What are the characteristics of modern social movements in Korea?

 The characteristic of Korean modern social movement is non-violent struggle. Unlike Western countries and other democratic countries, the movement took place relatively peacefully. In particular, as time passed, social movements took place in a non-violent and legal manner. In the case of the June 1988 Democratic Uprising after the April 19th Revolution, there was friction between the protesters and the police during the crackdown, but there was no tremendous bloodshed. It was a more peaceful way than the April 19 Revolution. During the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980, there was repression by the military, but this was a unilateral overrepression, even though the demonstrators did not protest violently. After that, in the case of the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, there was no conflict between the police and the citizens, and the entire process of impeachment took place peacefully within the legal process. At this time, foreign media also paid attention to Korea's non-violent struggle. Most of the democracy movements that took place in Korean history were non-violent struggles.

 The second characteristic is the participation in the democratization movement from various classes. The social movement was not developed around a specific professional group or intellectual class, but various classes participated in the social movement. During the June democratization protest, university students were the center of the democratization movement. However, as the government and the police reduced and concealed reports of the death torture of Park Jong-cheol and the death of Lee Han-yeol became known, student-centered protests gained consensus from various classes, including office workers and housewives. So, in the protest for democracy in June, various classes, including students, office workers, and housewives, participated in the protests. During the most recent social movement, the former presidential impeachment of Park Geun-hye in 2017, the president's illegal acts aroused the anger of the whole people, and all citizens, regardless of income, age, and class, participated in the impeachment protests.