Korean - Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. When Korea was still a preindustrial and agricultural society, predominant forms of social organization were family- and kinship-centered institutions such as lineages (minimum and maximum) and clans. Kin-based organizations are still present and considered to be important. However, recent industrialization, urbanization, and massive migration have resulted in movement away from lineage- and neighborhood-based social relations toward functionally based relations. Both formal and informal social organizations are formed in factories, shops, and offices. Branches of many multinational organizations are also present. Organizations based on school ties are now pivotal.

Political Organization. Following the division of Korea, South Korea became a democratic republic, whereas North Korea remains a communist dictatorship. South Korea is in its sixth republic. The most recent constitution was approved in October 1987, effective February 1988, and mandates a strong president, elected for one five-year term, and 224 members of the 229-member National Assembly, elected by popular vote for four-year terms. Political parties appoint the remaining officials according to a proportional formula. An independent judicial branch, with the Supreme Court at its apex, administers justice. South Korea has nine provinces, which are divided into counties, cities, townships, towns, and villages, and six provincial-level cities.

Social Control. Traditionally, any conflict or dispute in a family, a village, or even among villages has been settled mainly by informal control, through the mediation of either heads of households or village elders. However, formal control mechanisms have replaced the informal social controls. In the past, Koreans were reluctant to take their grievances to the courts and even took offense at the idea, but nowadays they are not so averse to the legal process.

Conflict. The Korean Peninsula is the only remaining part of the world where a cold war remnant of ideological conflict and tension exists. Although various levels of inter-Korean talks have taken place since 1971, as of 1992 no significant progress has yet been made. Recently, in South Korea, regional conflict and resentment—especially between Cholla and Kyongsang provinces—have arisen because of the domination of South Korea's politics and business by people from Kyongsang Province. The three most recent presidents, all of whom were ex-generals, came from Kyongsang Province. The South Korean government has made a conscious effort—including the construction of a new four-lane highway between the two provincial capitals in 1984—to reduce, if not eliminate, a potentially harmful animosity between these regions.