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People Party (South Korea, 2016)

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(Redirected from Unified Reform Party)
Not to be confused with Minjung Party.
This article is about the party founded by Ahn Cheol-soo in 2016. For the party founded by Ahn in 2020 prior to that year's legislative elections, see People Party (South Korea, 2020).
People Party
국민의당
國民의黨
Founder
Founded2 February 2016 (2016-02-02)[1]
Dissolved13 February 2018 (2018-02-13)[2]
Split fromDemocratic Party of Korea[3]
Merged intoBareunmirae Party
Ideology
Political positionCentre[9][10]
Colors  Dark green
Slogan담대한 변화가 시작됩니다
('Bold change is beginning!')
Website
people21.kr
People Party
Hangul
국민의당
Hanja
國民의黨
Revised RomanizationGungminuidang
McCune–ReischauerKungminŭidang
This article is part of a series on
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The People Party (Korean: 국민의당; lit. Party of Nationals; PP) was a centrist political party from 2016 to 2018 in South Korea. The political party was established on 2 February 2016 by Ahn Cheol-soo. The party had a strong support base in the Honam region. The party dissolved on 13 February 2018.

A later party of the same name was also founded by Ahn and was active from 2020 to 2022.

History

[edit]

Plans for the party began, after Ahn Cheol-soo, who established the Democratic Party of Korea with Kim Han-gil, quit the party in mid-December 2015, after a power struggle with Moon Jae-in.[11] At the time, Ahn vowed to create a political group that can effect government change.[11]

Ahn unveiled the party's name in January 2016.[12] Kim, who co-founded the Democratic Party with Ahn, joined the party a day before the name's unveiling.[12]

The party officially launched on 2 February 2016, with 17 lawmakers in the National Assembly.[13] In March 2016, the party gained its 20th member, a defector from the Democratic Party, which gave the party rights to form a negotiation bloc, along with higher state subsidies.[4]

During the 2016 legislative election, the party aimed to pick up 20 seats.[14] The party, however, ended up garnering 38 seats, including 23 of the 28 contested seats in South Korea's southwest, which is seen as a Democratic Party stronghold.[15] Following the election, the party was seen as having a potentially deciding vote on legislation.[16]

Ahn, however, resigned his chairmanship along with co-leader Chun Jung-bae in June of the same year, following a corruption scandal involving certain party members (see below).[17] Ahn, however, was elected to a second stint as party chairman in August 2017, after an extended vacancy caused by Park Jie-won's resignation in May that year, following Ahn's defeat in the 2017 presidential election.[18]

Merger

[edit]

On January 18, 2018, Ahn, along with the leader of the Bareun Party, Yoo Seong-min, announced their plans to merge the two parties, in an effort to form a centrist bloc and consolidate their parliamentary standings before local elections.[19][20] The announcement was noted as being "hasty", having come before the two respective parties underwent due process to confirm the union,[19] and was seen an attempt to consolidate the plan amidst oppositions.[19]

Within the People Party, the plan faced opposition, especially with lawmakers from the provinces of North and South Jeolla, both of which are noted to be liberal-leaning provinces.[19]

On January 28, 16 of the party's lawmakers, including Park Jie-won and Chung Dong-young, announced plans to start a new party.[21] The lawmakers were noted to have belonged to a faction that was closely associated with late former President Kim Dae-jung.[21] The new party, named Party for Democracy and Peace, was launched on February 6.[22]

The plan was approved by the Bareun Party on 5 February 2018,[23] and was finalized by the People Party six days later.[24]

Controversies

[edit]

Corruption allegation

[edit]

In early June 2016, three members of the party, including two lawmakers, were accused by the National Election Commission of receiving kickbacks from the party's PR agencies, prior to elections that year.[17] One lawmaker, Kim Su-min, was accused by prosecutors of possibly receiving ₩178 million from advertisement firms, via forged contracts.[25] One of the members, a party official, was arrested for alleged violation of the country's Political Fund Law.[17]

The party, however, has denied that the party itself received any of the kickbacks.[25]

False accusations against Moon Jae-in

[edit]

In July 2017, the party asked for a special prosecutor to look into allegations that the party's leadership was involved in making up evidence, as part of allegations that Moon Jae-in's son, Moon Joon-yong, received special treatment during the hiring process at a public agency.[26] An arrest warrant was also issued against a former member of the party's Supreme Council, which was denounced by the party as being unfair.[26]

Ahn, who ran in the presidential election that year and was noted by The Korea Herald as having stood to benefit directly from the tip-off (although he lost the election),[27] was questioned by the party's internal investigators.[27]

Party leadership

[edit]

Chairpersons

[edit]
  1. Ahn Cheol-soo, Chun Jung-bae[28] (co-leaders; 2 February 2016 – 28 June 2016[28])
    • Park Jie-won as head of Emergency Planning Committee (30 July 2016 – 2 December 2016)
    • Kim Dong-cheol as head of Emergency Planning Committee (2 December 2016 – 15 January 2017)
  2. Park Jie-won (15 January 2017[29] – 10 May 2017[30])
  3. Ahn Cheol-soo (27 August 2017[32] – present)

Assembly leaders (Floor leaders)

[edit]
  1. Joo Seung-yong (2 February 2016 – 27 April 2016)
  2. Park Jie-won (27 April 2016[33] – 29 December 2016)
  3. Joo Seung-yong (29 December 2016[34] – 16 May 2017)
  4. Kim Dong-cheol (16 May 2017[35] – present)

Electoral results

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President

[edit]
Election Candidate Votes % Result
2017 Ahn Cheol-soo 6,998,342 21.41 Not elected

Legislature

[edit]
Election Leader Constituency Party list Seats Position Status
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
2016 Ahn Cheol-soo
Chun Jung-bae 		3,565,451 14.85
25 / 253
 6,355,572 26.75
13 / 47
38 / 300
 2nd Opposition

See also

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ "Ahn's new party officially launched – The Korea Times". Yonhap News Agency. The Korea Times. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Two minor parties merge to create new centrist party". 13 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Former PM to run for parliamentary seat as independent". Yonhap News. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016. The People's Party that broke away from the New Politics Alliance for Democracy...
  4. ^ a b Ser, Myo-ja (17 March 2016). "Liberal People's Party welcomes 20th member". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  5. ^ Kim, Hyo-jin (5 April 2016). "Ahn's popularity baffles parties". The Korea Times. Retrieved 5 February 2018. The People's Party, which launched itself as a centrist reformist party, appears to have lured a group of conservative voters disappointed at the Saenuri Party after its nomination row.
  6. ^ 투기 저주한 케인스가 그립다. 더스쿠프 (in Korean). 2 May 2017.
  7. ^ Baek Sang-Hyun (26 April 2017). 국민의당, 동성결혼 차별금지법 관련 분명한 입장 밝힌다.. Kukmin Ilbo.
  8. ^ [7]
  9. ^ Yoo, Julie (5 May 2017). "South Korean presidential elections: The leading candidates". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 12 February 2018. Two candidates with more conservative leanings – Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People's Party...
  10. ^ "Bareunmirae Party starts to splinter". Korea JoongAng Daily. 10 October 2019. Archived from the original on 26 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020. Ahn was a contender in the previous presidential election and a former chairman of the centrist People's Party, which later merged with the right-wing Bareun Party to form the Bareunmirae Party.
  11. ^ a b Joo, Yang J. (14 December 2015). "Former opposition leader Ahn Cheol-soo defects from the party amid vehement in-house power struggle". SBS. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  12. ^ a b Kim, Hyo-jin (8 January 2016). "Ahn's new party named 'People's Party'". The Korea Times. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  13. ^ "Ahn's new party officially launched". Yonhap. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  14. ^ "Parliamentary candidates launch official campaigning". Yonhap. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  15. ^ Kim, Kwang-tae (13 April 2017). "(6th LD) Ruling party fails to win parliamentary majority". Yonhap. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  16. ^ "Meet Ahn Cheol-soo: The South Korean software tycoon who is now Seoul's No. 1 political powerbroker". South China Morning Post. Bloomberg News. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  17. ^ a b c Kim, Hyo-jin (29 June 2016). "People's Party falls into crisis as Ahn resigns". The Korea Times. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  18. ^ "Ahn Cheol-soo Elected New Chairman of People's Party". KBS World Radio. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  19. ^ a b c d Choi, Ha-young (18 January 2018). "Two minor parties declare merger". The Korea Times. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  20. ^ "Leaders of People's Party, Bareun Party declare merger". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Yonhap. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  21. ^ a b Jo, He-rim (28 January 2018). "People's Party dissenters establish preparation committee for new party". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  22. ^ Jo, He-rim (6 February 2018). "People's Party defectors launch new liberal party". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  23. ^ "Bareun Party Agrees on Proposal for Merger with People's Party". KBS World Radio. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  24. ^ Jo, He-rim (11 February 2018). "People's Party finalizes decision to merge with Bareun Party". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  25. ^ a b "People's Party denies kickback scandal". Yonhap. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  26. ^ a b Jo, He-rim (10 July 2017). "People's Party struggles to contain scandal". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  27. ^ a b Sohn, Ji-young (2 July 2017). "People's Party says Ahn Cheol-soo questioned over scandal". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  28. ^ a b "[Newsmaker] Ahn resigns amid party scandal". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. 29 June 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2018. Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Chun Jung-bae, the two cochiefs of the opposition People's Party, resigned from their posts Wednesday...
  29. ^ Kang, Jin-kyu (16 January 2017). "Veteran lawmaker Park Jie-won will lead People's Party". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 12 February 2018. The People's Party, a minor opposition party in the National Assembly, elected four-term lawmaker Park Jie-won as its chairman on Sunday.
  30. ^ "People's Party leaders resign over election defeat". Yonhap. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018. Rep. Park Jie-won announced their resignation during a disbanding ceremony of the campaign office of Ahn Cheol-soo.
  31. ^ a b "(LEAD) People's Party picks interim leader". Yonhap. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018. The minor opposition People's Party on Thursday picked Deputy National Assembly Speaker Park Joo-sun as its interim leader...
  32. ^ "(2nd LD) Ahn elected new People's Party leader". Yonhap. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  33. ^ Ser, Myo-ja (28 April 2016). "Park Jie-won picked as People's Party floor leader". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  34. ^ Hwang, Hyung-Jun (30 December 2016). "People's Party elects Joo Seung-yong as floor leader". The Dong-A Ilbo. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  35. ^ "Kim Dong-cheol Elected People's Party Floor Leader". KBS World Radio. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
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