Party for Democracy and Peace

The Party for Democracy and Peace (Korean: 민주평화당; Hanja: 民主平和黨; RR: Minjupyeonghwadang, sometimes translated as the Democratic Peace Party) was a liberal[1] political party in South Korea.

Party for Democracy and Peace 민주평화당 Minjupyeonghwadang
Leader	Chung Dong-young
Floor leader	Vacant
Secretary General	Hwang Ju-hong
Chairman of the Policy Planning Committee	Yoon Young-il
Founded	6 February 2018 (2018-02-06)[1] (de facto) 7 February 2018 (2018-02-07)[2] (de jure)
Dissolved	24 February 2020
Split from	People's Party[1]
Merged into	Minsaeng Party
Ideology	Liberalism (South Korea)[3] Regionalism[4] Reformism[5] Social conservatism[6][7]
Political position	Centre[8][9] to centre-left[10]
Seats in the National Assembly	4 / 300
Metropolitan mayor and Gubernatorial	0 / 17
Municipal Mayors	5 / 226
Seats within local government	51 / 3,750
Website
peaceparty.co.kr
Politics of South Korea Political parties Elections

Party for Democracy and Peace
Hangul	민주평화당
Hanja	民主平和黨
Revised Romanization	Minjupyeonghwadang
McCune–Reischauer	Minjup'yŏnghwadang

Headquarters of
Party for Democracy and Peace

History

The party was founded by People's Party dissidents who were in a faction that was closely associated with late former President Kim Dae-jung.[11]

Plans for the new party came about following a decision by People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo and Bareun Party leader Yoo Seong-min to merge their respective parties in January 2018 that would go onto form the Bareunmirae Party.[12] The initial announcement was called "hasty" for being presented before votes were cast among each respective parties' members.[12] This plan for merging the centrist People's Party with the center-right Bareun Party faced opposition within the People's Party, especially with lawmakers from North and South Jeolla which noted to be liberal-leaning provinces.[12]

On 28 January, sixteen lawmakers from the People's Party, including former floor leader and party leader Park Jie-won as well as Chung Dong-young announced their plans to form what is now the Party for Democracy and Peace.[11]

The party formerly formed a parliamentary group with the Justice Party called the Lawmakers for Peace and Justice.[13] The parliamentary group was disbanded after the death of Roh Hoe-chan, an MP from Justice Party.

On 12 August 2019, two-thirds of the members of Parliament for the Party for Democracy and Peace stated that they will be leaving the Party and starting new. “The Party for Democracy and Peace was launched to solidify the identity of the democracy group that succeeded the spirit of the Gwangju Uprising, and to restore the pride of the peace group to develop the Sunshine Policy. But for the past year and a half we have failed to meet the public’s expectations and desire,” said party Floor Leader You Sung-yop during a press conference at the National Assembly.[14]

Policies and relationship with the Democratic Party

During the administration of Roh Moo-hyun, the Party for Democracy and Peace and the Democratic Party used to be united as the Uri Party.[15] During that time, both Lee Hae-chan (incumbent leader of DP) and Chung Dong-young (incumbent leader of PDP) were in the same party and cabinet.[15]

In social policy, the party tends to be more conservative than Democratic Party.[16] The party opposes same-sex marriages and abortion. Especially on the abortion issue, the party is more conservative than the Liberty Korea Party.[17][18][19]

Election results

Local elections

Election	Metropolitan mayor/Governor	Provincial legislature	Municipal mayor	Municipal legislature	Election leader
2018	0 / 17	3 / 824	5 / 226	48 / 2,927	Cho Bae-sook

See also

• People's Party (South Korea, 2016)

References

1. Jo, He-rim (6 February 2018). "People's Party defectors launch new liberal party". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
2. "정당등록현황". National Election Commission. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
3. "(LEAD) Defectors from People's Party create new liberal party". Yonhap. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
4. "The merger of the three Honam region political parties - the Bareunmirae Party, New Alternatives, and the Democratic and Peace Party" (in Korean). Hankyoreh. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
5. "평화당 첫돌 "중도개혁 중심" 포부… 정계개편설에 안팎 어수선". Hankook Ilbo. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
6. "정당들 '동성애 합법화' 반대 공감… 방법론선 온도차". Naver. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
7. "지방선거 코앞…교계 '낙태·동성애 문제' 최대 이슈". Daily Good News. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
8. "민주평화당發 '민평-정의 공동교섭단체론'…순항할까". Naver. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
9. "First anniversary of the Peace Party, "centrist-reform" aspirations... an internal and external fishline in the political realignment theory". Naver. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
10. Shim, Elizabeth (20 August 2018). "South Korea advocates call for Jeju Massacre reparations". United Press International.
11. Jo, He-rim (28 January 2018). "People's Party dissenters establish preparation committee for new party". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
12. Choi, Ha-young (18 January 2018). "Two minor parties declare merger". The Korea Times. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
13. "정의당, 오늘 사상 첫 국회교섭단체 된다…전국위 최종 승인" (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-11-28.
14. "Over two-thirds of Party for Democracy and Peace lawmakers bolt". Retrieved 2019-08-12.
15. "이해찬·김병준·정동영… 여야 지도부 '노무현정부 사람들'". Chungcheong Daily News. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
16. "Three conservative opposition parties, "President Roh, apologize for canceling his pledge to relocate the office to Gwanghwamun". (Korean)". views&news. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
17. "정당들 '동성애 합법화' 반대 공감… 방법론선 온도차". Naver. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
18. "지방선거 코앞…교계 '낙태·동성애 문제' 최대 이슈". Daily Good News. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
19. "'낙태죄 존폐' 입장표명 조심하는 민주-한국". Naver. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2018.