Hansun Foundation's 2025, and 2026

Cho Young-key

Secretary General, Hansun Foundation

1. Introduction

It feels like only yesterday that we turned over the first calendar page of 2025, yet it is already time to bring the year to a close. At this time of year, we invariably find ourselves in mixed emotions. As we look back on the year, regret over what we failed to accomplish and renewed resolve for a fresh start in the new year intersect. Such feelings of regret and resolution apply not only to individuals but also to organizations and nations.

In particular, Korea's start to 2025 was struck across society by a storm of impeachment. The sudden declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024, was a black hole that sucked in every issue - especially the extreme political polarization triggered by impeachment, which severely narrowed the space in which policy could take root.

In this environment, the activities of the Hansun Foundation (hereinafter "Hansun"), a private think tank that pursues reformist conservatism based on Communitarian Liberalism (공동체자유주의), inevitably shrank and became highly constrained. In particular, the impeachment of a president produced by the conservative camp put Hansun in an exceedingly awkward position.

2. The Republic of Korea in 2025

Korea in 2025, which began amid an impeachment storm, was like a situation in which "mines of crisis" were buried everywhere. From a conservative perspective, the crisis was even greater. The conservative crisis has both internal and external dimensions.

Internally, the crisis stemmed from martial law and the impeachment of the president, as well as the election of a president from the (so-called) progressive camp. In other words, as conservatives lost their direction amid martial law and the impeachment trial of the president, they came to face a crisis of national identity.

However, the root of this identity crisis lay in the absence of philosophy and ideology, and in the lack of reflection, "disciplining caution" (懲毖), or accountability for failure. Conservatives, resting on the successes of nation-building and industrialization in the past and neglecting preparations for the future, in some respects brought about a comprehensive crisis themselves. As these factors combined, the status of Korea's conservatives fell from being the mainstream force leading the country to becoming a non-mainstream force.

Externally, the crises included the launch of the second Trump administration in the United States and President Xi Jinping's third consecutive term in China, intensifying U.S.-China hegemonic competition; the advent of a "new Cold War," heightening geopolitical risks in Northeast Asia; the United States' tariff policies; the rise of protectionism centered on national interest; and the strengthening of economic security.

At its launch in 2006, Hansun's mission was to advance Korea's modernization and the direction of unification on the Korean Peninsula through conservative reform - by proposing policies and putting them into practice. To that end, Hansun has held the weekly Communitarian Liberalism Thursday Seminar (hereinafter the "Thursday Seminar") and, in response to urgent issues, has convened emergency seminars or published the Hansun Brief.

In particular, since Hansun's founding in September 2006, the Thursday Seminar has faithfully served as a platform that proposes the agenda (話頭) and public discourse (公論) of each era and provides a public instrument (公器) to Korean society; on November 20 it reached the milestone of its 500th session. The Thursday Seminar will continue its voyage without interruption. The Hansun Brief, meanwhile, has functioned as a tool to diagnose problems and present alternatives whenever pressing issues arise.

Meanwhile, the crisis Korea faced in 2025 was also a conservative crisis - meaning that overcoming the conservative crisis is the same as overcoming Korea's national crisis. At its 2006 launch, Hansun's mission was to solidify the foundations of reformist conservatism on the basis of Communitarian Liberalism. The path to solidifying those foundations is to break out of the existing frame of thought, institutions, and practices and shift into a new frame - thereby remaking the nation's overall form anew.

Accordingly, the overarching theme of the first half of the 2025 Thursday Seminar was set as "National Re-Creation Strategy for a Time of Transition: Innovation and Inclusion."

And in the second half of the year, in order to explore ways for conservatives - who had fallen into the abyss after the June presidential election - to rediscover their path, the overarching theme was set as "Finding the Path of Korean Conservatism: Diagnosis and Alternatives." Hansun has served as a guide (嚮導) for our society, and by publishing the Hansun Brief on urgent issues, it has sought to present direction for solutions.

3. Hansun Foundation's Tasks for 2026

Hansun's mission in this era is to complete Korea's advancement and unification on the Korean Peninsula on the philosophical foundation of Communitarian Liberalism. This mission remains valid today, must remain valid going forward, and should remain valid. In particular, 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of Hansun's founding. Yet Communitarian Liberalism - championed by Hansun for the past twenty years - has not even taken root in our society and is being ignored.

The Communitarian Liberalism Hansun advocated was "a liberalism that cherishes the community." A community without freedom risks leading to totalitarian dictatorship, while freedom without community inevitably risks the collapse of the nation and society. In this way, community and freedom are precious values that cannot be separated. Therefore, in 2026 Hansun must rally collective wisdom on how to help Communitarian Liberalism take root and blossom in our society.

In particular, for the 20-30 generation to recognize the value of Communitarian Liberalism and adopt it as a guideline for practice, fairness is an important value. Here, fairness is not fairness of outcomes, but fairness of opportunity. Fairness of opportunity functions as a value-good that provides them with the foundation for a better life and also dilutes feelings of relative deprivation.

Meanwhile, in 2025, the self-proclaimed progressive government and the reckless overreach of a massive ruling party laid the groundwork for shaking the foundations of the Republic of Korea. The diagnosis is that "judicial reform" has neutralized the judiciary, eroding (liberal) democracy and the rule of law; and that under the pretext of "media reform," the media has been muzzled and press freedom threatened. In addition, profligate fiscal management, excessive monetary expansion, and populist policies combined to produce a "triple burden" (prices, exchange rate, interest rate), while bubbles in the stock and real estate markets have made citizens' lives more difficult.

Of course, the external environment in 2025 was by no means favorable, and it is predicted that the domestic and external situation of 2025 will continue as-is into 2026. In such a crisis, the mission given to us is whether we can transform "crisis into an opportunity for a leap." Therefore, Hansun must prepare a "New National Development Strategy 2.0" and, with a "Mission of the Republic of Korea 2.0," build the foundations for conservative innovation. At that time, Korea's horizon should not remain limited to the Korean Peninsula or Northeast Asia; it must be approached from a global perspective, with corresponding countermeasures. Accordingly, the themes of the Communitarian Liberalism Thursday Seminar will focus on rebuilding national identity, restoring democracy and the rule of law, and restoring the livelihood economy.

In 2026, Hansun should also develop and prioritize Youth Academy programs to provide the 20-40 generation with sound national philosophy and ideology. This will not only enhance Hansun's sustainability through intergenerational linkage but also expand the philosophical foundation of Communitarian Liberalism. To this end, Hansun should establish various forms of academies - such as a Youth Academy and Global Leadership programs - and also devise ways to expand points of contact with the public through training linked with local governments. Such activities provide proper direction on the foundation of philosophy and ideology.

Hansun must also develop policy measures to play a central role in building a "grand conservative coalition" through solidarity with organizations, academia, and civic action groups that share its values and ideology. Only then can conservatives build a united front on the basis of correct philosophy and ideology and multiply policy effectiveness.

Now we must send off the chaotic year of 2025 and welcome 2026. The 2026 we face must yield better results than 2025. In particular, it is predicted that 2026 may be an even more difficult year than 2025. But however hard it may be, we cannot stop Hansun's voyage. With the mindset of "hoshi-ubo (虎視牛步)" - watchful as a tiger, yet steady as an ox - we must overcome difficult obstacles one by one. Only then can Communitarian Liberalism be realized in 2026, laying a firm foundation for an advanced Republic of Korea and fulfilling the dream of a unified Korea.

Note: The views expressed herein may differ from those of the Hansun Foundation.

(※ It's a translation based on machine translation)