Political Functions and Dilemma of the Korean Constitutional Court

In the past decades, the Korean Constitutional Court (KCC) has become one of main actors in political process. It has been invited by various political, social, and economic forces to make important decisions. This study, first, carries out general analysis on the political roles of the KCC. That is, this study tries to categorize a lot of its decisions into three domains: decisions concerning pursuit of institutional self-interest and expansion of its authority; decisions on conflicting issues of the Korean society; decisions on political rules of game. Second, it examines various flaws, contradictions, and vacuums regarding the Constitutional Court system imbedded in the Korean Constitution. Finally, it concludes that, because of the incongruity between increasingly important roles the KCC has come to play in the Korean society and flaws of the Korean constitutional system regarding the KCC, and unwillingness or incapacity of politicians to reform the constitutional system, constitutional democracy of Korea has fallen into a dilemma.