The Peace Democratic Party (; PDP) 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 1987 to 1991. The party was established in October 1987 by

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, 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 democra ...

and his followers to contest the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

that year. The party later merged with

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 ...

to form the

History

Following the

June Struggle The June Democratic Struggle (), also known as the June Democracy Movement and June Democratic Uprising, was a nationwide pro-democracy movement in South Korea that generated mass protests from June 10 to June 29, 1987. The demonstrations force ...

of 1987, and the

June 29 Declaration The June 29 Declaration (), officially titled the Special Declaration for Grand National Harmony and Progress Towards a Great Nation (), was a speech by Roh Tae-woo, presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Justice Party of South Korea, on ...

, which promised direct, democratic election of the president in the upcoming presidential election in December of that year, speculation for the potential candidacy of Kim Dae-jung for the presidency grew. The Declaration also promised amnesty to Kim Dae-jung, who was under the house-arrest and was barred from engaging in any political activity under the fabricated charge of "inciting rebellion" since 1981. While Kim Dae-jung was barred from engaging in any political activities,

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 ...

emerged as the main opposition leader. Despite the effort to present the single "democratic" candidate for the 1987 presidential election, the negotiation between two politicians broke down. Kim Dae-jung and his followers split from the

Reunification Democratic Party The Reunification Democratic Party (, RDP) was a political party of South Korea from 1987 to 1990. The party was established in April 1987 by Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam, splitting from the New Korean Democratic Party. The party faced anothe ...

and created the Peace Democratic Party in October 29, less than 2 months before the election. Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam's candidacy resulted in vote-splitting of the "Democratic" candidates, resulting in the election of

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 ...

, protégé of dictator

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean Republic of Korea Army, army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected Political strongman, strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah ...

to take the office with 36.6% of votes. Despite the defeat in the presidential election, the party fared well in the 1988 legislative election, coming first in the city of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

and dominating South-western

Jeolla Jeolla Province (, ) was one of the historical Eight Provinces of Korea during the Kingdom of Joseon in today Southwestern Korea. It consisted of the modern South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and Gwangju Metropolitan City as wel ...

region, Peace Democratic Party beat

and emerged as the main opposition to the ruling

Democratic Justice Party The Democratic Justice Party (; DJP) was the ruling party of South Korea from 1981 to 1988. History Chun had become the country's de facto leader after leading a military coup in December 1979, and was elected president in his own right in ...

. However, the merger of

, and New Democratic Republican Party in January 1990, forming the Democratic Liberal Party, effectively isolated

and his party in the National Assembly. The party changed its name to "New Democratic Unionist Party" on 14 April 1991 to contest the 1991 local election but the disappointing election result and upcoming presidential election spurred Kim Dae-jung to create a new party. Kim allied himself with the

,Called "Little" Democratic Party (꼬마 민주당) to distinguish from the

who split from the

in 1990, opposing the merger with conservative ruling Democratic Liberal Party. The merger resulted in the establishment of the

Election results

President

Legislature

Local

References