The People's Democracy Party is a

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

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 ...

which aims to establish a people's democracy, in which the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

owns the

productive forces Productive forces, productive powers, or forces of production (German: ''Produktivkräfte'') is a central idea in Marxism and historical materialism. In Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' own critique of political economy, it refers to the combinat ...

. The party is also staunchly

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 ...

and has called for an immediate peace agreement with

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 the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from South Korea.

History

The Founding Preparatory Committee of the Hwansu Welfare Party () was formed on 12 July 2016 and it held a press conference on 18 July. The inauguration ceremony of the Hwansu Welfare Party was subsequently held on 5 November 2016, and the party registered with the

National Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

(NEC) on 21 November. The Hwansu Welfare Party merged with organizations affiliated with the National Liberation and People's Democracy political camps on 15 August 2017. The party subsequently renamed itself the People's Democracy Party-Hwansu Welfare Party (), later shortened to the "People's Democracy Party". Three members of the People's Democracy Party were arrested by police on 8 November 2017 for distributing leaflets and hanging a banner critical of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Korea. During the same afternoon, the People's Democracy Party held a press conference in front of the Mapo Police Station and said, "Since yesterday hen President Trump arrived a total of seven party members were arrested for doing the same thing in downtown Seoul, and four of them have been released." The People's Democracy Party issued a statement in solidarity with four leaders of the anti-racist protests in Denver, Colorado, U.S., who were arrested by local authorities in late 2020.

Ideology and policies

The People's Democracy Party is a

which aims to establish a people's democracy in South Korea, in which workers, farmers, and small merchants (i.e. the

and ''

petite bourgeoisie ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, literally 'small bourgeoisie'; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a French term that refers to a social class composed of semi-autonomous peasants and small-scale merchants whose politico-economic ideological st ...

'') are the owners of the

. However, since the National Security Act prevents communist from working or active in South Korea, the PDP does not explicitly support "communism" (공산주의), but instead uses the indirect expression "communalism" (공동주의). The party has called for an immediate end to the

Korean conflict The Korean conflict is an ongoing conflict based on the division of Korea between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Korea), both of which claim to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea ...

by striking a peace deal with

and withdrawing foreign troops from South Korea. The party program also calls for free housing, education, and medical care, as well as an end to

conscription in South Korea Conscription in South Korea has existed since 1957 and requires male citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 to perform compulsory military service. Women are not required to perform military service, but they may voluntarily join the military. ...

. The party argues that "South is a complete colony occupied by the U.S. military, is politically oppressed by the U.S., and is economically subordinate to imperialist countries, including the U.S.," and therefore "True peace is possible only without imperialism; the head of imperialism is the U.S."

Election results

Legislative elections

Notes

References

External links

* {{South Korean political parties 2016 establishments in South Korea Anti-imperialism in Korea Communalism Communist parties in South Korea Far-left politics in South Korea Minjung Political parties established in 2016