The Democratic Party (; DP) was a political party of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

from 1991 to 1995.

History

The party was formed by the merger of New Democratic Unionist Party (NDUP) of

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human ...

, and

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

of Lee Ki-taek (aka Little Democrats), as a part of the opposition union. During that time, NDUP, the main opposition, faced a difficulties after they lost in 1991 local elections. Little Democratic Party, a splinter group formed by the dissidents of

Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (; or ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015) was a Demographics of South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, he spent almost 30 year ...

's United Democratic Party, was struggling with its few seats. On 16 September 1991, both parties declared to be combined and re-founded as Democratic Party. Both Kim Dae-jung (DJ; Chairman of NDUP) and Lee Ki-taek (KT; Chairman of Little Democrats), was elected as the Co-Presidents of the new party. Prior to the presidential election in 1992, DJ defeated Lee and elected as the party's presidential candidate. He was widely criticised for calling rural voters as "pro- Democratic Liberal Party (DLP; the then ruling party)" and/or "pro-

Roh Tae-woo Roh Tae-woo (; ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. Roh was a close ally and friend of Chun Doo-hwan, the predecessor leader ...

", and lost to DLP's Kim Young-sam. DJ subsequently resigned his party presidency and retired from the politics. KT then solely elected as the new president on 11 March 1993. The party then absorbed

New Korea Party The New Korea Party (; NKP) was founded by the merging of Roh Tae-woo's Democratic Justice Party, Kim Young Sam's Reunification Democratic Party and Kim Jong-pil's New Democratic Republican Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party (; DLP). It ...

of Lee Jong-chan in the early 1995, and won the local elections in 1995. However, shortly after, DJ officially returned to politics, and conflicts were sparked. The party's pro-DJ factions, not excluding DJ himself, left and founded a new party, named

National Congress for New Politics The National Congress for New Politics (; NCNP) was a political party of South Korea. History The party was formed in 1995 as the National Congress for New Politics after Kim Dae-jung returned to active politics following his retirement in 1992 ...

(NCNP). On 21 December, the party merged with New Party for Reform, and re-built as United Democratic Party, who then became one of the predecessor of the incumbent Liberty Korea Party.

Leadership

Party Presidents

Election results

President

Legislature

Local

References

{{South Korean political parties Defunct political parties in South Korea Democratic parties in South Korea Liberal parties Political parties established in 1991 Political parties disestablished in 1995