The New Future Democratic Party () is a South Korean political party formed by an anti-

Lee Jae-myung Lee Jae-myung (; born ) is a South Korean politician and lawyer who has served as the 14th president of South Korea since 2025. Lee previously held office as the governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2018 to 2021, as the leader of the Democrati ...

faction from the Democratic Party led by former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Lee Nak-yon Lee Nak-yon (; born 20 December 1951) is a South Korean politician who served as the prime minister of South Korea from 2017 to 2020. A member of the New Future Democratic Party, Lee previously served as the governor of South Jeolla Province f ...

. Originally founded as the New Future Party (), the party was renamed on 7 September 2024.

History

The party was founded on 4 February 2024 by former Democratic Party leader and

, who had grown critical of then Democratic Party leader

. The initial leadership consisted of a co-leadership between Lee Nak-yon and

Kim Jong-min Kim Jong-min (; born September 24, 1979) is a South Korean singer, dancer and television personality. He has been a member of the K-pop group Koyote since 2000 and a cast member of the variety show '' 2 Days & 1 Night'' since 2007. Kim has wo ...

. The party merged with

Lee Jun-seok Lee Jun-seok (; born 31 March 1985) is a South Korean politician who has served as the member of the National Assembly for Hwaseong B since 2024. A member of the Reform Party, he was the party's nominee in the 2025 presidential election a ...

's newly founded Reform Party on 9 February with new party being led by Lee Nak-yon and Lee Jun-seok. However, on 20 February, Lee Nak-yon and the New Future Party announced their withdrawal from the merger with the New Reform Party, with members who had joined the Reform Party re-joining the re-established New Future Party. On 11 March 2024, Hong Young-pyo, the member for Incheon Bupyong B in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, officially joined the party. An additional two members of the National Assembly; Oh Yeong-hwan and

Sul Hoon Sul Hoon (; born 23 April 1953) is a South Korean activist and politician currently serving as a member of National Assembly in Wonmi District's 2nd constituency of Bucheon. He is also one of the Vice presidents in Democratic Party of Korea si ...

joined the party on 17 March. In the

2024 South Korean legislative election Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 10 April 2024. All 300 members of the National Assembly (South Korea), National Assembly were elected, 254 from first-past-the-post South Korean Legislature Constituencies, constituencies and 46 ...

, Kim Jong-min won in the

Sejong A Sejong A () is a constituency of the National Assembly of South Korea. The constituency consists of the southern portion of Sejong City. As of 2024, 171,472 eligible voters were registered in the constituency. History Sejong A was created ahe ...

constituency to sit as the party's only member in the

but later left the party on 1 September. On 18 May 2025, Lee Seok-hyun, a close ally of Lee Nak-yeon who had helped found the party, left the party declaring his support for Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party in the 2025 presidential election. In the 2025 South Korean presidential election, party founder Lee Nak-yon declared his support for

Kim Moon-soo Kim Moon-soo (; born August 27, 1951) is a South Korean politician and former labor activist who served as the minister of employment and labor from 2024 to 2025. A member of the People Power Party, he was the party's nominee in the 2025 pr ...

of the

People Power Party The People Power Party (PPP; ) is a Conservatism in South Korea, conservative and Right-wing politics, right-wing List of political parties in South Korea, political party in South Korea. It is the second-largest party in the National Ass ...

, drawing criticism from both within the party and the Democratic Party. Former co-leader Kim Jong-min strongly criticized the endorsement referring to it as "an alliance that should never have been established."

Ideology

The party's manifesto said that it will "stand up for

centrist reformism Centrist reformism () is a South Korean political ideology. It is part of South Korea's centrist tradition. In international standards, centrist reformism can be seen as conservative liberalism and/or liberal conservatism. History The first par ...

". It also said the party "opposes both

market fundamentalism Market fundamentalism, also known as free-market fundamentalism, is a term applied to a strong belief in the ability of unregulated '' laissez-faire'' or free-market capitalist policies to solve most economic and social problems. It is often us ...

and

populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...

Election results

References

2024 establishments in South Korea Political parties established in 2024 Democratic parties in South Korea {{SouthKorea-party-stub