South Korea is best-known for its economic development, democratic transition and consolidation, vibrant civil society, and emergence as a cultural powerhouse. The Oxford Handbook of South Korean Politics presents and analyses contemporary South Korean politics, bringing together domestic political, economic, social cultural, and demographic developments and putting them in the context of trends in fellow developed countries. The Handbook is divided into seven sections: introduction; core concepts; institutions, parties, elections, and voters; civil society; culture and media; public policy and policy-making; and the international arena. The overarching premise of the Handbook is that we have to move away from traditional understandings of South Korean politics that considered them to be static, focusing instead on how and why contemporary South Korea is a vibrant and dynamic democracy in which multiple groups and ideas are represented.

JeongHun Han, Professor of Korean Politics, Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University,Ramon Pacheco Pardo, Professor of International Relations, King's College London & KF-VUB Korea Chair, Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, ,Youngho Cho, Associate Professor of Political Science, Sogang University

JeongHun Han is Professor of Korean Politics at the Graduate School of International Studies and the Chair of the EU Center at Seoul National University. He has held visiting positions at Portland State University and Chulalongkorn University. Prof. Han is currently the editor of Review of International and Area Studies and a regional editor of Asian Journal of Political Science. His research focuses on institutional design in new democracies and electoral and legislative politics in South Korea, among others. His publications have appeared in Contemporary Politics, Journal of European Public Policy, Korea Observer, and other journals.

Ramon Pacheco Pardo is Professor of International Relations at King's College London and KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Brussels School of Governance of Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He has held visiting positions at Korea University, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Melbourne University. Prof. Pacheco Pardo's research focuses on South Korean foreign policy, South Korean and East Asian political economy, and North Korean foreign policy. His publications include the books Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop and North Korea-US Relations from Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un, as well as articles with Asia Europe Journal, Global Governance, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, and New Political Economy, among others.

Youngho Cho is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Sogang University. He is currently the editor of the Journal of Contemporary Politics (in Korean). His research focuses on Korean politics, democracy, political culture, elections, and state violence. His publications have appeared in Political Studies, Democratization, and Asian Survey, among others.

1. Introduction, JeongHun HAN, Ramon PACHECO PARDO, and Youngho CHO
2. History of Korea, 1905-45, Hyung-Gu LYNN
3. History of South Korea, 1945-87, Tae Gyun PARK
4. Presidentialism with Parliamentary Characteristics, JeongHun HAN
5. Regional and Social Division, Kwang-Il YOON
6. Conservative Democratization, WooJin KANG
7. Developmental State, Meredith WOO
8. Chaebol, Sang-young RHYU
9. Nationalism, Jungmin SEO
10. Constitutional Politics, Won-Taek KANG
11. Legislative Politics, Byoung Kwon SOHN
12. Executive Politics, Jongkon LEE
13. Judicial Politics, Dongwook CHA
14. Parties and Party Systems, Sunghack LIM
15. Minority Representation, Kyungmee PARK
16. Elections and Electoral Systems, Woojin MOON
17. Political Communication, Han Soo LEE
18. New Issue Politics, Seung-Jin JANG
19. Social Movements, Jin-Wook SHIN
20. Interest Group Politics, Yoojin LIM and Yeonho LEE
21. Labour Union Activism, Soonmee KWON
22. Citizens' Support for Democracy, Youngho CHO
23. Cinema and Television, Hyangjin LEE
24. Internet and Social Media, Dal Yong JIN
25. The Press, Ki-Sung KWAK
26. Public Intellectuals, Namhee LEE
27. Pop Music, John LIE
28. Political Control of Bureaucratic Autonomy: Holding the Government Accountable, Huck-ju KWON
29. Development of Welfare Programmes, Jooha LEE
30. Decentralisation and Local Government, Yooil BAE
31. Corruption, Kyoung-sun MIN
32. Foreign Policy, Ramon PACHECO PARDO
33. Security and Defence Policy, Sung-han KIM and Alex Soohoon LEE
34. Foreign Economic Policy, Sohyun Zoe LEE
35. South Korea as Development Model, Eun Mee KIM and Nancy Y. KIM
36. The Question of Reunification, Young-Kwan YOON
37. The US Alliance, Victor D. CHA and Katrin KATZ
38. China's Rise, Heung-kyu KIM