The Progressive Party (), known as the Minjung Party () until June 2020, is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

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 ...

. The party was formed by the merger of the New People's Party and

People's United Party The People's United Party (PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House ...

on 15 October 2017.

History

The party initially had two members in the National Assembly, both from

Ulsan Ulsan (), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring ...

, but was reduced to one on 22 December, when the supreme court convicted Yoon Jong-oe for breaking the campaign law. On October 13, 2017, when the founding ceremony of the Minjung Party was held,

American progressives Progressivism in the United States is a political philosophy and reform movement in the United States advocating for policies that are generally considered left-wing, left-wing populist, libertarian socialist, social democratic, and environmentalis ...

such as

Ramsey Clark William Ramsey Clark (December 18, 1927 – April 9, 2021) was an American lawyer, activist, and federal government official. A progressive, New Frontier liberal, he occupied senior positions in the United States Department of Justice under Presi ...

and

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

celebrated the founding of the party by advocating

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

on the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. In July 2018, members of the Minjung Party met with members of the North Korean

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

in China. The meeting was not authorized by the

Ministry of Unification The Ministry of Unification is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung-hee. It gained its ...

which could have punished the party for violations of South Korea's National Security Act. Jung Tae-heung, the co-chair of the Minjung Party, stated that he was warned the party may be fined for the meeting. In August 2019, the party held events related to nationwide protests against Japanese prime minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Lib ...

and boycott against Japanese products. In January 2020, the Minjung Party surveyed at 1.5% approval rating ahead of parliamentary elections. The party lost its remaining seat in the 2020 legislative election. In June 2020, the party renamed itself from the Minjung Party to the Progressive Party.

Political positions

Although the party has never officially put forward

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as s ...

, it is classified by some media outlets as "far-left" () in the context of South Korean politics. The Progressive Party has "

progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tec ...

" as its main ideology rather than "

". The Progressive Party strongly supports

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

so that '

Minjung Minjung is a Korean word that combines the two hanja characters ''min'' () and ''jung'' (). ''Min'' is from ''inmin'' (), which may be translated as "the people", and ''jung'' is from ''daejung'' (), which may be translated as "the public". Thu ...

' can actively participate in politics, and is also evaluated as "radical" or "radical-left".

Economic policy

The party supports the redistribution of wealth and economically progressive positions such as imposing a 90% tax rate on more than 3 billion won (roughly

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

2,500,000). In addition, the party sees ''

chaebol A chaebol (, ; ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group whose power over the group often exc ...

'' very negatively and sees "decomposing the monopoly economy of transnational capital and chaebols" () as its official party theory.

Foreign policy

The Progressive Party is an

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 ...

party. The party generally shows a strong

left-wing nationalism 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 ...

tendency and is much more conciliatory to

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 ...

than mainstream left-liberals in South Korea, and the party argues that the remnants of colonialism from the Japanese imperialist era should be liquidated and unequal South Korea-U.S. relations should be dismantled to establish national sovereignty. The Progressive Party issued an "anti-Japan joint statement" (반일공동성명) with the

Korean Social Democratic Party The Korean Social Democratic Party (KSDP) is a political party in North Korea, allied with the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. It was formed on 3 November 1945 as the Korean Democratic Party by a diverse group of medium and small entrepreneurs, ...

in 2019. The Progressive Party has the most resistant nationalist and anti-Japanese tendencies among South Korea's major political parties.

Social policy

Major politicians of the Progressive Party oppose

anti-communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

and

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

and support

and a

volunteer military A volunteer military system or all volunteer military system (AVMS) is a military service system that maintains the military only with applicants without compulsory conscription. A country may offer attractive pay and benefits through military re ...

system. The party also supports

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

and labor-oriented politics. Kim Jae-yeon said the reason for running for the 2022 Korean presidential election was "to become a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

president".

Rights of immigrants and foreign workers

The Progressive Party is a Korean nationalist party, but it shows a pro-immigration tendency because it aims for a 'resistance nationalism' that differentiates it from 'right-wing nationalism'. In addition, the Progressive Party opposes

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

, saying neoliberalism promotes discrimination against immigrants. The Progressive Party, along with

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

groups, accused the

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

government's

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

quarantine policy in March 2021 of being discriminatory against

foreign worker Foreign workers or guest workers are people who work in a country other than one of which they are a citizen. Some foreign workers use a guest worker program in a country with more preferred job prospects than in their home country. Guest worker ...

Controversy over the far-left label

The Progressive Party is usually classified as "

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

" in South Korean media; however, the Progressive Party does not officially advocate general far-left ideologies such as

left-wing terrorism Left-wing terrorism or far-left terrorism is terrorism committed with the aim of overthrowing current capitalist systems and replacing them with communist or socialist societies. Left-wing terrorism can also occur within already socialist states ...

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

in the context of international politics. The Progressive Party supports the restoration of South Korea's sovereignty and full "independence" in the international community. The term "independence" here means strong support for hostile foreign policies against Japan, active reunification policy with North Korea, opposition to

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

with neighboring powers,

protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

, and establishment of completely equal diplomatic relations between countries. The main reason why PP is classified as "far-left" in the South Korean political context is

anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

. The PP sees South Korea's socio-economic contradictions as the main cause of the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

rather than

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and thus supports the "anti-American struggle" (반미투쟁). This is therefore a crucial difference from mainstream liberals like DPK and JP, who are negative for China/Japan and are somewhat friendly to the United States to counter their China/Japan hegemonism. In particular, the PP argues for the "Dissolution of the U.S.-South Korea alliance" (한미동맹 파기).

Democratic socialists 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 ...

in South Korea, including the Labor Party, criticized the Justice Party and Progressive Party as merely "

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

", not " progressive"; however, due to the difference in diplomatic views between the two parties, the Labor Party is considered more

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...

than the Progressive Party in the context of South Korean politics. Some equate the Progressive Party's line with the Justice Party and the Labor Party's

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

. For this reason, on

Namuwiki Namuwiki ( ko, 나무위키) is a Paraguay-based Korean language wiki launched on April 17, 2015, powered by the proprietary wiki software ''The Seed''. Its name, "Namu" (나무) translates literally to "tree" in Korean. According to its slogan ...

, the most popular wiki in South Korea, an editorial battle took place over the political position of the Minjung Party and the Progressive Party, and eventually a "Talk" forum was held. The conflict stemmed from a dispute between editors over whether or not the party could be accurately described as "far left". However, Namuwiki's administrator () concluded that it was right to define the political position of Minjung Party and the Progressive Party as "far-left".

Controversy

The merger of the New People's Party and

has been controversial, due to their status as parties that were largely a continuation of 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 ...

, which was dissolved and banned in 2014 due to purported pro-North Korean and "anti-constitutional" activity by a

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

ruling. Conservative critics of the party argued that the Minjung Party is merely an attempt to reestablish the

Election results

Presidential

Local

Gallery

Logo of The People’s Party of South Korea.png, The old party logo when it was called the Minjung Party Minjung Jungangdang at Seoul in 2018.jpg, Headquarter building of Minjung Party

Notes

References

External links

Official website
*

�
Minjung Party (2017)
an
Progressive Party (2020)

Official YouTube channel
{{South Korean political parties 2017 establishments in South Korea Political parties established in 2017 Anti-Americanism Anti-imperialist organizations Anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea Anti-Zionism in South Korea Chaebol Civic nationalism Direct democracy parties Economic progressivism Far-left politics in South Korea Feminist parties in Asia Identity politics in Korea Korean nationalist parties Left-wing nationalism in South Korea Left-wing nationalist parties Left-wing parties in South Korea Left-wing populism LGBT political advocacy groups in South Korea Postcolonialism Populism in South Korea Progressive parties in South Korea