Left-center parties in South Korea and Taiwan recently defeated their conservative opponents amid a surge in turnout by younger voters. What are the underlying causes of these developments? Do they signal the beginning of a political transformation in these vibrant democracies? Booseung Chang will discuss the role of growing voter anger over socio-economic disparities and the rise of new nationalisms in potentially changing the political party systems of South Korea and Taiwan, along with the implications for the United States.

Booseung Chang is the 2015-16 Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. His research focuses on domestic developments and foreign relations of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, as well as North Korean nuclear issues. Chang received a doctorate in international relations from Johns Hopkins University. Previously, he served as a South Korean foreign service officer for fifteen years.