List of political parties in South Korea

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South Korea
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Political parties in South Korea lists political parties in South Korea. South Korea has a multi-party system, in which parties have a chance of gaining power alone.

[edit] The parties

There are currently five political parties represented in the National Assembly of South Korea:

Uri Party (열린우리당, Yeollin Uri-dang), led by Kim Geun Tae.
- A liberal party. It is the party of President Roh Moo-hyun and had a majority in the National Assembly after the 2004 election. The party gains its support from the younger generation and the Jeolla region. It gained support through its opposition to the impeachment of President Roh. It won 32 out of 49 seats in Seoul, 44 out of 62 in Incheon and Gyeonggi, confirming that a majority of voters supported the President. However, its majority status was broken after by-elections in several districts, and it lost more seats in October 2005. Its political ideology is to the left of the Democratic Party. (143 seats) The Uri Party has supported militant labor unions and teachers' unions while imposing regulations on business and industry. It has strongly favored expanding social services for the low-income population by increasing taxation on the middle class while de-emphasizing economic growth. One of its strategies has been to adopt a theme of class struggle by focusing on income disparities, although the wage differential in South Korea is substantially smaller than the U.S. and Western Europe. It has embraced civic groups that are sympathetic towards North Korea and has supported the government's policy of unconditional aid provided to the North. The Uri Party leaders have also supported the Roh administration's move away from the traditional alliance with the U.S. and Japan. Because of the many perceived failures of the current administration, the Uri Party's support among South Koreans has dwindled to well under 20%, at times below 10%.
Grand National Party (한나라당, Hannara-dang), led by Kang Jae Seob.
- A conservative party. It is the largest opposition party in the National Assembly and leads the opposition camp. It is the heir of South Korea's traditionally conservative political elite. It gains its support from the conservative voters, rural areas, and the Gyeongsang region. The party supported the impeachment of Roh, suffered a loss of support, but won a majority in North Gyeongsang and South Gyeongsang regions and retained the 100 seats necessary to block constitutional changes. It has won back more seats in by-elections. (127 seats) The Grand National Party supports capitalism and free trade, entrepreneurship, economic development, small government, tax reductions, and maintenance of strategic alliance with the U.S. and other Western nations. The Grand National Party generally takes a hardline stance against North Korea and is critical of human rights violations in the North. It is a minority party in the Parliament but currently enjoys the highest level of support among the parties, reaching 40%.
Democratic Labour Party (민주노동당, Minju Nodong-dang), led by Moon Sung-Hyun.
- A democratic socialist party. It gains its support from farmers, industrial factory workers, and progressive intellectuals. It lost one seat in a by-election. (9 seats)
Democratic Party (민주당, Minju-dang), led by Han Hwa-gap
- It took part in the last elections as the "Millennium Democractic Party." It gains support from provinces of Jeolla. It was formerly the major liberal party and the second-largest party prior to the election, but sustained the biggest loss in the backlash following its leading role in the impeachment of Roh, as much of its support shifted to the Uri Party, with which discussions to merge are likely. It gained two seats in later by-elections. (11 seats). Its political ideology is to the left of the Grand National Party and to the right of the Uri Party.
People First Party (국민중심당, Gukmin Jungsim-dang), led by Sim Dae-pyung and Shin Kook-hwan.
- The party based in the central provinces of Chungcheong. The group absorbed the small opposition United Liberal Democrats also based in the region. (5 seats) The People First Party is conservative.