| Native Name: | 열린민주당 |
| Native Name Lang: | ko |
| Abbreviation: | ODP |
| Leader: | Kim Sang-gyun |
| Founder: | Chung Bong-ju (original) Kim Sang-gyun (re-founded) |
| Split: | Democratic Party of Korea |
| Merged: | Democratic Party of Korea |
| Headquarters: | Yeongdeungpo, Seoul |
| Position: | Centre to centre-left[1] |
| National: | New Progressive Alliance |
| Colours: | Blue |
| Country: | South Korea |
The Open Democratic Party (Korean: 열린민주당) is a liberal political party in South Korea formed on 8 March 2020. The party was absorbed back into the Democratic Party of Korea on 14 January 2022. The party was later revived in 2023 and is running in the 2024 South Korean legislative election as part of the New Progressive Alliance.
On 28 February 2020, Chung Bong-ju, a former Democratic MP, announced his intention to form a new party.[2] He had initially launched his bid to run for Seoul Gangseo 1st constituency for 2020 election under the Democratic banner[3] but was disqualified by the party due to controversies including sexual harassment.[4] He, however, declared not to run for the election.[2]
Lee Keun-shik, the then-leader of the group, harshly criticized the United Future Party (UFP) for establishing its satellite party, the Future Korea Party (FKP), in order to overcome the new electoral law granting proportional seats.[5] He denounced the UFP's action as "immoral"[5] while emphasising they will stop the UFP-FKP duo to win the election.[6]
Sohn Hye-won, an independent MP who had quit the Democratic Party, announced they would join this party.[7]
On 8 March 2020, the party was officially formed and elected Lee Keun-shik as its president.[8]
The party gained only three seats, much less than expectations. Lee resigned on 19 April in order to take responsibility of the party's defeat.[9] On 12 May 2020, Choi Kang-wook was elected as the new president of the party.[10]
On December 26, 2021, it was announced that the Open Democratic Party had agreed to unify with the Democratic Party, with the latter remaining the party name. The Democratic Party leaders agreed to accept all the conditions suggested by the Open Democratic Party. The process was expected to be completed in January 2022.[11]
On 14 January 2022, the Open Democratic Party and its 3 proportional representative members of Parliament was fully absorbed into the Democratic Party of Korea.
The party had criticised the Democratic Party for adopting a more conservative approach in recent years.[2] However, Sohn Hye-won said that the party welcomed both conservatives and progressives, should they have wished to join.[12]
On 18 December 2022, a political party named the "Open Democratic Party" was filed for creation under the National Election Commission. This party uses the same logo, party colors, and slogans of the disbanded 2020 Open Democratic Party. The recreation is led by YouTuber-turned-politician Kim Sang-gyun and does not include any of the former party leaders from the 2020 rendition. The 2023 rendition of the Open Democratic Party's founding committee expressed that it would succeed the existing Open Democratic Party in terms of not only the party name but also the platform and policies in order to realize the reform values of the past Open Democratic Party that could not be realized.[13]
Former members of the 2020 Open Democratic Party condemned the recreation of the Party, saying it was the party members' wishes to merge with the Democratic Party. Former 2020 Open Democratic Party members also condemned the "outright theft" of the 2020 Party's slogans, representative color codes, and logo designs.
It joined a coalition with the Basic Income Party to create the New Progressive Alliance for the 2024 South Korean legislative election.[14]