Minjoo Party of Korea

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The Together Democratic Party (더불어민주당, Deobureominjudang), also known as the Minjoo Party of Korea (민주당) and the Democratic Party of Korea, is a mainstream liberal[note 1] party in South Korea. They are notorious for taking a position close to conservatism, not liberalism, on a number of social issues.[note 2]

The party supports appeasement towards North Korea through the Sunshine Policy. There is a bit of nationalist inclination. but the party is somewhat friendly towards immigration.

As for the U.S., the party is less friendly than the main opposition United Future Party.[note 3] With regards to Japan, the party is negative due to historical and political reasons.[note 4]

DPK shows an active tendency to intervene in the economy, but is actually hostile to trade unions. In fact, the DPK government had frequent conflicts with South Korea's largest union, the KCTU (Korean Confederation of Trade Unions), and eventually arrested Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the KCTU. Katherine Tai ​Trade Representative, a key figure in the Biden government, criticized the South Korean government.[1]

The party has a discriminatory and conservative view of the mentally disabled. The party advocates the compulsory hospitalization system for mentally ill people without trial. It also indirectly advocates rampant violence against the mentally ill.

The Women's Violence Prevention Act (여성폭력방지기본법) was enacted in 2018 to protect only biological women. This was criticized by men in their 20s and LGBT human rights organizations. Men in their 20s think the act proves that the party is gynocentric.

The Minjoo Party signed a party cooperation protocol with the United Russia in 2018.[2] However, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Minjoo Party suspended all cooperation with United Russia.

Since 2021, DPK has begun to accept the views of men in their 20s who are anti-feminist. DPK created the "Commission against both Misandry and Misogyny".[3]

See also[edit]

  • Democrat In Name Only — The DPK embraces Keynesianism economically, but many cultural policies, including LGBT and disabled rights, are FAR more conservative than social liberal parties in Europe, Japan, and the United States.
    • Blue Dog Democrats — But the Minjoo Party is fiscially left than the Blue Dog Democrats and socially right.
  • Social conservatism
  • Sunshine Policy
  • Moon Jae-in — Former President of South Korea.
  • Kim Eo-jun — He is one of the most fanatical supporters of the Minjoo Party.
  • Lee Hae-chan
  • Park Young-sun
  • Transphobia — In 2020, transgender rights groups demanded major South Korean political parties to take a position on related issues, and the progressive Justice Party actively expressed its position, but the conservative PPP and the "liberal" DPK of South Korea, refused to express its position.[4]
  • Keum Tae-sup — He was once one of the main figures of the Minjoo Party, but is now not a member of the party.
  • DINO
  • Social liberalism — Since this party is a center-left party, it is officially classified as a social liberal party, but there is controversy over this.

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. South Korean political standards. Except for the issue of women's rights, the party is close to the right and conservatism in Western European and United States political standards on social issues.
  2. Lee Hae-chan the party's leader, caused controversy for his discriminatory remarks against Vietnamese women and his hate speech against disabled people, But he did not lose significant support and is still the party leader. The leader of the center-left liberal party made the like neo-Nazi or Donald Trump hate speech remarks. Human rights groups are demanding his resignation. but he did not apologize properly and the incident was ended with happening.
  3. Since the inauguration of the Obama administration, the U.S. has been taking a fairly pro-Japanese diplomatic line to check China. Minjoo Party basically has a very negative tendency towards Japan's right-wing government. But on social issues, liberal Minjoo Party and progressive Justice Party is more friendly to American culture than the conservative United Future Party.
  4. Japan had colonized Korea in the past. Japan also committed various war crimes in World War II (ex. Exploitation, slaughter, sexual slavery, forced labor, etc.). Also, officials and the military, who collaborated with the Japanese Empire in the past, have colluded with the political right-wing since liberation. For this reason, liberals and leftists in South Korea, made up of former independence(the Japanese colonial period) and democracy(the military dictatorship) activists, have a negative view of Japan.

References[edit]