The People's Democracy Party () is a political party in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

that advocates the establishment of a people's democracy, in which the

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

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 combin ...

. The party has taken various

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...

and

anti-militarist Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especi ...

positions, including the end of

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 militar ...

, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea, and the negotiation of a 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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

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 to the People's Democracy Party-Hwansu Welfare Party (), later shortened to the "People's Democracy Party".

Ideology and policies

The People's Democracy Party 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'' (, ; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a term that refers to a social class composed of small business owners, shopkeepers, small-scale merchants, semi- autonomous peasants, and artisans. They are named as s ...

'') are the owners of the

. The party program calls for free housing, education, and medical care, as well as an end to

. The party has been described as

far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...

in South Korean media.

Foreign policy

The party is opposed to the U.S. military presence in Asia, advocating for the departure of the

United States Forces Korea The United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a Unified Combatant Command#Subordinate Unified Command, sub-unified command of United States Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK was initially established in 1957, and e ...

and the suspension of "

Foal Eagle Foal Eagle () is a combined field training exercise (FTX) conducted annually by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and the United States Armed Forces under the auspices of the Combined Forces Command. It is one of the largest military exercises ...

" exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. The party has stated 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." The party has also expressed opposition to the current government of Japan, calling it "

militaristic Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

" and "

imperialist Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power ( diplomatic power and cultural imperialism). Imperialism fo ...

". The party advocates engagement with

and has called for an end to the

Korean conflict The Korean conflict is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, 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 Legit ...

through an immediate inter-Korean peace deal. The party also advocates the

reunification of Korea Korean reunification is the hypothetical unification of North Korea and South Korea into a singular Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification of the peninsula while still maintaining two opposing regimes was started by the Ju ...

under a

federal system Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, states, cantons, territories, etc.), while dividing the powers o ...

, and opposes "reunification by absorption" (as

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

had done with

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

) or reunification through war. The party supports a "collective security system" in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

, with ultimate goal of peace in all of Asia. The party is a member of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform. The party supports the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, echoing the Russian government's claims of it being a campaign of "de-Nazification". The party has accused the U.S. and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

of supporting "

neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to att ...

" and "

Banderites A Banderite or Banderovite (; ; ; ) is a name for the members of the OUN-B, a faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The term, used from late 1940 onward, derives from the name of Stepan Bandera (1909–1959), the ultranational ...

" in Ukraine to threaten Russia.

Election results

Legislative elections

References

External links

* {{South Korean political parties 2016 establishments in South Korea Anti-American sentiment in South Korea Anti-imperialism in Korea Anti-imperialist organizations Communist parties in South Korea Far-left politics in South Korea Korean nationalist parties Left-wing nationalism in South Korea Left-wing nationalist parties Minjung Political parties established in 2016 Dictatorship of the proletariat