The Democratic Party (, DP) was a 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 Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. The party was the first truly organized liberal opposition against Syngman Rhee's

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, and is considered as the predecessor to the lineage of the South Korean liberal parties.

History

The Democratic Party was established on 18 September 1955. It had its background in a 1952 move by the Democratic Nationalist Party to create a pro-reform movement that included both party members and outside figures. Although not initially successful in overcoming the party's poor public image, controversy over a constitutional amendment vote towards the end of 1954 led to the formation of a 60-member bloc in Parliament that became the Democratic Party.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp667–668 Several prominent conservatives joined the party, resulting in the party refusing to admit left-wing politicians. The party did not nominate a presidential candidate in the 1956 elections, but put forward Chang Myon as its vice-presidential candidate. Chang was elected with 46.4% of the vote. Public attitude turning against the rule of Syngman Rhee and the

led to increased tensions, and Chang survived an assassination attempt in 1957. In the 1958 parliamentary elections the DP received 34% of the vote, winning 79 seats and finishing second to the ruling

. The party nominated

Chough Pyung-ok Chough Pyung-ok (also Cho Pyung-ok or Cho Byeong-ok; 1894 – 1960) was a South Korean politician. He ran against incumbent president Syngman Rhee in the 1960 presidential election but died on February 15, one month before the election on ...

as its candidate for the March 1960 presidential elections. However, he died shortly before the elections, leaving Rhee as the sole candidate. Chang was defeated by Liberal candidate

Lee Ki-poong Lee Ki-poong (20 December 1896 – 28 April 1960) was a South Korean politician and Vice President. He was the Minister of National Defense (May 7, 1951 – March 29, 1952) and Mayor of Seoul (June 6, 1949 – May 7, 1951). He was the leader o ...

in the vice-presidential elections. However, student protests over the results led to Rhee going into exile before the June parliamentary elections, in which the DP won a landslide victory, taking 175 of the 233 seats in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

and 31 of the 58 seats in the Senate. Despite gaining power, the party descended into infighting between the new and old factions; a compromise resulted in the new faction's Chang being elected Prime Minister and

Yun Posun Yun Po-sun (; or ; August 26, 1897 – July 18, 1990) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the second president of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. He was the only president of the parliamentary Second Republic of Korea. H ...

of the old faction being elected President in an indirect election in August. However, the internal tensions eventually resulted in the old faction breaking away to form a separate party. However, after less than a year in power, the DP government was overthrown in the May 16 coup and the party ceased activities. However, when democracy was nominally reintroduced in 1963, the party was reconstituted. In the 1963 parliamentary elections it won 13 seats, and the following year merged with the People's Party.

Election results

President

Vice President

Legislature

House of Representatives

House of Councillors

References

{{South Korean political parties 1955 establishments in South Korea 1964 disestablishments in South Korea Defunct political parties in South Korea Korean nationalist parties Democratic parties in South Korea Political parties disestablished in 1964 Political parties established in 1955