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The role of social solidarity in the rise and decline of the South Korean student movement in the 1970–1990s

Sung-Lim Park (Department of Political Science, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan)

Asian Education and Development Studies

ISSN: 2046-3162

Article publication date: 12 June 2020

Issue publication date: 9 July 2020

124

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the cause how the student movement in South Korea enjoyed the golden age in the 1970–1990s and could not be revived since the late 1990s and cannot be played a pivotal role again.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts historical analysis as primary methodology, traced the historical evolution of South Korean student activism in the 1970–1990s through analyzing secondary Korean literature and newspaper on the particular struggle cases in the period.

Findings

Social solidarity between society and student had played a pivotal role in the South Korean students' long activism in the struggle of the 1970–1990s. In the 1970–1980s, democratic election and constitutional reform set in the main purpose of struggle that attracted wide support from society and enjoyed maintaining a new member supply and their commitment despite authoritarian government's persistent oppression. When the sixth constitution was passed in 1987 with Democratization, the student decided to choose continuing struggle and set social cooperation with North Korea as the new goal, the sensitive issue in South Korea that confronted fierce criticism. Society chose to withdraw their support to the activism in the Yonsei University incident of 1996, rung a knell of long struggle since the 1970s.

Originality/value

The research identified the cause how South Korean students in university could persist long strike without particular internal resource production during three decades and ended the long struggle in the late 1990s; the existence of social solidarity between student and society was the main reason of continued new member supply and their commitment in the battle.

Keywords

Citation

Park, S.-L. (2020), "The role of social solidarity in the rise and decline of the South Korean student movement in the 1970–1990s", Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 375-385. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-04-2018-0083

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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