Liberal Party (South Korea)

The Liberal Party (Korean: 자유당; Hanja: 自由黨; RR: Jayudang)^[a] was a far-right corporatist^[12] 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	Rhee Syngman
Founded	17 December 1951^[b] 7 September 1963^[c]
Dissolved	16 May 1961^[b] 24 January 1970^[c]
Preceded by	Korean National Youth Association (de facto) National Association^[d] Korean Federation of Labor Peasant Federation Korean Council of Wives
Headquarters	Seoul, South Korea
Ideology	Ilminism Conservatism (South Korean)^[1]^[2] Korean nationalism^[3] Fascism (disputed)^[4]
Political position	Far-right^[1]^[5]^[6]^[7]
Colours	Dark green^[c]   Dark blue^[b]
Politics of South Korea Political parties Elections

History

As the 1952 presidential elections neared, Rhee made public his intention to organize a party during his August 15 Speech in 1951.^[13] 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" (Korean: 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 name "Liberal Party" 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,^[14] 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, which is said to be similar to Hitlerjugend. To this day, the term "liberal democracy" (Korean: 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.^[14][15]

Ahn Ho-sang and Lee Beom-seok, the founders of Ilminism, were influenced by Nazism, Shōwa Statism, and Italian Fascism.^{[16][17][18][19]} In particular, Ahn Ho-sang is known as the most conservative and extreme nationalist in the modern history of South Korea.^[20] This may be confusing as Japan was largely viewed negatively by South Koreans at the time, and arguably still in present day, but both Ahn Ho-sang and Lee Beom-seok admired only the political and nationalist aspects of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany whilst opposing those regimes.

The Liberal Party put forward "anti-communist and anti-Japanese" (Korean: 반공 반일; Hanja: 反共反日)^[15][21][22] as its national values during its reign. At the same time, however, the Liberal Party showed a very pro-American tendency,^{[1][23][17][24]} so it was closer to right-wing populism than resistance nationalism.^[21][22] The Liberal Party supported a discriminatory policy against "hwagyo" (Korean: 화교; Hanja: 華僑) based on Korean ethnic supremacy and anti-PRC sentiment.^[25][26]

Due to the historical political position of the far-right conservative "Liberal Party", so far, South Korea's center-left liberal (Korean: 자유주의) political forces have resulted in calling themselves liberals (자유주의자) but avoiding direct use of the party name "Liberal Party".

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	Rhee Syng-man	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. sometimes translated as Liberty Party^[8][9][10] or Freedom Party.^[11] In South Korea, the terms "liberal", "liberty", "libertarian", and "freedom" all tend to be translated as Jayu (Korean: 자유; Hanja: 自由).
2. first iteration
3. second iteration
4. 1960

References

1. 서중석 (2005). 이 승만 의 정치 이데올로기. p. 213. ISBN 9788976968029.
2. 한국정치연구회, ed. (2007). 키워드 로 읽는 한국 현대사 - 1권. 이매진. p. 253.
3. 《현대 한국정치 이론: 역사 현실 1945 ~ 2011》240p ~ 265p
4. "파시즘의 재현(2): 자유당의 지배이데올로기" [Reproducing fascism(2): Liberal Party's ruling ideology.]. Suncheon Square Shinmun (in Korean). 18 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
5. 강준만, ed. (2004). 한국 현대사 산책 1950년대편 2 : 6·25 전쟁에서 4·19 전야까지. 인물과사상사. ISBN 9788988410943.
6. 서중석 (2020). 사진과 그림으로 보는 한국 현대사 (개정). 웅진지 (Woongjin Books). ISBN 9788901243733.
7. Hwasook Nam, ed. (2009). Building Ships, Building a Nation: Korea's Democratic Unionism Under Park Chung Hee (Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies). University of Washington Press. p. 39. ... Political parties of the time, including Syngman Rhee's extreme right-wing Liberal Party (the Chayudang, which was established in 1951), seem to have felt obliged to include the goal of building a democratic and equitable ...
8. Rev. Dr. Joshua Young‐gi Hong (2009-03-05), Lumsdaine, David Halloran (ed.), "Evangelicals and the Democratization of South Korea Since 1987", Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Asia (1 ed.), Oxford University PressNew York, pp. 185–234, doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195308242.003.0006, ISBN 978-0-19-530824-2, retrieved 2023-08-15
9. Roucek, Joseph S. “Sociological Elements of a Theory of Terror and Violence.” The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 21, no. 2 (1962): 165–72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3484432.
10. Yi, Kyung Min (May 2022). "The Fragility of Liberal Democracy: A Schmittian Response to the Constitutional Crisis in South Korea (1948–79)". The Journal of Asian Studies. 81 (2): 305–321. doi:10.1017/S002191182100231X. ISSN 0021-9118.
11. An Seonjae. "Hyodang". Sogang University. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
12. Moon, Chung-in, and Sang-young Rhyu. "'Overdeveloped' State and the Political Economy of Development in the 1950s: A Reinterpretation". Asian Perspective, vol. 23, no. 1, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999, pp. 179–203.
13. Joong-Seok Seo, The Korean War and Rise in Power of the Rhee Syngman Regime, History Review《역사비평》, 9 (Summer 1990) p.141
14. Hong Tai-young, eds. (2015). ‘Excessive Nation’ and ‘Indiscoverable Individual’: ‘One-people principle’ and particularity of Korean nationalism. KCI dissertation.
15. "한국 보수가 사랑한 '자유'···그들이 외친 '자유'는 따로 있었다 :자유주의란 무엇인가?" [Korean conservatives loved "Liberty" but... But there was a separate "Liberty" they shouted. :What is liberalism?]. Joongang Ilbo (in Korean). 19 April 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
16. ""100% 대한민국", 가능하다! 파시즘이라면" ['100% of Korea' is possible! If that's fascism.]. Pressian (in Korean). 25 January 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
17. "대한민국의 탄생은, 반공산주의이자 반자본주의였다?" [The birth of Republic of Korea was anti-communism and anti-capitalism?]. OhmyNews (in Korean). 16 June 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
18. "파시즘의 재현(1): 이승만의 일민주의(一民主義) 제창" [Reproducing fascism(1): Rhee Syngman proposed a Ilminism]. Suncheon Square Shinmun (in Korean). 10 December 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
19. 安浩相, ed. (1947). 우리의 부르짖음. 文化堂. p. 39~40.
20. Spencer C. Tucker, Paul G. Pierpaoli Jr., ed. (2010). The Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History, 2nd Edition [3 volumes]: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. p. 41. ISBN 9781851098507. An is regarded by many as one of the most conservative and extreme nationalists in modern Korean history. He died in Seoul on February 21, 1999. insook park See also Liberal Party; Rhee, Syngman; Yi Pom Sok References Cumings, Bruce.
21. 진방진, ed. (2004). 분단 한국 의 매카시즘. 형성사. p. 40. ISBN 9788973461325.
22. 정구복, ed. (2008). 우리 어머님: 한 가족사 에 비낀 현대 한국 의 사회 와 문화. 지식 산업사. p. 215. ISBN 9788942338115.
23. "3.15 부정선거는 이승만을 위한 것이 아니었다?". 프레시안. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
24. 朴錫龍 (2007). 鄭鑑錄: 우리 민족 의 삶 과 역사. p. 319.
25. "한국에서 '화교 여성'으로 산다는 것" [Living as a "hwagyo woman" in Korea.]. OhmyNews (in Korean). 26 September 2005. Retrieved 12 December 2021. 6·25전쟁 이전에는 8만명이 넘는 화교가 있었지만 이승만정부 시절 차별적인 화교압박정책으로 인해 많은 화교들이 다른 국가로 이주해 갔다. [Before the Korean War, there were more than 80,000 hwagyo, but many hwagyo migrated to other countries due to discriminatory hwagyo pressure policies during the Rhee Syngman administration.]
26. "한국은 어떻게 화교를 혐오해왔나 '137년의 기록'" [How Korea has hated hwagyo. "Record of 137 Years".]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 26 October 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2021.