Democratic Republican Party (South Korea)

Democratic Republican Party 민주공화당 Minju Gonghwadang
Leader	Park Chung-hee
Founded	2 February 1963 (1963-02-02)
Dissolved	17 October 1980 (1980-10-17)
Split from	Liberal Party
Succeeded by	Democratic Justice Party
Headquarters	Seoul
Ideology	National conservatism[1] Right-wing populism[1][2] Korean nationalism Anti-communism Authoritarianism[3] State capitalism Pro-October Yushin Corporatism[4]
Political position	Far-right[5][6]
Colours	Brown and blue
Politics of South Korea Political parties Elections

The Democratic Republican Party (DRP) was a conservative, broadly corporatist^[4] and nationalist^[1] political party in South Korea, ruling from shortly after its formation on February 2, 1963^[7] to its dissolution under Chun Doo-hwan in 1980.

History[]

Under the control of Park Chung Hee, President 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^[8] 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power by Chun Doo-hwan in the coup d'état of December Twelfth, the DRP was dissolved on 1 September 1980, and nominally superseded by the Korean National Party. However, leadership of the state was assumed by the Democratic Justice Party, formed in January 1981, 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	Image
1963	Park Chung-hee		4,702,640	46.6%	Elected Y
1967	Park Chung-hee		5,688,666	51.4%	Elected Y
1971	Park Chung-hee		6,342,828	53.2%	Elected Y
1972	Park Chung-hee		2,357 (electoral vote)	100.0%	Elected Y
1978	Park Chung-hee		2,578 (electoral vote)	100.0%	Elected Y

Legislative elections[]

Election	Total seats won	Total votes	Share of votes	Outcome of election	Election leader
1963	110 / 175	3,112,985	33.5%	110 seats; Majority	Park Chung-hee
1967	129 / 175	5,494,922	50.6%	19 seats; Majority	Park Chung-hee
1971	113 / 204	5,460,581	48.8%	16 seats; Majority	Park Chung-hee
1973	146 / 219	4,251,754	38.7%	40 seats; Majority	Park Chung-hee
1978	145 / 231	4,695,995	31.7%	2 seats; Majority	Park Chung-hee

References[]