Kim Manheum "Political Parties Resemble Similar Religious Groups" Published

"Even Common Sense Becomes Partisan, Public Sphere Not Formed"
"Leadership and Forces Needed to Lead Politics of Coexistence"

Kim Man-heum, a distinguished professor at Hansung University and former head of the National Assembly Research Service, has published a political critique titled (Hanul), which criticizes the religiously polarized factional politics. Professor Kim, who previously taught at Catholic University and served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission, is also a familiar political scientist to the public through his active roles as a host and guest on various current affairs programs on KBS, CBS, and MBN. He diagnosed, "The confrontation between ruling and opposition political forces is almost at the level of war. Over the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration, the factional politics of populism have become more extreme. Based on this, the current state of Korean politics is a political war between enemies and allies, good and evil."

This analysis leads to a sharp critique of factional politics. "Populism led by hardline forces based on SNS is driving the political situation. Political parties have become almost like quasi-religious groups, and their self-regulation mechanisms are not functioning well, which characterizes current Korean party politics. Even the media has become a tool of partisan factional politics. Neither the ruling nor opposition forces have gained the trust of the people, resulting in a hostile symbiosis among unpopular factions." "Even political newcomers recently have only served as Red Guards. Since even common sense is factionalized differently, a public sphere for debate and persuasion does not form. SNS, which controls the information market and networks, reinforces confirmation bias and further solidifies the idols of the cave."

Professor Kim emphasizes that overcoming this phenomenon requires institutional reforms such as changing the presidential system and expanding proportional representation. Reforms that eliminate the winner-takes-all system and party privileges are necessary. He stresses the need for leadership and forces that lead politics of coexistence based on shared values of our society that transcend the conservative-progressive dichotomy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.