The Liberal Unification Party, also translated as the Liberty Unification Party (Korean: 자유통일당; Hanja: 自由統一黨), is a far-right,[2] evangelical[3] political party in South Korea established in 2016. Representatives of a range of Christian organizations, including the evangelical Christian Council of Korea and the Communion of Churches in Korea, attended the party's founding convention.[4]
Liberal Unification Party 자유통일당 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Chang Kyung-dong |
| Secretary-General | Lee Dong-ho |
| Floor Leader | Hwangbo Seung-hee |
| Chair of the Policy Planning Committee | Yoo Jae-il |
| Founded | March 3, 2016 |
| Headquarters | Room 1012, Korean Christian Building, Daehangno 19, Jongno-gu, Seoul |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Religion | Evangelicalism |
| National Assembly | 0 / 300 |
| Municipal mayor and Gubernatorial | 0 / 17 |
| Website | |
| clparty | |
| Liberty Unification Party | |
| Hangul | 자유통일당 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Jayutongildang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chayut'ongildang |
The party has changed its name multiple times. The party was founded in 2016 as the Christian Liberty Party (Korean: 기독자유당), and later added "unification" to its name in 2020, renaming to Christian Liberty Unification Party (Korean: 기독자유통일당; Hanja: 基督自由統一黨; RR: Gidokjayutongildang). In 2021, the party took on the name National Revolutionary Party. In 2022, the party came to its current name, Liberty Unification Party.
Party history
editLegislative elections
editThe party had one representative in the 19th National Assembly, Lee Yun-seok, formerly a member of the Minjoo Party of Korea.[5] Announcing his defection to the new party, Lee stated that the Korean church was being threatened by the intrusion of homosexuality and Islamic culture.[6] The party also promotes the restoration of laws against adultery. In a party advertisement for the 2016 parliamentary elections, actress Seo Jung-hee stated that "the revival of adultery law is a quintessential issue", and that voters should "support [the] CLP to protect our families from homosexuality and Muslims."[7] While campaigning during the 20th session of the National Assembly, the CLUP issued leaflets distributed to Korean households that made Islamophobic statements, claiming that Muslims in Korea will make Korea a "terrorist state", that Muslims will rape Korean women, and that they pose a security threat to the nation.[8]
The CLUP was represented in the 20th Session of the National Assembly with one MP: Lee Eun-Jae. Lee Eun-Jae is a former parliamentarian in the 18th and 20th Session. In 2008 18th National Assembly election, she was elected as a proportional representative of the Grand National Party. During her time, she was estranged from the ruling conservative party for physically assaulting Unified Progressive Party MP Lee Jung-Hee. On March 23, 2020, Lee Eun-Jae left the main conservative party and became the first parliamentarian for the CLUP. However, she was swiftly kicked out because it was found out that Lee is actually Buddhist. Lee then worked for the Korea Economic Party (한국경제당) and is no longer a member of parliament, losing the 2020 South Korean legislative election.
Lee Yun-seok and Lee Eun-jae only had brief stints with the Party, both leaving the Party within six months and never representing the CLUP in an election campaign.
The Liberty Unification Party was once again represented in Parliament after former People Power lawmaker Hwangbo Seung-hee joined the Party on 8 March 2024. Hwangbo contested the April 2024 Parliament election as a proportional representative candidate for the Party, but lost her seat.
Election results
editLegislature
edit| Election | Leader | Constituency | Party list | Seats | Position | Status | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | No. | +/– | ||||
| 2016 | Son Yeong-gu | 1,376 | 0.01 | New | 0 / 253
|
626,853 | 2.64 | New | 0 / 47
|
0 / 300
|
New |  5th
|
Extra-parliamentary |
| 2020 | 7,663 | 0.03 | 0.02
|
0 / 253
|
513,159 | 1.84 |  0.80
|
0 / 47
|
0 / 300
|
 0
|
7th
|
Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2024 | Jeon Kwang-hoon | 18,700 | 0.06 | 0.03
|
0 / 254
|
642,433 | 2.27 | 0.43
|
0 / 46
|
0 / 300
|
0
|
5th
|
Extra-parliamentary |
Logos
edit-
Christian Liberal Party -
Christian Liberty Unification Party -
National Revolutionary Party
References
edit- ^ 기독교정당이 유념해야 할 가치. Gidokgyo Hanguk Sinmun (in Korean). March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ^ "Discrimination and exclusion, two wings of far-right politics". The Hankyoreh (in Korean) (in Korean). April 22, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ Yong Jae Kim (10 July 2023). "Conservative zealots: evangelical politics in South Korea". 9DashLine. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ 전광훈 목사 "한국교회 비판 세력 배후는 북한" (in Korean). News N Joy. March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ^ '더민주 탈당' 이윤석, 기독자유당 비례 1번 확정 (in Korean). Yonhap. March 25, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ^ 더불어민주당 '박지원계' 이윤석 의원, 탈당해 기독자유당으로 입당. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). March 24, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ^ "Religion-affiliated parties want to 'protect' country from Islam, homosexuality". The Korea Herald. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- ^ Koo, Gi Yeon (2018). "Islamophobia and the Politics of Representation of Islam in Korea". Journal of Korean Religions. 9 (1): 159–192. doi:10.1353/jkr.2018.0006. ISSN 2167-2040. S2CID 158772593 – via JSTOR.