The Minjoo Party Of Korea

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK; ), formerly known as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), is a liberal political party in South Korea. Controlling the unicameral National Assembly as of 2022, the DPK is regarded as one of two major parties in South Korea, along with its rival, the People Power Party (PPP).

The party was founded on 26 March 2014 as a merger of the Democratic Party and the preparatory committee of the New Political Vision Party (NPVP).

History

Formation and Ahn–Kim leadership (March–July 2014)

The Democratic Party was formed as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy () on 26 March 2014 after an independent group led by Ahn Cheol-soo, then in the process of forming a party called the New Political Vision Party, merged with the Democratic Party led by Kim Han-gil. The former Democratic Party was absorbed into the NPAD while the preparatory committee of the NPVP was dissolved, with members who supported the merger joining the NPAD individually. Ahn and Kim became joint leaders of the new party. When the party performed poorly in by-elections that July, both leaders stepped down, having served for three months. Leadership of the party was then assumed by an emergency committee.

Ahn–Moon split (2015–16)

The next year, at a party convention on 7 February, Moon Jae-in was elected the new chairman of the party. Moon, who had previously served as chief of staff for former president Roh Moo-hyun, was the leader of the party's "pro-Roh" faction, which was opposed to Ahn and Kim. Moon came under fire for imposing a "pro-Roh hegemony" in the party, as Ahn and Kim were jeered and harassed at a memorial service for Roh held in May 2015.

As the factional conflict intensified, the party lost support, falling from around 40 to 30 percent in opinion polls. A survey conducted on 12–14 November 2015 showed that supporters of the party wanted Ahn and Seoul mayor Park Won-soon to assume the leadership alongside Moon. On 29 November, Ahn rejected a proposal from Moon to establish a joint leadership, and presented Moon with a demand to call a convention to elect a new party leader. Moon rejected his demand, and Ahn left the party.

Ahn was followed by a number of NPAD assembly members, including his former co-leader Kim Han-gil and Kwon Rho-kap, a former aide of President Kim Dae-jung from the party's stronghold of Honam. Ahn and Kim merged their group with that of another defector from the NPAD, Chun Jung-bae, to form the People Party.

Following the defections, the NPAD was renamed the Democratic Party of Korea on 27 December 2015, and Moon resigned as party leader on 27 January 2016. Kim Chong-in, an academic and former assemblyman who served as an economic advisor to President Park Geun-hye, was appointed party leader. Kim was seen as an unexpected choice, as he had previously worked for the conservative Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo administrations in the 1980s, serving as an assembly member for the ruling Democratic Justice Party and as health and welfare minister.

Under Kim Chong-in (January–August 2016)

Kim Chong-in viewed the pro–Roh Moo-hyun faction and what he considered the extremist wing of the party as responsible for the party's troubles, and pledged to diminish their influence.

In the lead-up to the 2016 legislative election he deselected Lee Hae-chan, who had been Prime Minister under Roh and was now chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation as a candidate. Lee left the party in response. Many of Kim's nominations for the party's list were rejected by the rest of the party leadership, while favored candidates of Moon were ranked near the top of the approved list. Kim offered to resign in March, but stayed on as leader after a visit from Moon. Kim stated that he would continue to attempt to change the party's image, saying that the events had shown the party was "still unable to move on from its old ways".

2016 legislative election

Though losing votes to the People's Party formed by Ahn, Chun and Kim Han-gil—particularly in Honam—the party emerged as the overall winner of the election, receiving a plurality of seats (123 seats) in the National Assembly with a margin of one seat over the Saenuri Party. Lee Hae-chan returned to the Assembly as an independent representing Sejong City. Following its electoral victory, Kim announced that the Democratic Party would shift its focus from welfare to economic growth and structural reform. Kim stated that the party would also change its position to support the establishment of for-profit hospitals, in contrast to the party's earlier opposition to the policy.

Under Choo Mi-ae (August 2016–August 2018)

2017 presidential election

After the constitutional court impeached President Park Geun-hye for bribery, the Democratic Party's Moon Jae-in won the presidential election with 41.1% of votes, with Hong Joon-pyo of Liberty Korea coming second with 24%.

Under Lee Hae-chan (August 2018–August 2020)

2020 legislative election

On 15 April 2020, the Democratic Party won an absolute majority with 180 seats in the 300-member National Assembly with its allies. The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) won 103 seats.

Under Lee Nak-yon (August 2020–March 2021)

On 9 March 2021, Lee Nak-yon resigned as the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea to run for president in the 2022 South Korean presidential election.

2021 by-elections

Following the major losses in the 2021 by-elections, party leadership was reorganized. Do Jong-hwan became the interim party President.

Under Song Young-gil (May 2021–present)

2022 presidential election

In October 2021, the Democratic Party nominated Lee Jae-myung as its nominee in the 2022 presidential election over other contenders such as former Democratic Party leaders Lee Nak-yon and Choo Mi-ae. Lee ultimately lost the election with 47.83% of the vote.

Ideology

Democratic Party of Korea is primarily portrayed as a centrist partyThe Democratic Party of Korea is described as a centrist party by numerous sources: But, the DPK is one of the two main political parties in South Korea, which has been classified as centre-left in the context of South Korean politics because it forms an opposition to the right-wing PPP. However, some researchers evaluate DPK as having a center-right social policy in international standards.They also describe their party's identity as centre-conservative or centre-right. Since its founding, DPK has gradually moved in a progressive direction.

The DPK and DPKs major politicians show a political line combining national-liberalism and left-liberalism. DPK's Korean nationalistic sentiment is mainly related to liberal anti-imperialism against Japan and neighboring powers, and is different from right-wing ethnic nationalism such as Ilminism. The DPK is officially rooted in the 1955 classical-liberal "Democratic Party".

During the early days of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, Kim Han-gil and Ahn Cheol-soo performed the duties of co-representatives. They took a tough stance in relations with North Korea and pursued harmony between selective welfare and universal welfare. Because they played the role of conservatives in the party, they faced criticism from progressives inside the party for being 'center-right', and some progressives withdrew from the party. They took responsibility for the defeat in local elections and resigned as party leaders. Two of them, Kim Han-gil and Ahn Cheol-soo, later joined the right-wing PPP.

Afterwards, the moderate Christian-democratic Park Young-sun and the moderate Moon Hee-sang continued to serve as representatives. Later, in the democracy leadership election, Moon Jae-in won the conservative Park Jie-won He lost to Park Ji-won in the party membership vote, but won the polls and won.

owever, afterward, due to the party's internal investigations and opposition from the party's conservatives, such as saying that they would leave the party if Moon Jae-in did not step down, the party leader Moon Jae-in resigned, and after that, Kim Chong-in's emergency committee was launched. Although he was a member of the conservative party, he insisted on economic democratization. However, he also later moved to PPP.

Afterwards, Choo Mi-ae and Lee Hae-chan continued to serve as representatives. All of them are on the progressive side of the party. Lee Hye-chan suggested a move in a progressive direction, saying that the current party was centre-right by international standards.

After that, moderates such as Lee Nak-yeon and Kim Tae-nyeon continued to hold the party leadership positions. However, after the progressive Lee Jae-myung was elected as the party's representative, the party moved in a progressive direction, causing opposition from conservative factions within the party.

Factions

The DPK can be seen as a big tent political party. There are politicians with various ideologies in the DPK, but they are usually referred to as figures rather than ideologies.

, the centrist faction centered on 'allies of Moon Jae-in' or 'allies of Lee Nak-yeon' (친문 or 친낙) and the centre-left faction centered on 'allies of Lee Jae-myung'
party leader (친명, 이재명계) are at odds. And although the influence has been reduced compared to the past, there is also a conservative center-right faction centered on National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo.

Progressive factions inside the party, such as Lee Jae-myung, are mainly supported by rank-and-file members. Based on that, in the Democratic Party presidential candidate race, it received high support from rank-and-file members and general public opinion polls. Conservative factions such as Kim Jin-pyo have secured high support among party members and major delegates. Kim Jin-pyo gained the support of the majority of members of the National Assembly during the race for the chairman of the National Assembly and defeated his progressive rival by a double margin.

In the centrist reformist faction, the candidates supported between the progressives and the conservatives are often dispersed. He made a more favorable choice to conservatives such as Kim Jin-pyo

American-style liberal

American-style liberals like Park Ji-hyun, who support immigrant rights, liberal feminism and cultural liberalism. Although they are left-liberals, they have relatively weak populist tendencies and are culturally liberal-to-progressive, so there is a political conflict with 'allies of Lee Jae-myung'. She has criticized the US abortion rights ruling and is a supporter of abortion rights. There is an informal LGBT group within the DPK.

Liberal populist

Social liberal populist like Lee Jae-myung, who are not clear between cultural conservatism and progressivism, but support (economically) centre-left policies based on New Deal liberalism. In South Korean politics, 'allies of Lee Jae-myung' usually means a populist faction within the DPK. However, as it enters the mainstream, Congressman Lee Jae-myung also accepts some of the economic liberalism positions, such as tax relief and corporate deregulation claims, and supports a more moderate position than in the 2017 primary.
Also, there is an opinion that Lee Jae-myung takes a national-liberalism. The center-left liberal media Hankyoreh also criticized Lee Jae-myeong's nationalist remarks, saying, "Then what is different from the PPP?"Lee Jae-myeong is culturally liberal compared to the party average, such as in favor of enactment of the Anti-Discrimination Act, but is not free from social conservatism.

Classical liberal

Classical liberals like Kum Tae-seop, who support economically and culturally liberalism. Kum Tae-seop Geum attended the Queer Festival and urged DPK to set up a booth at the festival. However, Kum Tae-seop has left the party, and classical liberals are no longer mainstream in the DPK.

Centrist reformist

Centrist reformists have dominated the DPK. Currently, Lee Nak-yeon is considered a representative centrist reformist. The former president, Moon Jae-in is a centrist reformist, took a culturally liberal approach to military reform, school reform, and environmental issues, but a somewhat moderate socially conservative approach to feminism, disability rights and LGBT rights. In addition, there is also a (정세균계) centered on former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, and unlike the (친문) faction mainly centered on Moon Jae-in, they support conservatives inside the party such as Chairman Kim Jin-pyo and are more economically liberal than other centrist reformists.

Conservative

Conservatives like Kim Jin-pyo, who support anti-abortion legislation and oppose LGBT rights, along with being economically liberal and socially conservative. Kim Jin-pyo was evaluated as closer to "conservatism" than "centrism" in a Korean media survey. He introduced the "homosexuality healing movement" as one of the solutions to low birth rates. He won the support of the majority of lawmakers in the primary to elect the speaker of the National Assembly for the DPK. It can also include the case of taking a Christian democracy stance like Congressman Park Young-sun. She claimed that I was the strongest opponent of the 300 members of the National Assembly in the past on homosexuality.
They have a very bad relationship with the progressive faction within the party represented by Lee Jae-myeong and others. Whenever there was a dispute, they demanded that the progressive faction voluntarily leave the party, or insisted that the party could split if it continued like this.

However, in foreign policy, they are not exactly the same as right-wing conservatives like PPP because they promote policies based on pacifism on the Korean Peninsula. (South Korea's right-wing conservatives are mostly anti-communists.)

Political stance

Economic and labour policies

The DPK supports the expansion of fiscal expenditures to gradually increase welfare alongside elements of economic liberalism and fiscal conservatism. The party supports the market economy, but also values the need for state intervention in the market. In 2020, the party pledged to implement a version of the Green New Deal to move South Korea towards carbon neutrality by 2050.

The party takes a favorable stance on government intervention in the market, while keeping some distance from labour politics and labour movements. For this reason, the DPK has been labelled as a "conservative liberal" party.Also, several columnists in the liberal Hankyoreh described the DPK as the Liberal Conservative Party.

However, Lee Jae-myung supports New Deal liberalism, which is economically progressive and labor-friendly, unlike Moon Jae-in, who was a pro-Chaebol centrist. Therefore, it is actively supported by former and current executives of major labor unions in South Korea. Lee Jae-myung was compared to "FDR's New Deal Coalition" because he formed a big tent political coalition based on liberalism that brought together socially conservative people (antifeminist "Dixiecrat"), reformist liberals, left-wing socially progressives, and anti-Chaebol labor activists.

The DPK is officially rooted in the 1955 classical-liberal "Democratic Party". But the current DPK got closer to moderate Keynesian than to classical-liberal economic policy of the past.

Social policies

The DPK's social stances are inconsistent. The DPK is generally classified as a liberal political party, therefore should be socially liberal, but the party is also influenced by Christian movements, so it has some socially conservative character. The party opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage during the 2018 local elections. However, the DPK opposes discrimination against homosexuals outside of marriage and argues that they should be treated with dignity.

Many DPK politicians are friendly to the etiquette and Confucian traditions of Korean culture. The Hankyoreh and Hankook Ilbo, South Korean socially liberal newspapers, strongly criticized the DPK for holding a discussion on the pros and cons of the anti-discrimination law and giving anti-LGBT activists the right to speak.

The DPK's Christian influences have also been criticized by other religious groups. In December 2021, the Moon Jae-in government invested 1.2 billion won (US$1,000,000) in a campaign to promote carol music in stores such as restaurants and cafes. The Buddhist community protested, calling it a policy that gives preferential treatment to a specific religion.

The DPK's social conservatism on issues related to LGBT rights and feminism mainly draws from Christianity, but outside of those topics the DPK demonstrates moderate-to-liberal social policy. The DPK opposes corporal punishment for children and led the complete abolition of laws that justified corporal punishment for children in the past. The DPK also supports strengthening punishments for domestic violence.

The DPK views South Korea's dog meat intake culture negatively and has criticized it from a liberal perspective. President Moon Jae-in said he was considering a legal ban on dog meat in September 2021. The DPK also actively supports the rights of vegetarians and vegan citizens. In addition, the DPK supports liberal reforms on student rights issues.

The DPK's position on abortion is undefined, and varies for each politician. There are some socially conservative politicians who oppose women’s right to abortion care, but most of the DPK is pro-choice. Lee Jae-myung, the DPK candidate for the 2022 South Korean presidential election, insisted on expanding health insurance for abortion and contraceptives.

The DPK takes an ambiguous position that neither supports nor opposes the abolition of the National Security Act.

Foreign policy

The DPK's view of Japan varies from individual politician to politician, but the DPK's major politicians view Japanese conservatism negatively. On the other hand, the DPK maintains a friendly stance on the United States. The Moon Jae-in government deployed four additional THAAD launchers in 2017, for which the progressive Justice Party criticized the Moon Jae-in administration as a "poodle of Trump". Moon Jae-in said in September 2017 in front of Trump and Shinzo Abe, "The United States is our ally, but Japan is not our ally".

The DPK's pro-U.S. tendency tends to go with the conciliatory tendency toward North Korea. Song Young-gil, a former DPK leader, proposed to the United States to make North Korea a pro-U.S. country like Vietnam in 2021.

The DPK a recognizes China as a vicious hegemonic country that afflicts Korea, similar to Japan. Lee Jae-myung and other major DPK politicians criticize China for robbing and invading Korean culture. Some DPK politicians, including Kim Dong-yeon, are also active supporters of VANK, which shows anti-Japan and anti-China tendencies based on liberal anti-imperialism. However, DPK officially is pro-immigration, so it opposes racism against Chinese and Japanese people.

Prior to 2022, the DPK had supported a fairly friendly relationship with Russia, with the aim of hoping that Russia would support the Sunshine Policy, it is also related to anti-Japan and anti-China sentiment among South Korean liberals. The current DPK opposes the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine and supports economic sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine, but historically, it sought to maintain good relations with Russia by favoring Russia's Eurasianism (유라시아주의) foreign policy or voting on a 'political party cooperation protocol' (정당협력의정서) with United Russia.

On February 25, 2022, Lee Jae-myung drew much criticism for criticizing Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a "In Ukraine, a novice politician of six months became president and declared (Ukraine's) accession to NATO, which provoked Russia and eventually led to a clash". On February 26, the day after the social controversy over this, Lee officially apologized for the remarks and made it clear that he opposes Russia's war of aggression and supports Ukraine.

The DPK has a somewhat favorable attitude toward Israel. In 2018, the Moon Jae-in government abstained from the UN resolution ES-10/L.23 vote criticizing the Israeli response to the 2018 Gaza border protests. The Moon Jae-in government officially signed a free trade agreement with Israel in 2021.

Reunification of North and South Korea

The party strongly supports the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and aims for peaceful relations with North Korea. The party also officially advocates increasing exchanges and cooperation with the North to create a foundation for reunification.

Controversy

The DPK is criticized for taking a liberal hawkish stance on Japan diplomatically, promoting a 'politics of hatred' similar to the speech of right-wing Japanese nationalists to attack the opposition and promote the views of unified citizens. Kum Tae-sub, who was a DPK member at the time, but had a fairly friendly view of Japan, was criticized by some DPK supporter, saying, "Do you have a ''jjokbari'' among your ancestors?" (혹시 조상 중에 쪽바리가?). In addition, Geum Tae-sub was repeatedly bullied online by numerous DPK supporters due to his Japanese-friendly diplomat, and eventually he left the DPK. For reference, Kum Tae-sub was known as the most pro-LGBT rights politician in the DPK.

On April 9, 2020, Lee Hae-chan, then leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, denounced South Korean conservatives as "''Native Wokou

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