1984?1988 political party in South Korea
The
New Korean Democratic Party
(
Korean
:
宸翰민주당
;
Hanja
:
新韓民主黨
;
RR
:
Sinhanminjudang
,
NKDP
) was an opposition political party of
South Korea
from 1984 to 1988. It was the largest opposition party in South Korea until
Kim Dae-jung
and
Kim Young-sam
left to form the
Reunification Democratic Party
.
History
[
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]
Formation
[
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]
The party was formed by the notable figures of
New Democratic Party
(NDP) and
Council for the Promotion of Democracy
(CPD).
Most of NDP politicians including
Kim Young-sam
and
Kim Dae-jung
were banned by
Hanahoe
(Group of One) of
Chun Doo-hwan
in 1980. There were 2 opposition parties formed at this time ―
Democratic Korea Party
(DKP) and
National Party of Korea
(Nat'l).
[1]
Nevertheless, both were often regarded as
satellite parties
of the ruling
Democratic Justice Party
.
[1]
Many of the former NDP and CPD members formed
New Korean Democratic Party
, in a purpose of the "real opposition", after their political bans were lifted in December 1984.
[2]
Originally, they intended to re-establish the NDP,
[3]
but impossible because the name "NDP" was prohibited.
[2]
Instead, they opted "New Korean Democratic Party" that can be abbreviated as "New Democratic Party (NDP)".
The party was officially founded on 18 January 1985,
[4]
[5]
and elected
Lee Min-woo
as the Chairman.
[4]
1985 election and aftermath
[
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]
The New Korean Democratic Party convention in August 1985
The party, however, faced the
general election on 12 February
,
[6]
shortly after the formation. Due to the short preparation time along with the government's
election fraud
, the party was expected to be defeated.
[2]
The
Agency for National Security Planning
analysed that NKDP would barely win around 20 seats, and in addition, Chairman Lee running for
Jongro
&
Central District
of
Seoul
, would be lost in the constituency.
[2]
Nevertheless, the party shockingly won in the election, receiving 29.3% and won 67 out of 276 seats, made it as the main opposition in the
National Assembly
.
[7]
[2]
Furthermore, Lee, who received 31.63%, also won in his constituency.
[7]
Their seats were later increased up to 103, after some MPs from DKP and Nat'l defected to NKDP,
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[2]
which occurred serious conflicts between the government and the opposition. This, however, also boosted the government's repression that reached its zenith when the party's MP
Yoo Sung-hwan
was arrested after his parliamentary speech on 14 October 1986.
[13]
[2]
Decline and dissolution
[
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]
The party faced an internal conflict after Lee announced his own plan, named "Lee Min-woo Plan", which supported
parliamentary system
.
[14]
This was strongly objected by Kim Young-sam (YS) and Kim Dae-jung (DJ), who advocated to maintain the incumbent
presidential system
but sought for
direct election
of the President.
[14]
Finally, both pro-YS and pro-DJ factions broke the party out and founded
United Democratic Party
(UDP) on 21 April 1987.
[15]
Since 74 MPs defected to UDP, the seats were plummeted up to 26. Although the minor
People's Democratic Party
merged itself with NKDP in April 1987, the party never revived, and didn't even put a candidate for
upcoming presidential election
. Lee also resigned his chairmanship and retired from the politics on 6 November.
[16]
On 15 January 1988, the acting
Shin Do-hwan
was officially elected as the new Chairman.
[17]
However, the party lost all seats in
1988 election
, and was subsequently deregistered on 28 April.
[18]
[19]
Leadership
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]
Chairmen
[
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]
Election results
[
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]
| Election
|
Leader
|
Votes
|
%
|
Seats
|
Position
|
Status
|
| Constituency
|
Party list
|
Total
|
+/?
|
| 1985
|
Lee Min-woo
|
5,843,827
|
29.26
|
|
|
|
new
|
2nd
|
Opposition
|
| 1988
|
Shin Do-hwan
|
46,877
|
0.24
|
|
|
|
 67
|
8th
|
Extra-parliamentary
|
Notes
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]
- ^
4 April, 1987
- ^
acting from 5 to 15 January
References
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