This article is about the party founded by Ahn Cheol-soo in 2016. For the party founded by Ahn in 2020 prior to that year's legislative elections, see People Party (South Korea, 2020).
The People Party (Korean: 국민의당; lit. Party of Nationals; PP) was a centrist political party in South Korea established on 2 February 2016 by Ahn Cheol-soo. The party had a strong support base in the Honam region. The party dissolved on 13 February 2018. A later party of the same name was also founded by Ahn and was active from 2020 to 2022.
History
Plans for the party began, after Ahn Cheol-soo, who established the Democratic Party of Korea with Kim Han-gil, quit the party in mid-December 2015, after a power struggle with Moon Jae-in.[10] At the time, Ahn vowed to create a political group that can effect government change.[10]
Ahn unveiled the party's name in January 2016.[11] Kim, who co-founded the Democratic Party with Ahn, joined the party a day before the name's unveiling.[11]
The party officially launched on 2 February 2016, with 17 lawmakers in the National Assembly.[12] In March 2016, the party gained its 20th member, a defector from the Democratic Party, which gave the party rights to form a negotiation bloc, along with higher state subsidies.[4]
During the 2016 legislative election, the party aimed to pick up 20 seats.[13] The party, however, ended up garnering 38 seats, including 23 of the 28 contested seats in South Korea's southwest, which is seen as a Democratic Party stronghold.[14] Following the election, the party was seen as having a potentially deciding vote on legislation.[15]
Ahn, however, resigned his chairmanship along with co-leader Chun Jung-bae in June of the same year, following a corruption scandal involving certain party members (see below).[16] Ahn, however, was elected to a second stint as party chairman in August 2017, after an extended vacancy caused by Park Jie-won's resignation in May that year, following Ahn's defeat in the 2017 presidential election.[17]
Merger
On January 18, 2018, Ahn, along with the leader of the Bareun Party, Yoo Seong-min, announced their plans to merge the two parties, in an effort to form a centrist bloc and consolidate their parliamentary standings before local elections.[18][19] The announcement was noted as being "hasty", having come before the two respective parties underwent due process to confirm the union,[18] and was seen an attempt to consolidate the plan amidst oppositions.[18]
Within the People Party, the plan faced opposition, especially with lawmakers from the provinces of North and South Jeolla, both of which are noted to be liberal-leaning provinces.[18]
The plan was approved by the Bareun Party on 5 February 2018,[22] and was finalized by the People Party six days later.[23]
Controversies
Corruption allegation
In early June 2016, three members of the party, including two lawmakers, were accused by the National Election Commission of receiving kickbacks from the party's PR agencies, prior to elections that year.[16] One lawmaker, Kim Su-min, was accused by prosecutors of possibly receiving ₩178 million from advertisement firms, via forged contracts.[24] One of the members, a party official, was arrested for alleged violation of the country's Political Fund Law.[16]
The party, however, has denied that the party itself received any of the kickbacks.[24]
False accusations against Moon Jae-in
In July 2017, the party asked for a special prosecutor to look into allegations that the party's leadership was involved in making up evidence, as part of allegations that Moon Jae-in's son, Moon Joon-yong, received special treatment during the hiring process at a public agency.[25] An arrest warrant was also issued against a former member of the party's Supreme Council, which was denounced by the party as being unfair.[25]
Ahn, who ran in the presidential election that year and was noted by The Korea Herald as having stood to benefit directly from the tip-off (although he lost the election),[26] was questioned by the party's internal investigators.[26]
^Kim, Hyo-jin (5 April 2016). "Ahn's popularity baffles parties". The Korea Times. Retrieved 5 February 2018. The People's Party, which launched itself as a centrist reformist party, appears to have lured a group of conservative voters disappointed at the Saenuri Party after its nomination row.
^"Bareunmirae Party starts to splinter". Korea JoongAng Daily. 10 October 2019. Archived from the original on 26 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020. Ahn was a contender in the previous presidential election and a former chairman of the centrist People's Party, which later merged with the right-wing Bareun Party to form the Bareunmirae Party.
^ ab"(LEAD) People's Party picks interim leader". Yonhap. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018. The minor opposition People's Party on Thursday picked Deputy National Assembly Speaker Park Joo-sun as its interim leader...
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