring or
disfavoring of people from particular region, still plagued Korean society in politics, economy,
academy and other fields. This regionalism usually happens to people from Honam ( Jeollabuk-
do and Jeollanam-do provinces) and Yeongnam (Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsonam-do
provinces) where Honam people are always in disadvantaged position compared to Yeongnam
people. Although regionalism can be seen in other parts of the world, regionalism in Korea has
been serious in its extent. This is an irony regarding the fact that the Korean people, including
North Koreans, are one of the most homogeneous groups in the world, culturally, linguistically,
historically and racially. There is no recognizable racial, ethnic, and lingual minority in the
Korean Peninsula. For better understanding, let we see profile of Yeongnam and Honam regions.
Yeongnam region
Yeongnam is located in the southeast of South Korea and comprises of Gyeongsangbuk-do
province, Gyeongsangnam-do provinces and the three big cities of Daegu, Ulsa and Busan.
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Gyeongsangbuk-do are often called TK (Taegu/daegu and Kyongsang/gyeongsang) while
Gyeongsangnam-do are nicknamed PK (Pusan/busan and Kyongsang/gyeongsang). From
Gyeongsangbuk-do, three military general-turned presidents namely Park Chung-hee, Chun Do-
hwan and Roh Tae-woo came. Lee Myung-bak also has family background in this region while
Kim Young-sam and Roh Mo-Hyun are from Gyeongsangbuk-do. Yeongnam region, consists of
PK and TK, has the largest population in the country and is base of many large companies in
South Korea.
Honam region
It is located in the southwestern part of the Korea peninsula, comprises of Jeollanam-do and
Jeollabuk-do provinces and big city such as Gwangju. It is the hometown of former Presiden
Kim Dae-jung. It has been long emasculated by authoritarian system and alienated in many
aspects. Gwangju Uprising in 1980 that would later lead to democratization of South Korea was
happened here.
1.1. Definition
Regionalism could be defined in two meaning, they are
General practice of discrimination from the people of certain region toward the
people of another region.1
Favoring or disfavoring of people from a particular region in elite recruitment for
political or other jobs.
In short, regionalism means to discriminate people of particular region or region itself either by
favoring or disfavoring them in politics, economy or other fields. The discrimination could be
overrepresentation of a region compared to others in government cabinets, concentrated
development in one region and deliberately choose someone in job recruitment mainly because
1 Yu, E.-Y. (2009). Regionalism in Korea, regional origin imbalance in the leadership structure of South Korea. In C. Yun-Shik, H.-h. Seok, & L. D. Baker (Eds.), Korea Confronts Globalization (pp. 63-88). New York: Routledge. Pg. 63
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of his origin. Regionalism in Korea also affects voters’ choice in presidential election. This form
could be seen in the 1992 presidential election between Kim Young-Sam and Kim Dae-Jung.
2. Body
2.1. Rise of regionalism
Regionalism in South Korea could be tracked back when Yeong-nam based Silla dynasty united
three kingdoms on the Korean peninsula, then Goryeo dynasty’s favoritism toward the people
from Yeongnam and its discrimination against Honam. Even in Japanese colonial rule,
Yeongnam region was far more commercialized and industrialized than Honam region. Honam
region was mostly rural and agricultural.
Although both regions were underrepresented in bureaucratic government elite in Syngman
Rhee regime, regionalism also appeared when Rhee chose most of his cabinet ministers from
“northerners” (North Korean that fled during Korean War and resettled in South Korea). This
could be understood as Syngman Rhee himself was originally from Hwanghae-do province (in
North Korea). However, after Park Chung Hee regime, their number steadily decreased.
Regional cleavage between both regions (Yeongnam & Honam) then started in Park Chung
Hee regime. Park Chung Hee has used regional issue to gain support to his regime. Selective
recruitments were conducted especially in strategic positions in government to ensure minimum
opposition and maximum support within government apparatus. So, the longer Park regime
ruled, the more centralized and personalized the government. Regionalism then continued in next
regimes, marked by strong support of voters from region the leader belongs to, and
overrepresentation of region in elite bureaucrats and other strategic positions.
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In economy, regionalism also appeared in form of unequal income distribution pattern in
which Honam was being emasculated as concentration of resources for development were
deliberately induced in Seoul and Gyeonggi.2 This is related to political structure in Korea that
dominated by Yeongnam elite bureaucrats that brought their own region’s interest. The
regionalism was extended to favoritism choosing top managers of economy and senior officers
of state-controlled and private firms to Yeongnam.
2.2. Origins
Confucianism Principle
Whether used as regime maintenance or as major resource in gathering resources in
presidential election, regionalism has been a feature of Korean society. Its origin could be traced
back to Confucian familism that particularly stressed upon blood, kinship and geographical ties,
and family ethics. These social relationships then adopted territorial characteristic when a
village-name system was introduced into Korea from China. Under this system, most family
groups developed an ancestral clan village whose geographical name showed social status of the
family name. When juxtaposed with highly stratified nature of Korean society and rigid social
differentiation, this locally based family identity became an important cause of regional
antagonism. Confucian concepts of loyalty, dignity and familism then attached on their
commitment to their territorial and social identity3
Discrimination against regions
Regionalism also could be seen as reaction against the centralized power structure in
Korea, which is Seoul’s control over the provinces. It stems primarily from policies of successive
2 UNESCO, K. N. (Ed.). (2002). Korean Politics: Striving for Democracy and Unification. New Jersey: Hollym International Corp. pg. 34.
3 Ibid. pg. 40
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government between 1960 and 1987 which concentrated development along corridor between
Seoul and Busan. Those policies left the Honam region as a relative backwater, which fueled a
rivalry with the more rapidly developing Yeongnam region. Viewed in this light, regional
consciousness is seen as power struggle against the ruling elite in Seoul. It goes along with
regional autonomy and both help each other in opposition against the authoritarian elements in
central government. Thus, it is an inevitable result of political efforts to democratize Korea.4
2.3. Regionalism in Politics
The state internal structure has been mostly created on the basis of regional ties (jiyeon),
academic ties (hagyeon), personal ties hyeoryeon) and especially during the Park and Chun
regimes, military ties.5 Even though military ties are ending in South Korean politics, regional
imbalances, especially between Yeongnam and Honam. The regionalism then is argued as a way
to seek legitimacy of regime by gaining support from ruler’s region or to gain voters in political
election.
Regionalism in top bureaucratic elites
Since formation of the Republic in 1948, regionalism has been obvious in appointment of
high-level public officials who shared the same regional origin with president. This kind of
regional favoritism has been argued as instrumental in building necessary support especially in
military regime prior to 1992 that lacked of legitimacy.
In the administration of Syngman Rhee, regional imbalance was high representation of
North Korea. Syngman Rhee, himself was born in North Korea, favored the intellectuals,
professionals and capitalists who fled North Korea after 1945 and during Korean War (1950-4 Ibid, pg. 2025 Ibid, pg. 152
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1953).6 This over representation of North Korean then continued in Park regime until the end of
Roh Tae Woo’s rule.
Second to North Korean natives were Seoul-born people. As center of nation’s social,
economic and education, Seoul has plenty opportunities to its residents compared to any other
region in South Korea. However, both region overrepresentation have less to do with
regionalism, as North Korean that fled to the South was favored due to their high socio-economic
status while Seoul people had more advantages and opportunities due to living in national’s
capital.
Table 1.1. Index of regional favoritism among top administrators, 1990-2002
Region of birthAdministrationRoh Tae Woo Kim Young Sam Kim Dae Jung Total
SeoulNumber%Index
1012.301.46
2815.201.80
138.801.04
5112.401.47
CentralNumber%Index
1721.000.64
4222.800.70
4127.900.86
10024.300.75
HonamNumber%Index
56.200.26
3116.800.71
4429.901.27
8019.400.82
YeongnamNumber%Index
4150.601.58
7339.701.24
3825.900.81
15236.901.15
OtherNumber%Index
89.902.96
105.401.61
117.502.24
297.002.09
TotalNumber%Index
81100.001.00
184100.001.00
147100.001.00
412100.001.00
Source : Yu, E.-Y. (2009). Regionalism in Korea, regional origin imbalance in the leadership structure of South Korea. In C. Yun-Shik, H.-h. Seok, & L. D. Baker (Eds.), Korea Confronts Globalization (pp. 63-88).Notes :
Top administrators are cabinet ministers and government agency chiefs Index of favoritism (IoF)
6 Yu, E.-Y. (2009). Regionalism in Korea, regional origin imbalance in the leadership structure of South Korea. In C. Yun-Shik, H.-h. Seok, & L. D. Baker (Eds.), Korea Confronts Globalization (pp. 63-88). New York: Routledge. Pg. 69
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IoF < 1 the region is underrepresentedIof = 1 the region is well representedIof > 1 the region is overrepresented
Regionalism then becomes apparent when we see representation of natives from Honam
and Yeongnam in top bureaucratic elites overtime. From 1948 to 1997, Yeongnam representation
was always above Honam, especially when the ruler himself was also from that region. This
overrepresentation reached its peak in Roh Tae Woo administration with favoritism ratio was
1.5.7 This trend then was reversed under Kim Dae Jung regime. As the first president from
Honam region, he corrected Honam underrepresentation in government by appointing sweeping
numbers of Honam natives to top position. However, this temporary break of tradition was later
overturned by Roh Moo Hyun.
Regional sentiments in political election
Regional sentiments was actually started first time in history in 1971 presidential election
between Park Chung Hee from Yeongnam and Kim Dae Jung from Honam as rising economy
disparity from industrialization centered on Yeongnam resulted in a growing sense of alienation
in Honam. It was agitated by Park Chung-hee that stated that candidate from Yeongnam should
be elected president. The election resulted on Park Chung-hee victory with overwhelming votes
from TK and PK, while Kim Dae-jung won majority vote in his base Honam. However,
regionalism did not play great role in this election as the election seems as conflict between
democratic and anti-democratic groups that was between Gyeongsangbuk-do as the base of
7 Favoritism ratio is the ratio calculated by taking proportion of people born in a particular regions and landing a particular position, divided by the proportion of the total population born in the region as of 1970. In this paper, the year 1970 is taken since the majority of people in leadership positions in 2002 were above the age of 30 r largely were born in about 1970.
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Park’s military dictatorship against Honam and PK, the bases of Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-
sam.8
In 1987 and 1988 presidential election, four candidates won in their own power base; Roh
tae-woo won majority approval in Gyeongsambuk-do, Kim young sam in Gyeongsamnam-do,
Kim Dae Jung in Honam and Kim-jong pil in Chungcheong. Regionalism once again played a
role here, showed by regional rivalries among president candidates. As Kim Dae-jung and Kim
Young-sam split in this election, the rivalries were turned into regional rivalry rather than
democracy – antidemocracy one. These rivalries made ruling party failed to reach majority and
hampered Roh Tae Woo in administering country. Thus, Roh Tae Woo created coalition with
Kim young sam and Kim jong pil excluding Honam. The coalition then aggravated Honam’s
alienation.
Table 1.2 Polling ratio in 1987 Presidential Election (%)
Roh Tae-woo Kim Young-sam Kim Dae-jung Kim Jong-pil
Total 38.6 28.0 27.1 8.1
Seoul 29.9 29.1 32.6 8.2
Gyeonggi 41.0 28.1 22.1 8.7
Gangwon 59.3 26.1 8.8 5.4
Jeju 49.8 26.8 18.6 4.5
Chungcheong 33.1 20.1 8.9 34.6
Yeongnam
PK 36.6 53.7 6.9 2.6
TK 68.1 26.6 2.5 2.5
Total 48.8 41.6 5.0 2.5
Honam 9.9 1.2 88.4 0.5
8 Gamjihan, E.-r. (n.d.). Regional Cleavage in Korean Politics and Elections. Retrieved 3 8, 2011, from The Predicament of Modern Discourses on Gender and Religion in Korean Society: http://www.ekoreajournal.net/upload/html/HTML4322.html
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Source : http://www.ekoreajournal.net/upload/html/HTML4322.html(highlighted cells show who won majority votes in that region)
In 1997 presidential election, Kim jong pil allied with Kim dae jung and created coalition of
Honam and Chungcheong. Kim dae jung then won the election due to split in Yeongnam votes.
Contrary to what some scholar predicted, election of Kim dae jung as president did not change
regionalism since nearly absolute Honam votes to Kim unite Yeongnam and made ruling party
won no seats in Yeongnam. 2002 presidential election showed unique case as Roh Mo-hyun,
Yeongnam-born native, came under party that based in Honam. He garnered Honam support and
gained Yeongnam votes slightly higher than what Kim had in 1997 election. Roh eventually won
the election, however regionalism still existed as Honam voters prefer to choose candidate that
come from their region rather and expect Roh to dominate candidates from out of their regions.9
In 2007 election, Lee myung bak won the election by gaining majority vote in all regions
except Honam that chose largely for Chung Dong-young. But a thing to note here that is Seoul
itself has started to build its own regionalism. In past elections, Seoul became lesser priority in
power struggle between Honam and Yeongnam for Chungcheong support. This was because of
large portions of Seoul are migrants from other parts of Korea. They mostly maintained the
voting patterns of their home region.10 However, this trend starts to change as increasing
numbers of voters were born and raised there and they are beginning to break away from voting
patterns of their parents. This could be seen in Lee Myung bak vote over Chung Dong-young
was almost as impressive in the capital region as his was in Yeongnam. This new regionalism
will likely appear in next presidential election in 2012.11
9 Ibid10 Byung-muk, C. (2008, April 15). How Seoul is eroding regionalism. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from The Chosun
Ilbo: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2008/04/15/2008041561015.html11 Jackson, A. (2007, 12 30). New regionalism in Korea. Retrieved 03 10, 2011, from The Korea Times News:
Regionalism in Korean economy appeared in regional imbalance particularly between
southwestern provinces (Jeolla-do), southeastern province (Gyeongsangdo). This unequal
distribution of income was seen as consequence of the structure of government elites and latent
influence of Korean political culture. Long domination of government by Gyeongsang-do elite
made concentration of development in Yeongnam and Seoul, when Honam was left emasculated.
This discrimination was formed as selective appointment of senior officers of state-
controlled and private firms and bias on giving government incentives to companies. It can be
seen in skewed distribution of jaebeol and manufacturing establishments. As of 1987, 23 of the
largest jaebeol were owned by southwesterners, while only two smaller ones were controlled by
southwesterners. Furthermore, material concessions and political favors to the southeasterners
were purposely given to ensure political and economical support of that region to government.
2.5. Regionalism in other fields
Heads of security and law enforcement
Regional imbalance also appeared in this sector, marked by consistent lack of representation of
Honam natives. Heads of security and law enforcement here includes Minister of Justice,
Minister of Home Affairs, Chief Public Prosecutors, Auditor Generals, National Police Chiefs
and heads of Observation, Control, Purification Agencies between 1948 and 1990; and Attorney
Generals and heads of National Intelligence and Information between 1990 and 2002. Yeongnam
dominance was then broken when Kim Dae Jung ascended to presidency although it reversed
back when Roh Moo Hyun took power. However, judiciary system is seen immune from
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regionalism; thanks to rigorous state examination and strict entry protocol that doesn’t left space
for regional favoritism when it comes to personnel appointments within the court system.12
University Professors
Regional discrimination is widespread and rampant in universities. Seoul natives were highly
favored and have greater chance in becoming university professors, followed by Yongnam
natives, Central natives and Honam natives. This conclusion was taken from Chosun Ilbo’s 2002
Who’s who list on personnel profiles of 14,732 university professors in 48 major universities that
were analyzed by regional origin. Pattern of regional imbalance among professors in most of the
top universities in Korea shows dominance of Seoul-born professors and extremely low
presentation of Honam-born professors outside Honam.13
3. Closing
Conclusion
Ever since inception of the republic, regionalism has been part of Korean society. It was seen as
struggle and rivalries among regions especially between Yeongnam and Honam. It has created
inequality in income distribution, development and representation in public services. Although
Korean government appears to be making some progress in addressing these inequalities,
regionalism still exist in both the private and public sectors. In democratization of Korea, the
divisive nature of regionalism may hamper the process however; regionalism also positively goes
hand in hand with demand of regional autonomy and in power struggle against authoritarian
central government.
Bibliography
12 Yu, E.-Y. (2009). Regionalism in Korea, regional origin imbalance in the leadership structure of South Korea. In C. Yun-Shik, H.-h. Seok, & L. D. Baker (Eds.), Korea Confronts Globalization (pp. 63-88). New York: Routledge. Pg. 76
13 Ibid, pg. 83
11
Byung-muk, C. (2008, April 15). How Seoul is eroding regionalism. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from The
