The Progressive Party (), formerly known as the Minjung Party (, ) until June 2020, is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

progressive and

left-wing nationalist 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 either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing poli ...

political party in South Korea.

History

The Progressive Party (then called the Minjung Party) was formed on 15 October 2017 as a merger of the New People's Party and

People's United Party The People's United Party (, PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2025 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean Hou ...

. Both parties were continuations of the Unified Progressive Party, a party that was dissolved and banned by a

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

ruling in 2014 for its allegedly pro-North Korean and "anti-constitutional" activity. When it formed, the party had two members in the National Assembly, both from

Ulsan Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...

. On 22 December 2017, the supreme court convicted representative Yoon Jong-oe of breaking campaign laws and he was removed from office. In July 2018, members of the Minjung Party met with members of the North Korean

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

in China. The meeting was not authorized by the

Ministry of Unification The Ministry of Unification () is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung Hee. It gaine ...

which could have punished the party for violations of South Korea's National Security Act. Jung Tae-heung, the co-chair of the Minjung Party, stated that he was warned the party may be fined for the meeting. In August 2019, the party supported the nationwide protests against Japanese prime minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

and the boycott against Japanese products. The party lost its remaining seat in the 2020 legislative election. The Minjung Party tried to join the Platform Party, a proportional party created by the

Democratic Party of Korea Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

(DPK). However, the DPK refused to let them do so. On 6 June 2020, the party changed its name from the Minjung Party to the Progressive Party. In March 2022, suspicions arose that some party officials were operating in South Korea while receiving orders from North Korea. The Progressive Party denied that they had ever received orders. In January 2023, President

Yoon Suk-yeol Yoon Suk Yeol (; born 18 December 1960) is a South Korean politician and former prosecutor who served as the 13th president of South Korea from 2022 until Impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, he was removed from office in 2025. The shortest-serving ...

's administration launched investigations into Progressive Party members for allegedly planning anti-American and anti-government activities by receiving orders from North Korea spies. The Progressive Party protested that this was simply a crackdown on progressive political groups. Editorials in the ''

Kyunghyang Shinmun The ''Kyunghyang Shinmun'' () is a major daily newspaper published in South Korea. It is based in Seoul. The name literally means '' Urbi et Orbi Daily News''.counterintelligence investigations. In a by-election held on 5 April 2023, the Progressive Party once again became a parliamentary party after securing one seat. Kang Sung-hee was elected in Jeonju B district, which was a stronghold of the DPK. The DPK does not run candidates in by-elections if the Democratic politician was removed from office due to breaking the law, and their former representative had been arrested and removed from office for bribing voters with cash handouts. The election was held as a six-way contest between a Progressive Party candidate, the conservative People Power Party and four independents, including two Democrats who ran as independents. The Progressive Party's re-entry into Parliament drew intense criticism from right-wing conservative media. In particular, right-wing newspaper ''

The Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ), also known as ''The Chosun Daily,'' is a Korean-language newspaper of record for South Korea and among the oldest active newspapers in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, ''The'' ''Chosun Ilbo ...

'' criticized in articles and editorials that some of the members of the Progressive Party were suspected of pro-North Korea

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

and that the party was the successor of the Unified Progressive Party. Meanwhile, media outlets with a liberal/progressive stance, such as ''

Hankyoreh ''The Hankyoreh'' () is a centre-left liberal daily newspaper in South Korea. It was established in 1988 after widespread purges forced out dissident journalists, and was envisioned as an alternative to existing newspapers, which were regarde ...

'', gave a positive assessment. They suggested that the party's candidate would secure a seat, largely due to the Democratic Party of Korea employing 'color theory' tactics. In the 2024 legislative election, the party gained three seats.

Political positions

The Progressive Party is usually classified by Korean media outlets 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 ...

" () or "radical left". However, the party does not officially advocate generally accepted far-left positions such as

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with an alternati ...

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, or

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. The Progressive Party supports the restoration of South Korea's sovereignty and full "independence" in the international community. The term "independence" here means opposition to Japanese imperialism, support for

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller politics or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal govern ...

with North Korea, a

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

trade policy, and establishment of equitable diplomatic relations with world powers such as the United States. The party's official ideology is "

progressivism Progressivism is a Left-right political spectrum, left-leaning political philosophy and Reformism, reform political movement, movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has unive ...

", not "

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

". The Progressive Party is in favour of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...

, to be used as a mean for the '' minjung'' to actively participate in politics. The most important reason for the Progressive Party's classification as far-left in South Korean politics is opposition to

American imperialism U.S. imperialism or American imperialism is the expansion of political, economic, cultural, media, and military influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright mi ...

. The Progressive Party believes that South Korea's socioeconomic contradictions are primarily due to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, rather than

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and hence opposes American domination of the Korean economy. This is a significant departure from liberal parties such as the DPK and JP, who are hostile to China and Japan but somewhat favourable to the United States in order to offset Chinese and Japanese hegemony. The Progressive Party, in particular, advocates dissolving the alliance between the United States and South Korea.

Economic policy

The party supports the redistribution of wealth and economically progressive positions such as imposing a 90% tax rate on inheritances of more than 3 billion won (roughly

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

2,500,000). The party has a negative view of multinational corporations and ''

chaebol A chaebol ( , ; , ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group. Several dozen large South Kore ...

'', the large industrial conglomerates that dominate the South Korean economy. Their official party platform proposes to "dismantle the monopoly economy of transnational capital and ''chaebol''" (). The Progressive Party opposes restricting the labour of senior citizens over the age of 60. Their justification is that, because South Korea is not a European welfare state, there is a livelihood problem for the elderly. Some socialists in South Korea consider it a liberal party, instead of a left-wing party.

Foreign policy

The Progressive Party is an

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 ...

party. Following a policy of left-wing nationalism, the party seeks to liquidate the remnants of colonialism from the Japanese imperialist era and end the inequality in

South Korea–United States relations Diplomatic Relations, Diplomatic relations between South Korea and the United States commenced in 1949. The United States helped establish the modern state of South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, and fought on its United Nations, UN-spo ...

. They advocate dissolving the alliance between the United States and South Korea. In 2019, The Progressive Party issued a joint statement opposing Japanese imperialism with the

Korean Social Democratic Party The Korean Social Democratic Party (KSDP; ) is a political party in North Korea that is allied with the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). It was formed on 3 November 1945 as the Korean Democratic Party by a mixed group of entrepreneurs, mer ...

(a North Korean party). The Progressive Party opposes supplying lethal aid to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in 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 ...

. The Progressive Party accused the Yoon Suk-yeol government of engaging in diplomacy to antagonize

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

North Korea

The Progressive Party takes a '' minjokjuui'' () view on the topic of North Korea, rather than the '' kukkajuui'' () they allege is advocated by conservatives in South Korea. The Progressive Party argues that ''kukkajuui'' accepts

and the division of Korea into north and south, whereas ''minjokjuui'' embraces all Koreans and is opposed to foreign imperialism. They support reunification with North Korea and an official end to the (technically still ongoing) Korean War. Therefore, they oppose sanctions on North Korea and argue that only removing sanctions will bring peace to the Korean peninsula. They support the

Sunshine Policy The Reconciliation and Cooperation Policy Towards the North (), colloquially referred to as Sunshine Policy () is one of the approaches for South Korea's foreign policy towards North Korea, lasting from 1998 to 2008 and again from 2017 to 2020. ...

, a policy of reconciliation towards North Korea. The Progressive Party has been criticized for taking what others have characterized as a friendly stance toward North Korea. The centrist daily newspaper ''

Hankook Ilbo ''Hankook Ilbo'' () is a Korean-language daily newspaper in Seoul, South Korea. As of 2017, it had a daily circulation of about 213,200. It was previously published by the Hankook Ilbo Media Group, however following an embezzlement scandal i ...

'' has called the Progressive Party 'pro-North Korea'.

International exchange with American left-wing figures

The Progressive Party has frequently engaged in dialogue with the

American left The American Left refers to the groups or ideas on the left of the political spectrum in the United States. It is occasionally used as a shorthand for groups aligned with the Democratic Party. At other times, it refers to groups that have soug ...

. When the party was founded, American left-wing intellectuals such as

Ramsey Clark William Ramsey Clark (December 18, 1927 – April 9, 2021) was an American lawyer, activist, and United States Federal Government, federal government official. A progressive, New Frontier liberal, he occupied senior positions in the United States ...

and

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

expressed their sympathy for the cause, especially with respect to attitudes regarding

Korean reunification 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 ...

, and policy towards North Korea. The Progressive Party also contacted certain American politicians such as

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American Civil rights movements, civil rights activist, Politics of the United States, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. Beginning as a ...

and

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

in 2018 to draw support for the declaration of the end of the Korean War. The Progressive Party has liaison support with the

Green Party of the United States The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a federation of Green state political parties in the United States. The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory democracy; anti-war; ...

in policies concerning inter-Korean relations, for example the symbolic goal of a formal end to the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

Social policy

The Progressive Party supports ending

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 ...

and establishing a

volunteer military A volunteer military system or all-volunteer military system (AVMS) is a military service system that maintains the military only with applicants without conscription. A country may offer attractive pay and benefits through military recruitment t ...

. The party also supports

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

youth politics Youth politics is a category of issues which distinctly involve, affect or otherwise impact youth. It encompasses youth policy that specifically has an impact on young people (for example, education, housing, employment, leisure) and how young peo ...

and labor-oriented politics. In contrast to the

antifeminist Antifeminism or anti-feminism is opposition to feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as women's suffrage, the right to vote, Female education, educat ...

political trend in South Korean politics, the Progressive Party actively supports the feminist movement in South Korea. Kim Jae-yeon said the reason for running for the 2022 Korean presidential election was "to become a feminist president".

Rights of immigrants and multiculturalism

The Progressive Party is a Korean nationalist party, but they believe that Korean ethnic nationalism is not racism, and they support multiculturalism and the rights of immigrants to South Korea. In addition, the Progressive Party opposes

neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...

, believing it promotes discrimination against immigrants. However, regional branches of the Progressive Party have run campaign banners calling for the removal of "illegal migrant workers." The banners also included other phrases and wording that other progressive groups have called "anti-immigrant hate speech." The Progressive Party, along with

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

groups, accused the

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...

government's

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

quarantine policy in March 2021 of being discriminatory against

foreign worker Foreign workers or guest workers are people who work in a country other than one of which they are a citizen. Some foreign workers use a guest worker program in a country with more preferred job prospects than in their home country. Guest worke ...

Controversy

The merger of the New People's Party and

was controversial, because both were largely continuations of the Unified Progressive Party, which was dissolved and banned in 2014 due to purported pro-North Korean and "anti-constitutional" activity by a

ruling. Conservative critics of the party argued that the Progressive Party is merely an attempt to re-establish the Unified Progressive Party. Politicians affiliated with the liberal Democratic Party of Korea have criticized the Progressive Party for its anti-American activities. Unlike the Progressive Party, the Democratic Party of Korea supports a foreign policy that is friendlier to the United States.

Criticism from the left

Democratic socialists Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-manage ...

in South Korea, including the Labour Party, criticize the Justice Party and Progressive Party for allegedly being liberal rather than progressive; however, due to the difference in the diplomatic views of the two parties, the Labor Party is considered more

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which entails centrist views on a liberal-conservative spectrum. It may also designate a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. Political position Canad ...

than the Progressive Party in the context of South Korean politics. Some equate the Progressive Party's line with the Justice Party and the Labour Party's

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

Leadership

Leaders

#Kim Jong-hoon, Kim Chang-han (co-serving; 15 October 2017 – 25 August 2018) #Lee Sang-kyu (26 August 2018 – 20 June 2020) #Kim Jae-yeon (20 June 2020 – 31 July 2022) #Yoon Hee-suk (1 August 2022 – 14 June 2024) #Kim Jae-yeon (15 June 2024 – present)

Floor leaders

#Yoon Jong-o (15 October 2017 – 22 December 2017) #Kim Jong-hoon (22 December 2017 – 29 May 2020) #Kang Sung-hee (6 April 2023 – 29 May 2024) #Yoon Jong-o (30 May 2024 – present)

Election results

Presidential

Local

By-elections

Logos

File:Logo of the Minjung Party.svg, First logo of the Jinbo (formerly known as Minjung) Party File:민중당 (2017년) 로고.svg, Second logo of the Jinbo (formerly known as Minjung) Party File:Logo of the Jinbo- Party.png, Third logo of the Jinbo party (formerly known as Minjung) Party

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Official YouTube channel
{{South Korean political parties 2017 establishments in South Korea Political parties established in 2017 Anti-imperialism in Korea Anti-imperialist organizations Anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea Direct democracy parties Economic progressivism Far-left politics in South Korea Feminist organizations in South Korea Feminist parties in Asia Identity politics in Korea Immigration political advocacy groups in South Korea Korean nationalist parties Left-wing nationalism in South Korea Left-wing nationalist parties Left-wing parties in South Korea Left-wing populism LGBTQ political advocacy groups in South Korea Minjung Pacifism in Asia Postcolonialism Populism in South Korea Progressive parties in South Korea Radical parties Social democratic parties in Korea Youth politics in South Korea Anti-American sentiment in South Korea