The New United Democratic Party (NUDP; ) was a political party of South Korea from 1987 to 1991. The party was established as the Peace Democratic Party (PDP; ) in October 1987 by

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...

and his followers to contest the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

that year. The party later merged with Democratic Party to form the Democratic Party.

History

Following the June Struggle of 1987, and the June 29 Declaration, which promised direct, democratic election of the president in the upcoming presidential election in December of that year, speculation for the potential candidacy of Kim Dae-jung for the presidency grew. The Declaration also promised amnesty to Kim Dae-jung, who was under the house-arrest and was barred from engaging in any political activity under the fabricated charge of "inciting rebellion" since 1981. While Kim Dae-jung was barred from engaging in any political activities,

Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (, ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015), often referred to by his initials YS, was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, Kim spent almost 30 ye ...

emerged as the main opposition leader. Despite the effort to present the single "democratic" candidate for the 1987 presidential election, the negotiation between two politicians broke down. Kim Dae-jung and his followers split from the

Reunification Democratic Party The Reunification Democratic Party (RDP; ) was a political party of South Korea from 1987 to 1990. The party was established in April 1987 by Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam, splitting from the New Korean Democratic Party. The party faced anoth ...

and created the Peace Democratic Party in October 29, less than 2 months before the election. Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam's candidacy resulted in vote-splitting of the "Democratic" candidates, resulting in the election of

Roh Tae-woo Roh Tae-woo (, ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean army general and politician who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. In 1987, he became the first president to be directly elected under the cur ...

, protégé of dictator

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Prior to his accession to the presidency, he was the cou ...

to take the office with 36.6% of votes. Despite the defeat in the presidential election, the party fared well in the 1988 legislative election, coming first in the city of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

and dominating South-western

Jeolla Jeolla Province (, ) was one of the historical Eight Provinces of Korea during the Kingdom of Joseon in southwestern Korea. It consisted of the modern South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and Gwangju Metropolitan City as wel ...

region, Peace Democratic Party beat

and emerged as the main opposition to the ruling

Democratic Justice Party The Democratic Justice Party (DJP; ) was the ruling party of South Korea from 1981 to 1990. History Chun Doo-hwan had become the country's de facto leader after leading a military coup in December 1979, and was elected president in his own r ...

. However, the merger of

, and New Democratic Republican Party in January 1990, forming the Democratic Liberal Party, effectively isolated

and his party in the National Assembly. The party changed its name to New United Democratic Party on 14 April 1991 to contest the 1991 local election but the disappointing election result and upcoming presidential election spurred Kim Dae-jung to create a new party. Kim allied himself with the Democratic Party,Called "Little" Democratic Party () to distinguish from the Democratic Party who split from the

in 1990, opposing the merger with conservative ruling Democratic Liberal Party. The merger resulted in the establishment of the Democratic Party.

Election results

President

Legislature

Local

Notes

References

{{Peace Democratic Party Democratic parties in South Korea Defunct political parties in South Korea Conservative liberal parties Political parties established in 1987 Political parties disestablished in 1991 1987 establishments in South Korea 1991 disestablishments in South Korea