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Generational Differences and Political Development in South Korea
- Korean Studies
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 17, 1993
- pp. 1-16
- 10.1353/ks.1993.0013
- Article
- Additional Information
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Political development in Korea—especially progress toward pluralistic political institutions—very much depends on the capacity of Korean society to deal with the complex problems of intergenerational differences. This article first outlines the sharp differences in attitudes and behavior between the younger, postwar generation (chŏlmŭn sedae) and the older, prewar generation (kisŏng sedae); then examines the contributions and limitations of the political activism of the younger generation, which has been both a primary catalyst for social reform and a primary source of political instability over the past few decades. The conclusion offers tentative prognoses for the remainder of the 1990s.