Korean Social Democratic Party

"Korean Democratic Party" redirects here. For the South Korean party, see Korea Democratic Party.
Korean Social Democratic Party
조선사회민주당
朝鮮社會民主黨
Chosŏn Sahoe Minjudang
Chairman of the Central Committee Kim Yong Dae
Founded 3 November 1945
Headquarters Pyongyang, North Korea[1]
Ideology Social democracy (claimed)
Political position Centre-left (claimed)
National affiliation Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland
Slogan Independence, sovereignty, democracy, peace and the defence of human rights
Supreme People's Assembly
50 / 687

The Korean Social Democratic Party (KSDP) is a political party in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, allied with the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. It was formed on 3 November 1945 by medium and small entrepreneurs, merchants, handicraftsmen, petite bourgeoisie, some peasants and Christians, out of anti-imperialist and anti-feudal aspirations and demands to eliminate the legacy of Japanese rule and to build a democratic society.

The party is currently headed by Kim Yong Dae, whose title is Chairman of the Central Committee of the Korean Social Democratic Party,[2] and vice-chairman of the SPA since the election of 2009.

The party came more under the influence of the government over time and today is a part of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, a group of political parties which make up the government.

Limited information about the party's activities is published, apart from the name of its leader.[3] As of January 2007, the party had more than 30,000 members.[4]

History

The party was established in Pyongyang by Cho Man-sik in November 1945 as the Korean Democratic Party.[5] It quickly gained support from Christian businessmen and intellectuals, as well as well-off workers, and had around half a million members after only a few weeks.[5] However, the party was blamed for a series of anti-communist and anti-Soviet riots, and after Cho opposed the results of the Moscow Conference in December (which was supported by the communists and Soviets), he was arrested by the Soviets.[5] Cho's arrest led to many of the party's leaders moving to Seoul in South Korea, where they set up a new headquarters;[5] the party nominated five candidates for the May 1948 Constitutional Assembly elections in South Korea, winning one seat, taken by Yi Yun-yong.[6]

In North Korea the party was taken over by new leadership headed by communist Choe Yong-gon and subsequently joined the pro-Soviet Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, after which it became subordinate to the Workers' Party of Korea. Its candidates were given 35 seats in the August 1948 elections and eleven in 1957. In 1959 and 1960 all of the party's offices were shut down by the government.[5] It was subsequently reduced to four seats in 1962 and one in 1967 and 1972. In 1980 it adopted its current name.[7]

The 1990 elections saw the party awarded 51 seats.[8] It had 52 seats following the 1998 elections and 50 after the 2009 elections.[9][10] It retained the same number of seats in the 2014 elections.[11]

Ideology

Theoretically, the party adheres to national social democracy befitting Korea’s historical conditions and national characteristics and its basic political motto is independence, sovereignty, democracy, peace and the defence of human rights.[12]

Gradually, the party distanced itself from this ideology, and it is now a partner of the Workers' Party of Korea. It is part of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, a coalition with another legal party in the DPRK, the Chondoist Chongu Party, alongside the Workers' Party of Korea.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Europa World Year: Kazakhstan – Zimbabwe. London: Europa Publications. 2004. p. 2481. ISBN 978-1-85743-255-8.
  2. ↑ North Side Committee for Implementing June 15 Joint Declaration Meets, KCNA, January 30, 2007.
  3. ↑ North Korea - Mass Organizations Library of Congress Country Studies
  4. ↑ Korean politics Chinese Embassy in North Korea (in Chinese)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Haruhiro Fukui (1985) Political parties of Asia and the Pacific, Greenwood Press, pp652–653
  6. ↑ "조선민주당". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. 1948년 5월 10일의 제헌의원선거에 조선민주당측에서 부당수인 이윤영을 비롯하여 5명이 출마하였으나 이윤영만이 서울 종로갑구에서 당선되었다 (In the Constituent Assembly election on 10 May 1948 five candidates from the Korean Democratic Party were running, but only Yi Yun-yong was elected in Jongno District in Seoul)
  7. ↑ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: South East Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific Volume 2, p404 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
  8. ↑ Elections held in 1990 IPU
  9. ↑ Elections held in 1998 IPU
  10. ↑ Elections in 2009 IPU
  11. ↑ Last elections IPU
  12. ↑ Korean Social Democratic Party Archived July 9, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Naenara
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