Progressive Party (South Korea, 2017)



The Progressive Party is a political party of South Korea. The party was formed by the merger of the New People's Party and People's United Party on 15 October 2017. Originally, the name Minjung Party was used, but the name was changed to the Progressive Party from June 2020.

History

The party initially had two members in the National Assembly, both from Ulsan, but was reduced to one on December 22, when the supreme court convicted Yoon Jong-oe for breaking the campaign law.
In July 2018, members of the Minjung party met with members of the North Korean Social Democratic Party in China. The meeting was not authorized by the Ministry of Unification which could have punished the party of violations of South Korea's National Security Act, Jung Tae-heung the co-chair of the Minjung Party stated that he was warned the party may be fined for the meeting.
In August 2019, the party held events related to nationwide protests against Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and boycott against Japanese products.
In January 2020, the Minjung party surveyed at 1.5% approval rating ahead of parliamentary elections.
The party lost its remaining seat in the 2020 legislative election.

Controversy

The merger of the New People's Party and People's United Party has been controversial, due to their status as parties that were largely a continuation of the Unified Progressive Party, which was dissolved and banned in 2014 due to purported "anti-constitutional" activity by a Constitutional Court ruling. Conservative critics of the party argued that the Minjung Party is merely an attempt to reestablish the Unified Progressive Party.

Elections

Local elections