What has happened to the poster child: is South Korean democracy backsliding?

South Korean democracy had been under attack. This was most apparent in President Yoon Suk-Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law. But it was not the only challenge to Korean democracy, previously regarded as one of the most successful third-wave de-mocracies. Though not calling into question episodes of democratic regression, this ar-ticle challenges arguments of Korean democracy backsliding and instead points to the country’s democratic rollercoaster: ascent under progressive leadership followed by sharp decline under right-wing administrations. Democratic resilience is also evidenced in civil society mobilisation and popular uprisings in democratic crises, and the rise of programmatic party competition has been vital in democratic consolidation. Significant achievements notwithstanding, a profound crisis of Korean democratic politics is acknowledged. The article proposes an institutionalist account of democratic stagnation that puts constitutional flaws of the Korean political system and the chaebol-dominated economy centre-stage. This institutionalist perspective informs the argument that fundamental constitutional reform recalibrating the relationship between the executive and legislature is imperative, and this with the priority objective of strengthening the party-political system. This research contends that it is the Korean constitutional architecture that has been compromising the mediating capacity of po-litical parties and, doing so, holding back democratic progress.