[Special Dialogue] The 2025 System—How To Build It?
The Quarterly Changbi 208, Summer 2025
Abstract
Amid a shaky division system, the declining neoliberalism, and the rise of direct democracy-based civic participation, the entrenched conservative forces have continuously attempted a "gradual coup" and have ultimately gone so far as to stage an actual self-coup. In this special conversation between Paik Nak-chung and Lee Nam-ju, they share the understanding that the 1987 system has run its course and that with the launch of a new government, it is time to build the “2025 system.” They engage in a realistic and in-depth discussion on the path toward creating a new politics and a new nation. Recognizing the need to now produce more concrete and practical outcomes, they emphasize that a “transformative middle way” can serve as a major driving force for change. They discuss the issues of “people’s livelihood” and “peace on the Korean Peninsula” as core agendas for constructing the 2025 system and propose strategic methods for opening the path to a civic participation-based constitutional amendment. Their consistent belief in the power of citizens and the value-oriented stance that “we must generate a positive force throughout society”—though not an easy path—are sound. This lively and engaging conversation is also available in video format on Paik Nak-chung TV (https://www.youtube.com/@paiknctv).