Fairness in Transitional Justice Initiatives: The Case of South Korea

South Korea has experienced a remarkable transition over the last half century. The nation was once one of the poorest countries in Asia. After thirty-five years of Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945 and with the three-year Korean War from 1950 to 1953, the GDP per capita income of South Korean nationals was only $79 in 1960.1 South Korea has now become the world's tenth largest trading country, with $20,759 per capita income as of 2010.2 Even more impressive, the country's rapid economic development was accompanied by phenomenal democratization in the late 1980s and 1990s. 3 Korea's historical transition has nevertheless been far from smooth. Following the establishment of the South Korean government in 1948, Korea was led by a wave of authoritarian or military regimes. The first president, Syngman Rhee (1948-1960), was forced to step down by the so-called April Revolution in 1960 for his authoritarian and corrupt rule. Park ChungHee took power shortly thereafter by launching a military coup in 1961. His authoritarian military regime lasted until 1979, when he was assassinated by his right-hand man, the head of the Korean intelligence services (KCIA). After staging military coups in 1979 and 1980, Chun Doo-Hwan (19811988) and Roh Tae-Woo (1988-1993) succeeded Park Chung-Hee, and they controlled the presidency one after another until 1993. Owing to the growing strength of the people power movements in the 1980s and 1990s, however, the country headed for democracy by the early nineties. After Kim