Liberal Party (South Korea)

The Liberal Party (Korean: 자유당; Hanja: 自由黨; RR: Jayudang)^[a] was a far-right corporatist^[14] and anti-communist political party in South Korea established in 1951 by Syngman Rhee.

Liberal Party[a] 자유당 自由黨
Leader	Lee Jae-hak
Founder	Syngman Rhee
Founded	17 December 1951 (73 years, 246 days) (first iteration) 7 September 1963 (61 years, 347 days) (second iteration)
Dissolved	16 May 1961 (64 years, 96 days) (first iteration) 24 January 1970 (55 years, 208 days) (second iteration)
Preceded by	Korean National Youth Association (de facto) National Association[b] Korean Federation of Labor Peasant Federation Korean Council of Wives
Merged into	New Democratic
Headquarters	Seoul, South Korea
Ideology	Ilminism (until 1952) Conservatism (South Korean)[3] Christian Entry Theory [ko] Korean nationalism[4] Fascism (until 1952) (disputed)[5]
Political position	Far-right[9]
Colours	Dark blue[c]   Dark green[d]
Politics of South Korea Political parties Elections

History

Logo of the second iteration of the party

As the 1952 presidential elections neared, Rhee made public his intention to organize a party during his August 15 Speech in 1951.^[15] Rhee called Yi Bum-seok, then the ambassador in China, and charged him with creating the Liberal Party. Yi used the strong organizational base of "Korean National Youth Association" (조선민족청년단) as a starting point and incorporated the major five organizations: "National Association for the Rapid Realisation of Korean Independence" (대한독립촉성국민회), "Korean Federation of Labor" (대한노동조합총연맹), "Peasant Federation" (농민조합연맹), and "Korean Council of Wives" (대한부인회) as temporary sub-organizations under the Liberal Party.

Ideology

Although the Liberal Party name is used, it is not the traditional definition as used in the West. For example, the Liberal Party advocated for Ilminism and viewed Western-style liberalism and individualism negatively,^[16] instead suggesting the need for "Korean-style liberal democracy". One of the main values of Ilminism was the Hongik Ingan, based on traditional conservatism, and the Students Protection Corps [ko], which is said to be similar to Hitlerjugend. To this day, liberal democracy (자유민주주의) in South Korea is still used in a similar sense to "anti-communist system" or "free world against communism" by the conservative camp of South Korea, rather than the same meaning as Western liberal democracy.^[16][17]

As its national values during its reign, the Liberal Party put forward "anti-communist and anti-Japanese" (반공 반일; 反共反日) sentiments.^[17][18][19] At the same time, the Liberal Party showed a very pro-American tendency,^[1][20][21] so it was closer to right-wing populism than resistance nationalism.^[18][19] The Liberal Party supported a discriminatory policy against hwagyo (화교; 華僑) based on Korean ethnic supremacy and anti-PRC sentiment.^[22]

Election results

President

Election	Candidate	Votes	%	Result
1952	Syngman Rhee	5,238,769	74.62	Elected
1956		5,046,437	69.99	Elected
March 1960		9,633,376	100	Elected

Vice President

Election	Candidate	Votes	%	Result
1952	Lee Beom-seok	1,815,692	25.45	Not elected
1956	Lee Ki-poong	3,805,502	44.03	Not elected
March 1960		8,337,059	79.19	Elected

Legislature

House of Representatives

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats				Position	Status
				Constituency	Party list	Total	+/–
1954	Syngman Rhee	2,756,081	36.79			114 / 203	new	1st	Government
1958		3,607,092	42.07			127 / 233	13		Government
1960	Cho Gyeong-gyu	249,960	2.75			2 / 233	125	3rd	Opposition
1963	Chang Taek-sang	271,820	2.92	0 / 134	0 / 44	0 / 175	2	7th	Extra-parliamentary
1967	Lee Jae-hak	393,448	3.62	0 / 134	0 / 44	0 / 175		3rd	Extra-parliamentary

House of Councillors

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	Position	Status
1960	Cho Gyeong-gyu	653,748	6.12	4 / 58	2nd	Opposition

Notes

1. The name is sometimes translated as Liberty Party,^[10][11][12] or Freedom Party.^[13] In South Korea, the terms "liberal", "liberty", and "freedom" all tend to be translated as Jayu (Korean: 자유; Hanja: 自由).
2. 1960
3. First iteration.
4. Second iteration.