Democratic Labor Party

The Democratic Labor Party was a progressive and nationalist political party in South Korea. It was founded in January 2000, in the effort to create a political wing for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and was considered more left-wing and more independent of the two union federations in South Korea. Its party president was Kwon Young-gil, Kang Gi-gap, and Lee Jung-hee. In December 2011, the party merged into the Unified Progressive Party. In the South Korean political history, DLP is considered as the ancestor of all of modern day left-leaning political parties such as Justice Party and Progressive Party. History The party gained 10 seats in the National Assembly for the first time in the 2004 parliamentary election, making it the first major left-wing party to enter the Assembly. Before and during the 2007 presidential election, conflicts arose between the two main factions within the party. The "equality" or the "left" faction, represented by the People's Democracy group, stressed issues ranging from social welfare, civil liberties, and labor rights, and took an antagonistic position against ruling liberal Roh Moo-hyun government.