Democratic Party (South Korea, 1955)

TheDemocratic Party(DP;Korean:민주당;Hanja:Dân chủ đảng;RR:Minjudang) was a political party inSouth Korea.The party was the first truly organized liberal opposition againstSyngman Rhee's conservativeLiberal Party,and is considered as the predecessor to the lineage of theSouth Korean liberal parties.

Democratic Party 민주당 Dân chủ đảng
Abbreviation	DP
Founded	18 September 1955
Dissolved	1963
Preceded by	Democratic Nationalist
Succeeded by	People's
Headquarters	Seoul,South Korea
Ideology	Nationalism(South Korea) Liberalism(South Korean)
Political position	Centre-right
Colors	Blue
Politics of South Korea Political parties Elections

History

The Democratic Party was established on 18 September 1955. It had its background in a 1952 move by theDemocratic Nationalist Partyto create a pro-reform movement that included both party members and outside figures. Although not initially successful in overcoming the party's poor public image, controversy over a constitutional amendment vote towards the end of 1954 led to the formation of a 60-member bloc in Parliament that became the Democratic Party.Several prominent conservatives joined the party, resulting in the party refusing to admit left-wing politicians.

The party did not nominate a presidential candidate in the1956 elections,but put forwardChang Myonas its vice-presidential candidate. Chang was elected with 46.4% of the vote. Public attitude turning against the rule ofSyngman Rheeand theLiberal Partyled to increased tensions, and Chang survived an assassination attempt in 1957.

In the1958 parliamentary electionsthe DP received 34% of the vote, winning 79 seats and finishing second to the rulingLiberal Party.The party nominatedChough Pyung-okas its candidate for theMarch 1960 presidential elections.However, he died shortly before the elections, leaving Rhee as the sole candidate. Chang was defeated by Liberal candidateLee Ki-poongin the vice-presidential elections. However, student protests over the results led to Rhee going into exile before theJune parliamentary elections,in which the DP won a landslide victory, taking 175 of the 233 seats in theHouse of Commonsand 31 of the 58 seats in theSenate.

Despite gaining power, the party descended into infighting between the new and old factions; a compromise resulted in the new faction's Chang being elected Prime Minister andYun Posunof the old faction beingelected Presidentin an indirect election in August.However, the internal tensions eventually resulted in the old faction breaking away to form a separate party.

However, after less than a year in power, the DP government was overthrown in theMay 16 coupand the party ceased activities. However, when democracy was nominally reintroduced in 1963, the party was reconstituted.In the1963 parliamentary electionsit won 13 seats, and the following year merged with the People's Party.

Election results

President

Election	Candidate	Votes	%	Result
August 1960	Yun Po-sun	208	82.21	Elected

Vice President

Election	Candidate	Votes	%	Result
1956	Chang Myon	4,012,654	46.43	Elected
March 1960		1,843,758	17.51	Not elected

Legislature

House of Representatives

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats				Position	Status
				Constituency	Party list	Total	+/–
1958	Chang Myon	2,914,049	33.99			79 / 233	new	2nd	Opposition
1960		3,786,304	41.71			175 / 233	96	1st	Government
1963	Park Soon-cheon	1,264,285	13.6	8 / 131	5 / 44	13 / 175	163	3rd	Opposition

House of Councillors

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	Position	Status
1960	Chang Myon	5,491,527	51.41	31 / 58	1st	Government