The Socialist Party (; SP) was a minor

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 ...

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 ...

, founded in 1998. It advocated an ideology of

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 ...

, ''social republicanism'',

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

and

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

. On 19 February 2012, at its final Sixteenth Party Congress, the Socialist Party voted by 404 votes to 54 to merge with the New Progressive Party.사회당, 진보신당과의 합당을 위한 수임기관 설치
Socialist Party, 19 February 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012. The party was formally dissolved on 4 March 2012.

History

The ''People's Victory 21'' ( ko, 국민승리21) party (the later DLP) was formed in preparation for the presidential election of 1997. This was an attempt to unite South Korean

progressives 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, techno ...

in a single party, but dissenting progressives who focused on

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

argued that there was an excess of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

in the VoP21 platform. As an example, they pointed to the slogan of

Kwon Young-ghil Kwon Young-ghil (; born 5 November 1941) is a South Korean politician, journalist, and trade unionist. He was a founding member of the People's Victory 21 and Democratic Labour Party. Life Kwon was born in Japan, before returning to Kore ...

, VoP21's presidential candidate, "''Stand up, Korea!''" ( ko, "일어나라 코리아!"). After the election, these dissenting progressives formed the "Youth Progressive Party" ( ko, 청년진보당). The Youth Progressive Party ran for election to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

in the

Guro-gu Guro District (Guro-gu) is a district of Seoul, South Korea, which was separated from Yeongdeungpo District on April 1, 1980. Located in the southwestern part of the city, where besides Yangcheon District and Geumcheon District Guro District h ...

local constituency, and attained 4.1% of the votes cast. In August 2001, the party changed its name to "Socialist Party" under the slogan "''Against

Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

, Against WPK''", targeting certain nationalists known as the "NL" (National Liberation) faction within the Democratic Labor Party. The party changed its name to "Hope Socialist Party" ( ko, 희망사회당) in April 2006, and to "Korea Socialist Party" ( ko, 한국사회당) in October 2006 due to the Korean law forbidding the usage of a party name for four years when registration is canceled. In the 2008 parliamentary elections, the party amassed less than 3% of the vote, and the national election committee consequently canceled its registration. In November, the party re-registered with the name "Socialist Party".

Elections

On several occasions, the party ran candidates for president or parliament, for example Kim Yeong-gyu in the 2002 presidential election, but it never won any elections. For 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 ...

, Geum Min ran as the party's candidate for president. He proposed the idea of ''social republicanism'', subsequently adopted as a component of the party's platform.

Election results

President

Legislature

References

External links

* {{South Korean political parties Progressivism in South Korea Universal basic income in South Korea