Minsaeng Party

The Party for Democracy and Peace () is a conservative-liberal political party in South Korea based in the Honam region.

History

The party was formed on 24 February 2020 by the merger of three parties—Bareunmirae Party, New Alternatives and Party for Democracy and Peace. Ten days before, all three parties agree to be merged and re-founded as a new party.

Originally, the party was planned to be formed as the Democratic Unified Party () on 17 February. However, on the day of the agreement, the Bareunmirae President Sohn Hak-kyu showed his objection. In addition, on 18 February, the National Election Commission did not allow the upcoming party to use the name as it sounds similar to the extra-parliamentary United Democratic Party.

All three parties then again signed the agreement after the leaderships of all of them decided to resign on 20 February. On 24 February, 3 parties were finally merged and officially re-founded with the current name.

It lost all seats in the 2020 election.

In the 2021 by-elections, the party President Lee Su-bong contested for the Seoul mayorship. Despite having less support than the Democratic and People Power Party candidates, he was able to appear on television debates, as the predecessor Bareunmirae Party's candidate received 19.55% of the vote in the previous mayoral election. He received 0.23% of the vote, far behind the Democratic and People Power Party candidates.

On 19 April 2021, the former party president Kim Jung-hwa made an announcement to quit the party, although she mentioned that she has no willingness to retire from politics.

On 4 May 2021, Lee Su-bong was suspended from the party for a year.

On February 8, 2024, Kim Jong-ki, the acting chairman of the DPP's emergency committee, declared the party's commitment to environmental protection and sustainable development.

On March 15, the committee suggested renaming the party to "Climate People's Democratic Party," in line with the party constitution. The Central Election Commission confirmed the name change on March 19. Former Chairman Seo Jin-hee was elected as the new party chairman, with Lee Seung-han, Lee Jin, and Nae-hoon as supreme committee members, and Lee Ki-hyun as the National Party Congress chairman. On March 20, Kim Jong-ki released a commentary titled "The Climate People's Party is a party that protects life, democracy, human rights, and the livelihood of ordinary people," which was disseminated via media outlets. According to a court search, an appeal was lodged following the Supreme Court's 2024 decision, case number 2024 Na 2015771. Finally, on March 22, Seo Jin-hee was officially announced as the representative following the resolution from March 19, and the general secretary position was declared vacant.

On April 17, 2025, the party reverted to the 2018 name, Party for Democracy and Peace, in an attempt to rebrand after party leader Seo Jin-hee was charged with adultery and violating the Political Funding Act. Seo also tried to hide the fact that she was indited on charges of wasted nearly 10 billion won (US$7 million) in political funds from party members in an effort to keep her position as leader of the Party.

Political position

The party has a support base among elderly and socially conservative Christians in the Honam region. The Democratic Peace Party, a former Honam regionalist party, strongly opposed abortion, but Minsaeng Party has no official position on abortion.

On the LGBT issue, MPs expressed their opposition to same-sex marriage, but criticized some socially conservative members of the Democratic Party of Korea for hostile tendencies toward LGBT people.

Election results

Notes

References

{{South Korean political parties

2020 establishments in South Korea
Centre-right parties in Asia
Conservative liberal parties
Conservative parties in South Korea
Democratic parties in South Korea
Political parties established in 2020
Political parties in South Korea
Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in South Korea
Regionalist parties
Social conservative parties