Minju Party (South Korea, 2008)

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민주당
Minju-dang
Democratic Party
Logo Minju Party 2008.png
founding February 17, 2008
resolution December 16, 2011
Headquarters Seoul ( 서울시 )
Alignment Liberal
Colours) green
Korean spelling
Korean alphabet : 민주당
Hanja : 民主黨
Revised Romanization : Minju-dang
McCune-Reischauer : Minchu-tang

The Minju Party ( Korean : 민주당 , transliteration : Minju-dang , in German : Democratic Party ) was a liberal party in South Korea that existed between February 2008 and December 2011.

history

On February 17, 2008, the Tonghap-minju-Party ( 통합 민주당 , Tonghap-minju-dang, United Democratic Party) was formed and went out of the Dae-tonghap-minju-sin Party ( 대통합 민주 신당 , New Great United Democratic Party ), previously Yeollin-uri-Party ( 열린 우리당 , Yeollin-uri-dang, Our Open Party). In the presidential election on December 19, 2007 , Lee Myung-bak ( 이명박 ) stepped forward and the party renamed the Minju Party in 2005 . In July 2008, Tonghap-minju-dang, founded four months earlier, changed its name to Minju-dang ( 민주당 , Democratic Party).

It stood in the tradition of the Hanguk-minju party founded in 1945 , ( 한국 민주당 , Hanguk-minju-dang, Korean Democratic Party) and its numerous liberal, democratic and national successor parties, which always appear under similar names. On December 16, 2011, the party decided to join forces with the Civic Unity Party and the Korean Trade Union Confederation ( 한국 노동 조합 총연맹 Hanguk-nodong-johap-chongyeonmaeng) to form the Minju-tonghap Party ( 민주 통합 당 , Minju-tonghap-dang, Democratic United Party ), which then renamed itself again in 2013 to Minju-dang , Democratic Party.

In the presidential election in December 2007, the liberal Yeollin-uri party of outgoing President Roh Moo-hyun ( 노무현 ) suffered a bitter defeat. The preferred candidate of the government camp , Chung Dong-young ( 충동 영 ) was defeated by the candidate of the conservative opposition Lee Myung-bak ( 이명박 ) with 26.1% to 48.7%. The liberal camp thus left the government after ten years. This resulted in clear upheavals in the center-left spectrum. The Yeollin-uri Party reunited with the Saecheonmyeon-minju Party ( 새천년 민주당 , Democratic Party of the New Millennium), from which it split in 2002.

The first election participation of the newly founded party in the parliamentary elections on April 9, 2008 ended in a clear defeat: it won only 25.1% of the vote, while in 2004 the Yeollin-uri party still 38.3% and the MDP 7.1% scored. Instead of 161 seats in the two previous parties, the new party was only able to occupy 81 of the 299 seats in the South Korean parliament . The conservative Grand National Party of the newly elected President Lee, however, won an absolute majority.

The Minju party then fought in opposition to the conservative government, which pursued a market-liberal economic policy and an uncompromising line towards North Korea.

The party leader from 2010 was Son Hak-gyu (( ), who had defected from the conservatives to the liberal camp before the founding of the Democratic Party. On December 16, 2011, the party merged with the small civil unity party, with the participation of the Korean Trade Union Confederation , to form the United Democratic Party.

Political positions

The Minju Party advocated the so-called sunshine policy towards North Korea , which aims to bring about the unification of North and South Korea through opening and exchange. This was founded by ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung ( 김대중 ), who belonged to the former Saecheonmyeon-minju party (( 민주당 , Democratic Party of the New Millennium), a forerunner of the Minju party. In domestic politics the party represented left-liberal positions. This includes defending workers' rights, supporting trade unions and striving for a fairer distribution of income.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Son Won-je : The United Democratic Party officially launched . In: The Hankyoreh . December 17, 2011, accessed March 20, 2012 .