List of political parties in South Korea

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This article lists political parties in South Korea.

Contents

South Korea has a weakly institutionalized multi-party system, [1] [2] characterized by frequent changes in party arrangements. At least one of the many political parties has a chance of gaining power alone.

Current parties

Parties represented in the National Assembly

PartyAbbr.LeaderIdeologyPolitical positionPolicy toward North National Assembly Governors
  2024 Logo of the Democratic Party of Korea.svg
DPK Lee Jae-myung Liberalism Centre [3] to centre-left [4] Pro-Sunshine Policy
170 / 300
5 / 17
  Logo of People Power Party of Korea.svg
PPP Han Dong-hoon Conservatism Right-wing Anti-North
108 / 300
12 / 17
jogughyeogsindang rogo.svg
RKP Cho Kuk Progressivism
Liberalism
Reformism
Centre-left Pro-Sunshine Policy [5]
12 / 300
0 / 17
Emblem of the New Reform Party (South Korea).svg
NRP Lee Jun-seok Conservatism [6] N/A
3 / 300
0 / 17
jinbodang (2017nyeon) rogo.svg
PPKim Jae-yeon Progressivism Left-wing [lower-alpha 1] Strongly pro-Sunshine Policy [9]
3 / 300
0 / 17
Logo of the Basic Income Party.svg
BIP Yong Hye-in Universal basic income Single-issue None
1 / 300
0 / 17
Logo of the Social Democratic Party (South Korea, 2024).svg
SDPHan Chang-min Social democracy Centre-left None
1 / 300
0 / 17
  1. The Progressive Party is often described as "far-left" in South Korea due to its sympathies toward North Korea, opposition to the U.S. military presence in South Korea, and political similarities with the defunct Unified Progressive Party. [7] [8] This is due to the party descending from the Minjokhaebang-wing  [ ko ] (National Liberation faction) of progressivism in South Korea, which was described as being left-wing nationalists, reunificationists and anti-American.

Extra-parliamentary parties

Conservative parties

Centrist (or conservative liberal) parties

Liberal parties

Progressive parties

Single-issue parties

Unknown stances, third position, or syncretic parties

of 10 minor conservative parties. Formerly known as the Chungcheong's Future Party. (2020–2023)

Parties in formation

These parties are not legal acting political parties yet, but are in the process of gathering petition signatures to become formal political parties.

Party nameRegistration dateParty leaderPetitioning deadlineNotes
Small Business Party
소상공인당
18 March 2024Kim Jae-heum18 September 2024A single-issue moderate reformist party for protecting small business owners and the middle class.
Nuclear Nation Party
핵나라당
14 May 2024Jeong Hui-won14 November 2024A Hitlerite party that has submitted its attempted registration for the 8th time [14]
Every House Public Election's Party
가가호호공명선거당
27 May 2024Min Hyeong-wook17 November 2024Single-issue party meant to reform the election management system.

Defunct parties

Timeline of all mainstream political parties from 1945 to 2014 Political parties of south korea en.svg
Timeline of all mainstream political parties from 1945 to 2014

Conservative parties

Mainstream parties

Minor parties

Liberal parties

Mainstream parties

Minor parties

Progressive parties

Green parties

Unknown or syncretic parties

See also

Notes

  1. Has elected local city councilors around the country.
  2. Disbanded 24 March 2024 after not registering candidates for the 2024 Parliament election
  3. Self-dissolved after coming second-to-last in the 2024 South Korean legislative election
  4. an unregistered left-wing to far-left political party. It is unable to register due to a ban on openly socialist or communist parties under the National Security Act.
  5. Dissolved by the National Elections Commission in 2024 for not participating in an election for 4 years
  6. Dissolved by the National Elections Commission in 2024 for not participating in an election for 4 years
  7. Dissolved by the National Elections Commission in 2024 for not participating in an election for 4 years

Related Research Articles

The Liberty Korea Party (Korean: 자유한국당) was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party, and before that as the Hannara Party from 1997 to 2012, both of which are still colloquially used to refer to the party. The party formerly held a plurality of seats in the 20th Assembly before its ruling status was transferred to the Democratic Party of Korea on 27 December 2016, following the creation of the splinter Bareun Party by former Saenuri members who distanced themselves from President Park Geun-hye in the 2016 South Korean political scandal.

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The Hannara Party was a political party in South Korea. While former chairman Lee Tae Hee argued that the party succeeded Hwanin and Hwanung, the Liberty Korea Party argued that Hannara had stolen the Saenuri Party's older name to confuse conservative voters. However, the South Korean National Party Commission (중앙선관위) supported the legality of the name.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justice Party (South Korea)</span> South Korean political party

The Justice Party is a centre-left to left-wing political party in South Korea. It has been described as liberal and progressive. It was founded on 21 October 2012 when the former New Progressive Party faction, former People's Participation Party faction, and moderates in the Unified Progressive Party split from the Unified Progressive Party. The Justice Party now takes a more moderate stance than the United Progressive Party or the Democratic Labor Party in the past. The Justice Party temporarily changed its name to, "Green-Justice Party" (녹색정의당) on 30 January 2024 in an electoral pact with the Green Party Korea for the 2024 South Korean legislative election. On 27 April 2024, the party reverted back to its original name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Party (South Korea, 2015)</span> Political party in South Korea

The Democratic Party, formerly known as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, is a centrist-liberal South Korean political party. The DPK and its rival, the People Power Party (PPP), form the two major political parties of South Korea.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bareunmirae Party</span> 2018–2020 political party in South Korea

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">People Power Party (South Korea)</span> Conservative political party in South Korea

The People Power Party, formerly known as the United Future Party, is a conservative and right-wing political party in South Korea. It controls the South Korean presidency and is the second largest party in the National Assembly. The PPP, along with its historic rival, the Democratic Party, make up the two largest political parties in South Korea.

References

  1. Wong, Joseph (2015). "South Korea's Weakly Institutionalized Party System". Party System Institutionalization in Asia: Democracies, Autocracies, and the Shadows of the Past. Cambridge University Press. pp. 260–279.
  2. Wong, Joseph (2012). "Transitioning from a dominant party system to multi-party system: The case of South Korea". Friend or Foe? Dominant Party Systems in Southern Africa: Insights from the Developing World. United Nations University Press. pp. 68–84.
  3. The Democratic Party of Korea is described as a centrist party by numerous sources:
  4. 조국혁신당. rebuildingkoreaparty.kr/. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  5. ""KIM OVERSEES MISSILE TEST"". Korean Broadcasting System . 29 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  6. "Female prosecutor opens up about sexual harassment". koreaherald. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2020. "Members of the far-left minor opposition Minjung Party protest, demanding the Prosecution's apology and an investigation into a female prosecutor's sexual harassment allegations, in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul on Tuesday."
  7. 원성훈 (26 January 2020). "[4·15 총선 앗싸①] '극좌'에서 '극우'까지 ... '배당금黨'에 '결혼당'도 출현" [[April 15 general elections] From 'far left' to 'far right' ... 'Dividend Party' and 'Marriage Party' have also emerged.]. 뉴스웍스.
  8. "[보도자료] 김재연 후보, 유엔 총회 앞두고 "남북교류협력 가로막는 대북제재 해제하라"". Progressive Party.
  9. 중앙당 등록공고(대한국민당).
  10. 국민대통합당. pgup.or.kr.
  11. 공고 | 위원회소식 | 알림마당 | 중앙선거관리위원회.
  12. 중앙당 등록공고(통일한국당).
  13. 공고 | 위원회소식 | 알림마당 | 중앙선거관리위원회.
  14. '새로운물결' 창당 선언한 김동연 "별칭은 '오징어당'…정치 바꾸겠다". ChosunBiz . October 24, 2021.
  15. 국민의힘, 시대전환 흡수 합당…조정훈 합류로 112석.
  16. Yonhap News Agency, December 19, 2014, , "...South Korea's Constitutional Court on Friday ordered the dissolution of a pro-North Korean minor opposition party..."
  17. '노동당·사회변혁노동자당' 통합정당 2월5일 출범 < 정당 < 정치ㆍ경제 < 기사본문 - 매일노동뉴스. 18 January 2022.

Bibliography