Liberty Korea Party
 | This article needs to be updated. |
Liberty Korea Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Kang Jae-seop |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Yeomchang-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul |
| Ideology | Conservatism, right wing |
| International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
| Website | |
| www.hannara.or.kr | |
| Liberty Korea Party | |
| Hangul | 한나라당 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 한나라黨 |
| Revised Romanization | Hannara-dang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hannara-dang |
The Grand National Party is a conservative-leaning political party in South Korea. Its Korean name, Hannara, may be translated either as "Grand National Party" or "One-Nation Party," because of the double meaning of the word Han as "great" or "one."
South Korean major parties
| Name | Ideology | Seats | Percentages | President |
| United Democratic Party1 | Liberalism, Centre-left | 140 | 46.82% | Roh Moo-hyun |
| Grand National Party | Conservatism, Right wing | 129 | 43.14% | Lee Myung-bak |
| Non-negotiation body | - | 30 | 10.03% | - |
1 Roh stood as a candidate of Millennium Democratic Party, the former name of today's United Democratic Party, prior to the Party's split into Uri Party and Millennium Democratic Party. After the split, Roh withdrew from Millennium Democratic Party for Uri Party. Eventually, United New Democratic Party was formed from Uri Party and with the merge with Democratic Party in February 2008, the new party was renamed the United Democratic Party.
History
The party was formed in 1990, when several old right-wing parties--most notably the Democratic Justice Party--merged to form the Democratic Liberal Party. It was renamed the New Korea Party in 1994, and then became the Grand National Party in November 1997.
Its opponents try to discredit it by linking it to old right-wing parties dating back to the dictatorships in the 1960s. Considering the dramatic changes in political climate that have taken place in South Korea since then, these parties have been severely curtailed hence the formation of a new coalition.
The Grand National Party currently enjoys nearly half of the support by the Korean public, ranging from business leaders and affluent youth to the elderly. Its support is low only in the Jeolla province, which has for nearly 50 years supported Kim Dae-jung, a well-known progressive politician born in that province who also served as President of South Korea (Feb 1998-2002). This year, 2007, Lee Myung Bak of Hannara, was elected to become the president of Republic of Korea from 2007. The election took place on December 19th, 2007, which was Lee Myung Bak's Birthday and also his wedding aniversary. look at this page for more information. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i-GKXzEN4bwy3Q1UuOk5uOvciXrQ
The makeup of the Grand National Party members at present is diverse in provincial origin and political thought. Former party head and 2007 presidential candidate Park Geun-hye is the daughter of former Dictator-President Park Chung-hee who ruled from 1963 to 1979. Although Representative Won Hee-ryeong and Hong Jun-pyo runs for the party primary as a reform candidate, and former Seoul mayor and their official presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak gains more support (about 40%) from the Korean public, these types of family connections are viewed by many as evidence of continued domination of the party by the old elite.
On September 6, 2007, the South Korea presidential office announced that it would file forthwith a libel case against conservative opposition Grand National Party (GNP) (frontrunner in December's election), Lee Myung-bak. Myung-Bak enjoys 50% support in opinion polls against 10% for the leading candidate of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) Roh Moo-Hyun. Moon Jae-In, chief presidential secretary, stated that the criminal case will be filed to preserve trust in the government.[1]
Current status
Following the 2000 parliamentary elections it was the single largest political party, with 54% of the vote and 147 seats out of 271. However, its former leader Lee Hoi-chang lost twice in the presidential election (in 1997 and 2002) following a series of scandals and accusations.
The party was defeated in the parliamentary election in 2004 following the impeachment of President Roh, gaining only 121 seats out of 299. The defeat reflected the public disapproval of the impeachment which was steered by the party. It was the first time in its history that the party or its predecessors had not won the most seats. It gained back six seats in by-elections, bringing it to 127 seats as of October 28, 2005. It remains the largest opposition party in the South Korean Parliament today.
On December 19, 2007, the GNP's candidate for president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, won the election with 48.7% of the vote.
Policy
The GNP supports free trade and limited entrepreneurship, expanded support and alliance with the large chaebols, neoliberal economic policies, and lower taxes. The GNP favours maintaining strong ties with the United States, Japan, and other historical alliances, as well as distancing South Korea from engaging Pyongyang.
The party's conservative, pro-American stance often makes it the target of hyperbolic criticism by North Korea's state-controlled media.
See also
- Politics of South Korea
- List of political parties in South Korea
- List of political parties
- List of Korea-related topics
- Uri Party
