[Politics, That Day...] The 1996 New Korea Party Surge, a Tempest in a Teacup After 4 Years

Chungcheong and TK Embracing Jaminryun, Third Party Surge in the 15th General Election... TK's Dominance Hopes Dashed by Decline in the 16th General Election

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min]

Editor's Note‘Politics, That Day...’ is a series planning corner that looks back on Korean politics through the ‘recollection of memories’ related to scenes, events, and figures that deserve attention.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

When discussing the origin of the ‘third party surge’ in Korean politics, the 1996 United Liberal Democrats (ULD) cannot be overlooked. Although the 2016 People’s Party’s strong performance is a memorable outcome in Korean political history, the 15th general election in 1996 was even more significant.

Few remember that the ULD reached the threshold of a nationwide party at that time. When thinking of the ULD, it is easy to recall the late former chairman Kim Jong-pil (JP). JP expanded his political influence based on the Chungcheong region.

However, if we look only at the 15th general election, it is difficult to say that the ULD was a party that only performed well in Chungcheong; in fact, it was close to a nationwide party. This contrasts with the 20th general election, where the People’s Party secured most of its constituency seats in Honam (Gwangju, Jeonnam, Jeonbuk).

In the 15th general election, the New Korea Party secured 121 seats out of 253 constituencies, and the National Congress for New Politics secured 66 seats. The ULD laid the foundation as the third-largest party in the National Assembly by securing 41 constituency seats.

The National Congress for New Politics did not win a single constituency seat in regions such as Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gangwon, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, and Jeju. The ULD won constituency seats not only in Chungcheong but also nationwide in Daegu, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, and Gyeongbuk.

Although the ULD grew based on support from Chungcheong, there was a region that surprised the political world. That was ‘Daegu.’ At that time, the ULD swept 8 out of 13 constituency seats in Daegu. Why did JP’s ULD, not the New Korea Party, which was recognized as the dominant party in TK (Daegu·Gyeongbuk), cause a surge in Daegu?

This is related to the New Korea Party’s struggles in the 15th general election. Although the New Korea Party secured nearly half of the constituency seats and became the largest party in the National Assembly, it failed to achieve a majority. This was because the TK results were not satisfactory, unlike the landslide victories in Busan and Gyeongnam.

At that time, the ULD was a party expanding its power centered on Chungcheong and TK. The faction that differed in political line and views from the late former President Kim Young-sam (YS) ignited the flame of political reorganization centered on the ULD.

The New Korea Party was centered on YS’s democratic faction, while the ULD was an alliance of Chungcheong and TK, forming the structure of ‘conservative politics.’ In the 15th general election, TK heavyweights Park Jun-gyu, Kim Bok-dong, and Park Cheol-eon ran under the ULD banner and were elected.

The ULD surge in the 1996 general election did not last long. In the 16th general election held four years later in 2000, the ULD’s constituency seats decreased to 12. The rapid contraction of the ULD’s party power over four years was not unrelated to the 1997 presidential election. The three political giants of Korean politics?Kim Dae-jung, Kim Jong-pil, and Park Tae-joon?formed the ‘D·J·P’ alliance to oppose the Grand National Party and led the 1997 presidential election to victory.

However, the alliance of these figures, whose political lines and life histories were different, showed its limits. Although the ULD emerged as a dark horse of conservative politics in the 1996 general election, it was overshadowed by the Grand National Party’s dominance in the 2000 general election, shaking the party’s foundation.

The wall of the Grand National Party was too high for the ULD to dream of becoming the leader of conservative politics, and from the beginning, its path differed from that of the Democratic Party. Eventually, the ULD practically disappeared after winning only four constituency seats in the 17th general election in 2004.

The ULD demonstrated the rise and fall of a party based on a specific region. It showed that regionally based parties could nurture dreams of becoming nationwide parties, but it failed to expand competitiveness due to limitations in actively responding to political changes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.