Democratic Party (South Korea, 1990)

The Democratic Party (Korean: 민주당) was a political party of South Korea from 1990 to 1991. The party was often called as Little Democrats (꼬마민주당) due to its minority status.^[1][2][3]

Democratic Party 민주당
Abbreviation	DP Little Democrats (unofficial)
Founded	15 June 1990
Dissolved	16 September 1991
Merged into	Democratic
Ideology	Liberalism (South Korea) Centrist reformism
Political position	Centre
Colours	Red
Politics of South Korea Political parties Elections

History

The party was formed by the former members of the Reunification Democratic Party (UDP), who opposed the party's merger with the ruling Democratic Justice Party (DJP) and New Democratic Republican Party (NDRP). After UDP declared its combination with DJP and NDRP on 22 January 1990,^[4] dissidents refused to join the newly formed Democratic Liberal Party.^[5] The dissidents, led by Lee Ki-taek, officially launched Democratic Party on 15 June.^[6] The day, the party held a leadership election, and elected Lee as its Chairman.^[6]

However, due to the few seats in the National Assembly, the party subsequently initiated the combination with the main opposition, Peace Democratic Party (PDP), led by Kim Dae-jung (New Democratic Unionist Party aka NDUP since 15 April 1991).^[7] Lee stepped down as the Chairman on 16 November, after the first attempt was failed.^[8] However, he then returned as the Chairman on 3 February 1991, since no one could replace him.^[9]

The party faced a huge defeat in 1991 local elections, when DLP won majority.^[10] After that, the party initiated the 2nd negotiation with NDUP, and agreed on 11 September.^[11] 5 days later, both NDUP and DP was successfully combined and re-built as the new Democratic Party.^[12]

Party leadership

Party Presidents

No.	President(s)	Period
1	Lee Ki-taek	15 June 1990 – 16 November 1990
	Kim Hyun-kyu (interim)	16 November 1990 – 3 February 1991
2	Lee Ki-taek	3 February 1991 – 16 September 1991

Election results

Local

Election	Leader	Metropolitan mayor/Governor	Provincial legislature
1991	Lee Ki-taek	0 / 15	21 / 866

References

1. [레이더P] 60년 정당 '민주당' 당명 논란 2라운드. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
2. 3당합당 거부 '꼬마 민주당' 창당 고비마다 명분 선택한 야당 외길. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
3. "YS·DJ 사이서 정치적 굴곡… 꼬마민주당 만든 '4·19 맏형'". 22 February 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
4. 민정, 민주, 공화당 합당 통한 신당 창당 공시[김성수]. 22 January 1990. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
5. 민주당 소장파 의원,정통야당 복원 선언[장동훈]. 24 January 1990. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
6. 민주당, 오늘 창당 전당대회 갖고 이기택 총재로 공식 출범[윤영욱]. 15 June 1990. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
7. 이기택 민주당 총재, 김대중 총재 방문해 야권 통합 논의[엄기영]. 18 June 1990. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
8. 민주당 이기택 총재 13대 국회 포기선언과 함께 사퇴[전영배]. 16 November 1990. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
9. 민주당 오늘 임시 전당 대회 열어[전영배]. 3 February 1991. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
10. 야당 내부에서 선거 패배에 따른 문책론 제기[신용진]. 21 June 1991. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
11. 신민.민주 양당 총재 회의, 민주회 등 등 통합 가속화[전영배]. 11 September 1991. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
12. 민주당 공식출범. 16 September 1991. Retrieved 10 September 2019.