[4][5] In general, while the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has a strong conservative tendency, the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) has shown a strong progressive tendency[3] in the Japanese political spectrum.
[6][7] The terms "kakushin" and "left-wing" (左派) have been criticized for being misused by mainstream Japanese media and Japanese conservatives as red-baiting terms to attack South Korean liberals for having anti-Japan sentiment for historical reasons.
By South Korean political standards, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) does not classify itself as a "jinbojeongdang" (Korean: 진보정당; Hanja: 進步政黨) because it is generally considered socially conservative However, major Japanese media often refer to the Democratic Party of Korea as a "kakushin seitō."
South Korean liberals criticize mainstream Japanese media and conservatives.
Moon Chung-in also said that Moon Jae-in government and DPK support "Gaehyeok" (改革) in the South Korean political context, but not "kakushin" (革新) or revolution in the Japanese political context.