Liberty Korea Party

History

The party was founded in 1997 as a merger of United Democratic Party and New Korea Party. Its earliest ancestor was the Democratic Republican Party under the authoritarian rule of Park Chung-hee in 1963. Upon Park's death and at the beginning of the rule of Chun Doo-hwan in 1980, it was reconstituted and renamed as the Democratic Justice Party. In 1988, party member Roh Tae-woo introduced a wide range of political reforms including direct Presidential elections and a new constitution. The party was renamed in 1993, during the presidency of Kim Young-sam, with the merger of other parties to form the Democratic Liberal Party (Minju Jayudang). It was renamed as the New Korea Party (Sinhangukdang) in 1995, and it then became the Grand National Party in November 1997 following its merger with the smaller United Democratic Party (1996) and various conservative parties.

Three months later, with the election of Kim Dae-jung of the Centrist Reformists Democratic Party as president, the party's governing role came to an end, beginning its first ever period in opposition, which would last ten years. In October 2012, the Advancement Unification Party merged with the Saenuri Party.

Following the 2000 parliamentary elections, it was the single largest political party, with 54% of the vote and 147 seats out of 271.

The party was defeated in the parliamentary election in 2004 following the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun, gaining only 121 seats out of 299. The defeat reflected public disapproval of the impeachment which was instigated by the party. This was the first time in its history that the party had not won the most seats. It gained back five seats in by-elections, bringing it to 127 seats as of October 28, 2005.

2007 onwards

On December 19, 2007, the GNP's candidate, former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak won the presidential election, ending the party's ten years period in opposition.

In the April 2008 general election, the GNP secured a majority of 153 seats out of 299 and gained power in the administration and the parliament as well as most local governments, despite the low turnout of votes.

One of the main bases of popular support of the party originates from the conservative, traditionalist elite and the rural population, except for farmers. It is strongest in the Gyeongsang region. Former party head and 2007 presidential candidate Park Geun-hye is the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee who ruled from 1961 to 1979. Although Representative Won Hee-ryeong and Hong Jun-pyo ran for the party primary as reformist candidates, former Seoul mayor and official presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak gained more support (about 40%) from the Korean public.

The GNP suffered a setback in the 2010 local elections, losing a total of 775 local seats throughout the counties, but remained as the most seats in the region.

2011

GNP-affiliated politician, Oh Se-hoon, lost his mayoral position of Seoul after the Seoul Free Lunch Referendum.

The Grand National Party has celebrated its 14th anniversary on November 21, 2011 amid uncertainties from intra-party crises.

The DDoS attacks during the October 2011 by-election have become a central concern of the GNP as it could potentially disintegrate the party leadership.

Emergency Response Commission

The Hong Jun-pyo leadership system collapsed on December 9, 2011 and GNP Emergency Response Commission was launched on December 17, 2011, with Park Geun-hye as commission chairperson, to prepare coming up Legislative Election 2012 on April 11, 2012 and Presidential Election 2012 on December 19, 2012.

There was a debate with Commission members about whether to transform the Grand National Party into a non-conservative political party or not, but Park said the GNP would never become non-conservative and will follow the real value of conservatism.

Official colour

In February 2012, the party changed its political official colour from blue to red. In the past 30 years blue was the symbol of the conservative parties.

Policy

The GNP supports free trade and neoliberal economic policies. The GNP favors maintaining strong ties with the United States while distancing South Korea from North Korea. The party is also conservative on social issues such as, legal recognition of same-sex couples.

Four major rivers project

One of the GNP's important policies is to financially secure The Four Major Rivers Project since President Lee Myung-bak was in office. This project's budget disputes have sparked controversial political motions in the National Assembly for three consecutive years.

Sejong City project

The GNP has been less inclined toward the creation of a new capital city for South Korea, to be called Sejong City than the previous administration. As of 2012, the Saenuri Party has indicated that some governmental offices will be relocated to the new city, but not all.

Human rights activism

Saenuri Party has been very active in promoting the North Korean Human Rights Law, which would officially condemn the use of torture, public executions and other human rights violations in North Korea. Saenuri representative Ha Tae Kyung is the founder of Open Radio for North Korea, an NGO dedicated to spreading news and information about democracy, to which citizens of North Korea have little access due to the government's isolationist policies. In April 2012, Saenuri member Cho Myung-Chul became the first North Korean defector elected to the National Assembly. In spring 2012, several Saenuri representatives took part in the "Save my friend" protests, organized to oppose China's policy of repatriating North Korean defectors, and expressed their solidarity with Park Sun-young's hunger strike.

Online sockpuppetry

December 8, 2010 controversial bill-passing

Infiltration of opposition party

A Blue House official of the pro-GNP Lee Myung-bak government illegally infiltrated a party meeting of the opposition Democratic Party, on October 18, 2011.

Chairpersons

1. Cho Soon (November 21, 1997 – November 28, 1998)
2. Lee Han-dong (November 29, 1998 – August 30, 1998) (acting)
3. Lee Hoi-chang (August 31, 1998 – May 12, 2002)
4. Park Kwan-yong (May 13, 2002 – May 14, 2002) (acting)
5. Seo Cheong-won (May 14, 2002 – May 25, 2003)
6. Choi Byeong-yul (May 26, 2003 – March 22, 2004)
7. Park Geun-hye (March 23, 2004 – July 10, 2006)
8. Kang Jae-sup (July 11, 2006 – July 3, 2008)
9. Park Hee-tae (July 4, 2008 – September 7, 2009)
10. Chung Mong-joon (September 7, 2009 – July 14, 2010)
11. Ahn Sang-soo (July 14, 2010 – May 8, 2011)
12. Jeong Ui-hwa (May 9, 2011 – July 4, 2011) (acting)
13. Hong Jun-pyo (July 4, 2011 – December 16, 2011)
14. Park Geun-hye (December 17, 2011 – May 15, 2012) (Emergency Response Commission)
15. Hwang Woo-yea (May 15, 2012 - May 15, 2014)
16. Lee Wan-gu (May 15, 2014 – July 14, 2014) (acting)
17. Kim Moo-sung (July 14, 2014 – April 14, 2016)
18. Won Yoo-chul (April 14, 2016 – May 26, 2016) (Emergency Committee)
19. Kim Hee-ok (May 27, 2016 – August 9, 2016) (Emergency Reform Committee)
20. Lee Jung-hyun (August 9, 2016 – December 16, 2016)
21. In Myung-jin (December 23, 2016 – present) (Emergency Response Commission)

Assembly leaders (Floor leaders)

1. Mok Yo-sang (November 21, 1997 – December 16, 1997)
2. Lee Sang-deuk (December 16, 1997 – April 5, 1998)
3. Ha Soon-bong (April 5, 1998 – August 27, 1998)
4. Park Hee-tae (August 27, 1998 – January 14, )
5. Lee Boo-young (January 14, 1999 – June 1, 2000)
6. Jung Chang-hwa (June 1, 2000 – May 13, 2001)
7. Lee Jae-oh (May 13, 2001 – May 16, 2002)
8. Lee Kyu-taek (May 16, 2002 – June 29, 2003)
9. Hong Sa-duk (June 29, 2003 – May 18, 2004)
10. Kim Duk-ryong (May 18, 2004 – March 4, 2005)
11. Kang Jae-sup (March 4, 2005 – January 11, 2006)
12. Lee Jae-oh (January 11, 2006 – July 12, 2006)
13. Kim Hyun-goh (July 12, 2006 – August 26, 2007)
14. Ahn Sang-soo (August 26, 2007 – May 17, 2008)
15. Hong Jun-pyo (May 17, 2008 – May 20, 2009)
16. Ahn Sang-soo (May 20, 2009 – May 3, 2010)
17. Kim Moo-sung (May 3, 2010 – May 5, 2011)
18. Hwang Woo-yea (May 5, 2011 – May 8, 2012)
19. Lee Hahn-koo (May 8, 2012 – May 14, 2013)
20. Choi Kyoung-hwan (May 15, 2013 – May 7, 2014)
21. Lee Wan-koo (May 7, 2014 – January 25, 2015)
22. vacant (January 25, 201 – February 1, 2015)
23. Yoo Seung-min (February 1, 2015 – July 8, 2015)
24. vacant (July 8, 2015 – July 14, 2015)
25. Won Yoo-chul (July 14, 2015 – May 3, 2016)
26. Chung Jin-suk (May 3, 2016 – December 12, 2016)
27. vacant (December 12, 2016 – December 16, 2016)
28. Jung Woo-taek (December 16, 2016 – present)