Democratic Alliance of Korea explained

Native Name:더불어민주연합
Native Name Lang:ko
Abbreviation:DAK
Leader1 Title:President
Leader1 Name:Yoon Young-deok
Paik Seung-ah
Leader2 Title:Floor leader
Leader2 Name:Yoon Young-deok
Country:South Korea

The Democratic Alliance of Korea (Korean: 더불어민주연합) was an electoral alliance and political party formed in order to run for party-list proportional representation in the 2024 South Korean legislative election.[1] [2] It consisted of 3 centrist to left-wing parties and alliances — the Democratic Party of Korea, the Progressive Party and the New Progressive Alliance. It only nominated proportional representation candidates in the 2024 South Korean election. On May 2, 2024, the Democratic Alliance, excluding members of the Progressive Party and New Progressive Alliance, merged into the Democratic Party of Korea.[3]

Member parties

NameIdeologyPositionLeaderMPsEntry
Party
Democratic PartyLiberalismCentre to centre-leftLee Jae-myung3 March 2024
Progressive PartyLeft-wingYun Hee-suk3 March 2024

New Progressive Alliance
Basic Income Party
Open Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party
N/AYong Hye-in
Oh Joon-ho
3 March 2024

Refused to join

Despite receiving an invitation from the Democratic Party, the Green Justice Party declined to participate in the electoral alliance due to their stance against the formation of satellite parties.[4]

Candidates

List numberCandidatesEndorser party
1Seo Mi-hwaUnited Political Citizens Assembly
2Wi Sung-rakDemocratic Party
3Baek Seung-aDemocratic Party
4Lim Gwang-hyeonDemocratic Party
5Jeong Hye-kyungProgressive Party
6Yong Hye-inNew Progressive Alliance (Basic Income Party)
7Oh Se-heeDemocratic Party
8Park Hong-baeDemocratic Party
9Kang You-jungDemocratic Party
10Han Chang-minNew Progressive Alliance (Social Democratic Party)[7]
11Jeon Jong-deokProgressive Party
12Kim YoonUnited Political Citizens Assembly
13Lim Mi-aeDemocratic Party
14Jeong Eul-hoDemocratic Party
15Son SolProgressive Party
16Choi Hyuk-jinNew Progressive Alliance
17Lee Ju-heeUnited Political Citizens Assembly
18Kim Jun-hwanDemocratic Party
19Go Jae-soonDemocratic Party
20Kim Young-hunUnited Political Citizens Assembly
21Kwak Eun-miDemocratic Party
22Cho Won-heeDemocratic Party
23Baek Hye-sookDemocratic Party
24Seo Seoung-manDemocratic Party
25Jeon Ye-hyunDemocratic Party
26Seo Jae-heonDemocratic Party
27Heo So-youngDemocratic Party
28Chpi Young-seungDemocratic Party
29Kang Gyeong-yoonDemocratic Party
30Song Chang-wookDemocratic Party

Criticism

The inclusion of the Progressive Party was heavily criticised, as it is considered de facto successor of the Unified Progressive Party (UPP) that was banned for its pro-North Korean allegiance despite its denial to the claims.[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] Han Dong-hoon, the interim President of the People Power Party (PPP), denounced the coalition as "the combination of the privileged (socialist) activists, radical supporters of Lee Jae-myung, pro-North Korean UPPs and Cho Kuk".[10] Several pre-candidates, including Lee Rae-kyung and Cho Sung-woo, were alleged to be conspiracy theorists.[8] [9] [11] [12]

Lee Sang-heon, the MP for Buk, Ulsan, announced his withdrawal from the Democratic Party following the Democratic Alliance's decision to support for Yoon Jong-oh, a member of the Progressive Party as well as the former MP for the constituency.[14] [15] [16]

On 14 February 2024, the Democratic Alliance rejected the nomination of Lim Tae-hoon, former chair and founder of the Military Human Rights Commission, for a spot on the proportional representation list. The reason given by the Democratic Party was that Lim had been arrested in the early 2000s for evading military conscription, which is required by law for all men in South Korea. Lim, who is openly gay, would also have been the Democratic Party's first sexual minority in a national election. Some members of the Democratic Party hold social conservative opinions.[17] The Democratic Party also rejected an appeal from Lim, despite conscientious objection being legalized in 2018. Lim was pardoned by President Roh in 2005 and thus founded the Military Human Rights Commission in 2009.

Hours after the announcement of the rejection of candidate Lim, the civil society and human rights groups within the electoral alliance threatened to withdraw their support and candidates from the electoral alliance on 14 February 2024.[18]

Notes

  1. News: 3 March 2024. '더불어민주연합' 오늘 창당…공동대표에 윤영덕·백승아. 3 March 2024.
  2. News: 3 March 2024. 범야권 비례 위성정당 창당…당명은 더불어민주연합. 3 March 2024.
  3. Web site: 기자 . 조재완 . 민주당 의석 171석으로…민주연합 합당 의결 . 2024-05-05 . n.news.naver.com . ko.
  4. Web site: 강 . 재구 . 2024-02-17 . 녹색정의당, '야권 비례연합정당' 참여하지 않기로 . 2024-03-04 . 녹색정의당, ‘야권 비례연합정당’ 참여하지 않기로 . ko.
  5. News: 17 February 2024. 녹색정의당, '야권 비례연합정당' 참여하지 않기로. 4 March 2024.
  6. News: 17 February 2024. 녹색정의당, 민주당 주도 '위성정당 불참' 만장일치 결정. 4 March 2024.
  7. Web site: 장진숙 등 통진당 출신, 野비례후보 확정. MK. 5 March 2024.
  8. News: 22 February 2024. 野, 위성정당 대가로 통진당 후신에 4석 보장. 4 March 2024.
  9. News: 21 February 2024. 민주, 통진당 후신인 진보당에 울산 북구 지역구 내줘. 4 March 2024.
  10. News: 23 February 2024. 종북·나눠먹기 논란까지… 민주 '위성정당 리스크'. 4 March 2024.
  11. News: 14 February 2024. 천안함·광우병 괴담 세력에… 국회 길 터주는 민주당. 4 March 2024.
  12. News: 22 February 2024. 민주당, 해산된 통진당 출신 김재연 금배지 달아주나. 4 March 2024.
  13. News: 22 February 2024. [사설]'위헌' 통진당 후신에 4석 내주는 민주당, '숙주 역할' 자처하나]. 4 March 2024.
  14. News: 28 February 2024. 민주 이상헌, 진보당 연대에 반발 탈당… 무소속 출마. 4 March 2024.
  15. News: 28 February 2024. '울산 단일화 반발' 이상헌, 민주당 탈당 "무소속 출마". 4 March 2024.
  16. News: 28 February 2024. 민주 이상헌, 진보당 단일화 반발해 탈당…"무소속 출마". 4 March 2024.
  17. Web site: [사설] 임태훈 컷오프, 양심적 병역거부가 병역기피인가 . 14 March 2024 .
  18. Web site: "임태훈 공천 배제 철회하라"…시민사회-민주당 연대 파기되나 . 14 March 2024 .