A Comparative Study of the Characteristics of Political Culture in South Korea and Russia during Their Transition to Democracy

South Korea and Russia, two important nations in the Asia-Pacific region, have started their course of transition to democracy since the late 1980s. Along with the development and deepening of the two nations' transition to democracy, the factor of cultural tradition also becomes more and more obvious. This article, through examining the actual effect of political culture (as a variable) in the two nations' democratic movement and the relationship between the political culture and the political developing path of these two nations, is aimed at demonstrating that it is important to fully consider the complexity of political culture background and the positive and negative impact therefrom in order for the model of transition more fit for the requirement of a nation's society and the demand of contemporary development, especially when designing the model of transition to democracy.