Democratic Republican Party (South Korea)

Democratic Republican Party
민주공화당
Minju Gonghwadang
Leader Park Chung-hee
Founded 1963
Dissolved 1980
Succeeded by Democratic Justice Party
Headquarters Seoul
Ideology Korean nationalism
Authoritarianism[1]
Conservatism
Corporatism
Anti-communism
Political position Right-wing
Colours Brown and Blue
Politics of South Korea
Political parties
Elections
Democratic Republican Party
Hangul 민주공화당
Hanja
Revised Romanization Minju Gonghwadang
McCune–Reischauer Minju Konghwatang

The Democratic Republican Party (DRP) was a conservative, authoritarian and broadly state corporatist[2] or nationalist[3] political party in South Korea, ruling from shortly after its formation on February 2, 1963,[4] to its dissolution under Chun Doo-hwan in 1980. Under the control of Park Chung Hee, dictator of South Korea from his military coup d'état of 1961 until his assassination in 1979, the party oversaw a period of accelerated, state-directed industrialization and socio-economic modernization known as the "Miracle of the Han River", where a predominantly poor and agrarian country was transformed into an industrial "tiger economy". The combination of state and corporate chaebol power pioneered by the party[5] continues to be deeply built into the foundations of the South Korean economic system.

Following the promulgation in October 1972 of the Yushin Constitution, which implemented numerous authoritarian centralizing measures such as the direct appointment of a third of the National Assembly by the President, the DRP assumed an unprecedented level of political power. For the next eight years, South Korea was essentially a one-party state ruled by the DRP.

After Park's assassination on 26 October 1979 and the seizure of power by Chun Doo-hwan in the coup d'état of December Twelfth, the DRP was dissolved in 1980, and nominally superseded by the Korean National Party. However, leadership of the state was assumed by the Democratic Justice Party, which may be seen as a spiritual successor of the DRP in terms of its constitutional vision and mimicking of Park's leadership style. Through this evolution, the Grand National Party may be seen as the modern heir of the DRP, though the policies advocated by Korean conservatives have changed significantly since South Korea's democratization in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Election results

Presidential elections

Election Candidate Total votes Share of votes Outcome Party Name
1963 Park Chung-hee 4,702,640 46.6% Elected Green tick Democratic Republican Party
1967 Park Chung-hee 5,688,666 51.4% Elected Green tick Democratic Republican Party
1971 Park Chung-hee 6,342,828 53.2% Elected Green tick Democratic Republican Party
1972 Park Chung-hee 2,357 (electoral vote) 99.91% Elected Green tick Democratic Republican Party
1978 Park Chung-hee 2,578 (electoral vote) 99.96% Elected Green tick Democratic Republican Party

Legislative elections

Election Total seats won Total votes Share of votes Outcome of election Election leader Party Name
1963
110 / 175
3,112,985 33.5% Increase110 seats; Majority Park Chung-hee Democratic Republican Party
1967
129 / 175
5,494,922 50.6% Increase19 seats; Majority Park Chung-hee Democratic Republican Party
1971
113 / 204
5,460,581 48.8% Decrease16 seats; Majority Park Chung-hee Democratic Republican Party
1973
146 / 219
4,251,754 38.7% Decrease40 seats; Majority Park Chung-hee Democratic Republican Party
1978
145 / 231
4,695,995 31.7% Increase2 seats; Majority Park Chung-hee Democratic Republican Party

References

  1. Kwak, Ki-Sung (2012), Media and Democratic Transition in South Korea, Routledge, p. 31
  2. Kim, B. K. & Vogel, E. F. (eds.) (2011). The Park Chung Hee Era: The Transformation of South Korea. Harvard University Press. p. 125.
  3. Kohli, A. (2004). State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 92.
  4. Youngmi Kim, The Politics of Coalition in Korea (Taylor & Francis, 2011) p22
  5. Kohli, p. 27.