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> Also why do people trust the government when it only became a democracy about 30 years ago, and things like this happened? Considering that the country's ent

> Also why do people trust the government when it only became a democracy about 30 years ago, and things like this happened? Considering that the country's entire history span about 70 years (excluding the provisional government; the provisional government is exactly 100 yrs old in 2019), 30 years is a long time. Presidents are elected with direct election; a direct consequence from the Park Jong-chol incident you have mentioned, and 1987 is the year of South Korea's 'real' democracy. People have the power to impeach presidents with peaceful protests[0][1] and people are proud of it. South Korea's democracy is highly trusted in the country, IMHO. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Park_Geun-hye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Park_Geun-hye [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39227342 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39227342

theredbox 7y ago
Is this why everyone and their mom switched from Kakao to Telegram during the Sewol crisis and PGH incident did not really help either. SK is a well managed country but dont equate obedience or ignorance with trust. Also koreans are simply ignorant about things like individualism and too much interference from the ones in power.
Nasrudith 7y ago
Really the impeachment alone makes it very trustworthy regardless of its past. If petty abuse of power gets one removed from the highest office then accountability is maintained. Not without flaws of course (election of dynastics in a democracy is generally a warning sign of power being used to self-perpetuate).
drawnwren 7y ago
All correct. However, I think it's important to make a distinction between South Korea's government and the people who are currently operating the government. The long history of peaceful protest makes South Koreans trust in the system, but they are certainly not trustful of the people in power. They exercise their right to protest in a fantastic fashion quite frequently.

theredbox 7y ago

Is this why everyone and their mom switched from Kakao to Telegram during the Sewol crisis and PGH incident did not really help either. SK is a well managed country but dont equate obedience or ignorance with trust. Also koreans are simply ignorant about things like individualism and too much interference from the ones in power.

Nasrudith 7y ago

Really the impeachment alone makes it very trustworthy regardless of its past. If petty abuse of power gets one removed from the highest office then accountability is maintained. Not without flaws of course (election of dynastics in a democracy is generally a warning sign of power being used to self-perpetuate).

drawnwren 7y ago

All correct. However, I think it's important to make a distinction between South Korea's government and the people who are currently operating the government. The long history of peaceful protest makes South Koreans trust in the system, but they are certainly not trustful of the people in power. They exercise their right to protest in a fantastic fashion quite frequently.