Justice Party (South Korea)

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Not to be confused with the Justice Party that was founded by former Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson.

The Justice Party (정의당) is the South Korean center-left to left-wing party. The abbreviation is JP, which is never radical "left-wing" by international political standards, but is recognized by the conservative camp in South Korea as a very radical far-left and cultural Marxist-occupied party. JP is considered to be closer to "center" than to the social democratic "center-left to left-wing" in European political standards.

This party is the only party in the Republic of Korea that is forward-looking in terms of the rights of the disabled, especially the mentally. However, the party is not complete, with some party members disparaging autism.

The party was the 3^rd largest party in the National Assembly until losing all its seats in 2024.

Political position

Socially progressivism

This party is the only pro-LGBT party and the only social democratic party in South Korea. Its main support is from trade union activists, the lower working class, multicultural families, and the sexual minorities. It supports the appeasement policy toward North Korea (Sunshine Policy) but it opposes the North Korean political system. This party is also the least nationalist party among the liberal or leftist parties in South Korea. (In South Korea, 'Korean nationalism' is usually prominent on the left-wing.) It supports abortion rights, same-sex marriage, sustainable development and multiculturalism and is only party in the Republic that supports the acceptance of Islamic refugees. However, it opposes cannabis, prostitution and some social issues.

JP is known as an left-wing anti-racist organization. Korea suffered from imperialism in China and Japan in the past, and anti-Japanese and anti-Chinese sentiment are often expressed politically due to the current antipathy between China and Japan to hegemonic nationalism. Anti-Japanese sentiment is mainly represented by center-left DPK, and anti-Chinese sentiment is mainly represented by right-wing PPP. JP opposes using anti-Japanese/anti-Chinese sentiment politically.

The party has a friendly relationship with the Japanese Social Democratic Party and Taiwanese New Power Party.

Social democracy?

Unlike general social democratic parties, the Justice Party has a more 'liberal' character than the 'socialist' one. For this reason, WSWS, a far-left moonbat Trotskyist journalist, described the Justice Party as 'fake-left'. JP is officially putting "social democratic" and "liberal" into the party platform. In practice, however, JP's economic policy is not much different from DPK's Keynesian policy, and it is even relatively fiscal conservatism than left-wing populists like Lee Jae-myung. It should NEVER be considered a left-wing party like the U.S. Justice Party, Justice Democrats and Democratic Socialists of America.

JP refers to themselves as "social democrats" to differentiate themselves from DPK, a socially conservative self-proclaimed "social liberal" because they are supported by LGBT and feminists. However, in a Western sense, JP would be much more of a social liberal than DPK.

The reason JP is considered more left-wing and progressive than DPK is because of its social and cultural issues, which are influenced by Confucian traditionalists and Christian democrats, but JP politicians refer to DPK's self-proclaimed liberals as "pseudo-liberals" and support U.S. Democrat social policy.

Simply put, South Korea's DPK is similarly progressive in economic policy with the U.S. Democratic Party, but socially similar to, or more conservative than, the U.S. Republican moderates. On the other hand, JP is a progressive line that is much similar economically and socially to the US Democratic Party. Even some politicians in Jang Hye-young are known to be more pro-American than mainstream DPK politicians. (Because of this tendency, the DPK is sometimes referred to as a "conservative liberal" in the progressive camp.)

South Korea has a strong anti-communist and anti-socialist atmosphere due to the influence of the Korean War in the past. In South Korea, there are restrictions on the activities of socialist parties because of the National Security Act. Also, even legitimate socialist activities are almost impossible to gain public support in the South. Therefore, it will be difficult for lawmakers like Bernie Sanders and AOC to come out of South Korea at this point. JP recognizes the abuse and oppression that socialists, who are more left-wing than them, suffer in Korean society, and therefore adopts the abolition of the National Security Law as an official party theory.

Criticism

It is officially a social democratic party, and it is the most cultural liberal of all the major political parties in South Korea. However, this is the standard in South Korean politics, which is extremely socially conservative compared to Western countries such as the United States.

• Park Ga-bun(박가분), a major member of the right-wing of the Justice Party, wrote a (Internet media)article called "Hyehwa Station Assembly, which has fallen into autism beyond isolation" to criticize radical feminism. This is a clear hate speech for autistic people, but South Korean media did not take issue with his remarks.
• Contrary to the Justice Party's official position, there was a candidate named Jang Dae-beom(장대범) who offered "homosexual therapy" in the 2018 Gwangyang City Council elections in South Korea. "I learned the seriousness of homosexuality after taking a lecture in the church," he said. He was expelled from the Justice Party over the incident, but it is highly likely that he would not have been deported if the South Korea's LGBT rights groups had not protested.
• Jang Hye-young(장혜영), a disabled human rights activist of the Justice Party, known to the South Korean people as 'radical', supported "Light It Up Blue" in 2019. (For your information, she belongs to the party's left-wing.)
• In 2021, Ryu Ho-jung(류호정) of the Justice Party, a member of the South Korean National Assembly, was embroiled in controversy over her unfair dismissal of her secretary. The Justice Party is the only party in South Korea that claims to be a "labor politics."
• In 2021, it was revealed that Justice Party leader Kim Jong-chul(김종철) sexually harassed lawmaker Jang Hye-young(장혜영), and eventually Kim Jong-chul was expelled from the party.

Of course, these SHIT are more common in the ruling Minjoo Party and the main opposition People Power Party. However, the Justice Party deserves even more criticism as it is a party that advocates "social justice".