The Democratic Labor Party () was a progressive and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

political party in

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 ...

. It was founded in January 2000, in the effort to create a political wing for the

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), literally translated as National Democratic Confederation of Trade Unions, also known as Minju-nochong ( ko, 민주노총; acronym for ''KCTU'' in Korean language) is a national trade union centr ...

and was considered more left-wing and more independent of the two union federations in South Korea. Its party president was

Kwon Young-gil Gwon also written as Kwon () is a Korean family name. Some sources list as many 56 clans, but most of them were merged with the Andong Gwon clan under the Sijeung-gong faction soon after the establishment of the Goryeo Kingdom. Andong Gwon cl ...

, Kang Gi-gap, and

Lee Jung-hee Lee Jung-hee (; born December 22, 1969) is a South Korean politician, lawyer and activist. 18th member of the National Assembly of South Korea. She was one of the candidates for the 2012 presidential election. Biography Early years Lee ...

. In December 2011, the party merged into the

Unified Progressive Party The Unified Progressive Party (UPP; ko, 통합진보당, RR: ''Tonghap Jinbo-dang'', Hanja: 統合進步黨) is a banned political party in South Korea. It was founded on 5 December 2011 as a merger of the Democratic Labor Party, the People ...

. In the South Korean political history, DLP considered as the ancestor of all of modern day left-leaning political parties such as Justice Party and

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

History

The party gained 10 seats in the National Assembly for the first time in the 2004 parliamentary election, making it the first major left-wing party to enter the Assembly. Before and during the

2007 presidential election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

, conflicts arose between the two main factions within the party. The "equality" or the "left" faction, represented by the People's Democracy group, stressed issues ranging from social welfare, civil liberties, and labor rights, and took an antagonistic position against ruling liberal

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (; ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea between 2003 and 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

government. Against them, the "autonomy" faction, represented by the National Liberation group, emphasized

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

struggle and viewed

Korean reunification Korean reunification () is the potential reunification of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea into a single Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification was started by the June 15th North–South Joi ...

to be a paramount goal. In contrast to the "left" faction, "autonomy" faction advocated "democratic coalition government" (민주연립정부) with the ruling

Uri Party The Yeollin Uri Party (), generally abbreviated to Uri Party (), was the ruling political party in South Korea from 2003–2007. It had a liberal political ideology in order to support then President Roh Moo-hyun. Chung Sye Kyun was the last le ...

, and took a reconciliatory position towards Roh government. After the 2007 presidential election, the People's Democracy faction quit the party and formed the New Progressive Party (NPP). Despite the split, DLP gained 5 seats in the National Assembly in the 2008 election, but NPP gained none. In the 2009 by-election, NPP got one seat. On 5 December 2011, the party merged with the

People's Participation Party The Participation Party (; PP) was a political party of South Korea. It was formed by many of the former members of the Uri Party after the death of former President Roh Moo-hyun. Rhyu Si-min was elected as Party Chairman on March 19, 2011. In ...

and a faction of the NPP to found the

by Lee jung-hwee.

Political position

The Democratic Labor Party was originally considered as a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...

party, including some

left-wing nationalist Left-wing nationalism or leftist nationalism, also known as social nationalism, is a form of nationalism based upon national self-determination, popular sovereignty, national self-interest, and left-wing political positions such as social equali ...

ideologies. The party strongly opposed

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...

in South Korea, and represented the broad left-wing tendencies against the major liberal and conservative parties. In 2008, the socialist-leaning Minjungminju-wing () left the party after the ideological dispute about

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

and established the New Progressive Party. After the party split, remained nationalist-leaning Minjokhaebang-wing () tried to make a partnership with major liberal

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 ...

. From the 2010 local elections, the party joined an electoral coalition with the Democratic Party. In June 2011, the Democratic Labor Party removed "socialism" from the party code and replaced the phrase "socialism" (사회주의) with "progressive democracy" (진보적 민주주의), a liberal ideology.

Election results

President

Legislature

Local

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2000 establishments in South Korea Defunct political parties in South Korea Korean nationalist parties Left-wing nationalism in South Korea Left-wing nationalist parties Labour parties Political parties established in 2000 Progressive parties in South Korea