Democratic Party of Korea

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK; ), formerly known as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD; ), is a centrist-liberal South Korean political party. The DPK and its rival, the People Power Party (PPP), form the two major political parties of South Korea.

The NPAD was founded on 26 March 2014 out of a merger between the Democratic Party and the preparatory committee of the New Political Vision Party (NPVP) led by Ahn Cheol-soo. The party changed its name to the Democratic Party of Korea on 28 December 2015. In 2022, the Democratic Party, the Open Democratic Party, and New Wave merged to form a big tent party.

Formation and Ahn–Kim leadership (March – July 2014)
On 26 March 2014, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy was founded after an independent group led by Ahn Cheol-soo, in the process of forming the New Political Vision Party, merged with the Democratic Party led by Kim Han-gil. As a result, the former Democratic Party was absorbed into the NPAD and the preparatory committee of the NPVP was dissolved. Ahn and Kim jointly assumed leadership of the party as co-leaders. When the party performed poorly in by-elections that July, both leaders stepped down. The leadership of the party was then assumed by an emergency committee.

Ahn–Moon split (2015 – 16)
On 7 February 2015, a party convention elected Moon Jae-in as the new leader of the party. Moon, who had previously served as chief of staff for former president Roh Moo-hyun, was the leader of the party's "pro-Roh" faction, opposed to Ahn and Kim. Moon came under fire for imposing a "pro-Roh hegemony" in the party, as Ahn and Kim were jeered and harassed at a memorial service for Roh held in May 2015.

As the factional conflict intensified, the party lost support, falling from around 40 to 30 percent in opinion polls. A survey conducted on 12–14 November 2015, showed that supporters of the party wanted Ahn and Seoul mayor Park Won-soon to assume the leadership alongside Moon. On 29 November, Ahn rejected a proposal from Moon to establish joint leadership and presented Moon with a demand to call a convention to elect a new party leader. Moon rejected his demand, and Ahn left the party.

Ahn was followed by a number of NPAD assembly members, including his former co-leader Kim Han-gil and Kwon Rho-kap, a former aide of President Kim Dae-jung from the party's stronghold of Honam. Ahn and Kim merged their groups with that of another defector from the NPAD, Chun Jung-bae, to form the People Party.

Following the defections, the NPAD was renamed the Democratic Party of Korea on 28 December 2015, and Moon resigned as party leader on 27 January 2016. Subsequently, Kim Chong-in, an academic and former assemblyman who served as an economic advisor to President Park Geun-hye, was appointed party leader. Kim was viewed as an unexpected choice, as he had previously worked for the conservative Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo administrations in the 1980s, serving as an assembly member for the ruling Democratic Justice Party and as health and welfare minister.

Under Kim Chong-in (January – August 2016)
Kim Chong-in viewed the pro-Roh Moo-hyun faction and what he considered the extremist wing of the party as responsible for the party's troubles and pledged to diminish their influence.

In the lead-up to the 2016 legislative election, he deselected Lee Hae-chan, who had been Prime Minister under Roh and was now chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, as a candidate. Lee left the party in response. Many of Kim's nominations for the party's list were rejected by the rest of the party leadership, while favored candidates of Moon were ranked near the top of the approved list. Kim offered to resign in March but stayed on as leader after a visit from Moon. Kim stated that he would continue to attempt to change the party's image, saying that the events had shown the party was "still unable to move on from its old ways".

2016 legislative election
Though losing votes to the People's Party formed by Ahn, Chun, and Kim Han-gil—particularly in Honam —the party emerged as the overall winner of the election, receiving a plurality of seats (123 seats) in the National Assembly with a margin of one seat over the Saenuri Party. Lee Hae-chan returned to the Assembly as an independent, representing Sejong City. Following its electoral victory, Kim announced that the Democratic Party would shift its focus from welfare to economic growth and structural reform. Kim stated that the party would also change its position to support the establishment of for-profit hospitals, in contrast to the party's earlier opposition to the policy.

2017 presidential election
After the constitutional court impeached President Park Geun-hye for bribery, the Democratic Party's Moon Jae-in won the presidential election with 41.1% of the vote, with Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party coming in second with 24%.

2020 legislative election
On 15 April 2020, the Democratic Party and its allies won an absolute majority with 180 seats in the 300-member National Assembly. The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) won 103 seats.

Under Lee Nak-yon (August 2020 – March 2021)
On 9 March 2021, Lee Nak-yon resigned as the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea to run for president in the 2022 South Korean presidential election.

2021 by-elections
Following major losses in the 2021 by-elections, the party leadership was reorganized. Do Jong-hwan became the interim party leader.

2022 presidential election
In October 2021, the Democratic Party nominated Lee Jae-myung as its nominee in the 2022 presidential election over other contenders such as former Democratic Party leaders Lee Nak-yon and Choo Mi-ae. Lee ultimately lost the election with 47.83% of the vote.

Under Lee Jae-myung (August 2022 – present)
After a brief non-captain system, Lee Jae-myung was elected as the party representative with 77.7% of the vote. At the time of his election, Lee had been under investigation by South Korea's Supreme Prosecutor's Office for alleged wrongdoings during his tenure as Mayor of Seongnam. As a result of the investigation, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office issued an arrest warrant for Lee on 16 February 2023 over allegations of corruption and bribery. A motion to arrest the Lee was held in the National Assembly on February 21 but was rejected by a narrow margin. Conflict arose between the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction and anti-Lee Jae-myung faction over the arrest motion. The pro-Lee Jae-myung faction argued that the party leader won nearly 80% of the party's vote and that the party's supporters overwhelmingly support the rejection of the arrest motion. The anti-Lee Jae-myung and moderate faction lawmakers insisted that affairs of the party and individual affairs of the party leader must be separated, arguing that the party's overall approval rating was falling because of the party's representative. A hardline pro-Lee Jae-myung fringe group within the Democratic Party known as the "Gaeddal" (개딸) short for (개혁의 딸들, meaning "daughters of the reformation"), pressured lawmakers who seemed to agree to the motion for Lee Jae-myung's arrest to oppose the motion. Regarding this, party leader Lee Jae-myung requested the Gaeddal refrain from pressuring lawmakers.

Park Kwang-on was elected as the floor leader of the Democratic Party with the support of a majority of lawmakers in the first round of voting. Rep. Park Kwang-on is classified as a member of the anti-Lee Jae-myung faction, often taking a neutral or critical stance against Lee Jae-myung.

Rep. Kim Nam-guk withdrew from the party due to a controversy over possession of virtual currency. Rep. Kim is considered a pro-Lee Jae-myung member and the incident has dealt a blow to the leadership of the party representative.

The party attempted to appoint Lee Rae-kyung, a left-wing nationalist, as the chairperson of the party's Innovation Committee, but withdrew the appointment due to staunch opposition from internal moderates and external opposition. Kim Eun-kyung was instead chosen for the position. She was criticized by moderates in the party for her favorable attitude towards Lee Rae-kyung.

The party strongly opposed the discharge of radioactive water of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and criticized President Yoon Suk Yeol's government, saying that the government did not take a clear opposition position and advocated for the discharge.

A second motion to arrest the party leader was issued on 22 September, and passed the National Assembly with 149 members voting in favor of Lee Jae-myung's arrest and 136 members opposing it. Initially, it was predicted that the motion for arrest would be rejected but more than 30 members within the Democratic Party agreed to the arrest motion, highlighting the party's intensifying divide between pro and anti-Lee Jae-myung factions. The pro-Lee Jae-myung faction criticized the anti-Lee Jae-myung faction for colluding with prosecutors supportive of the Yoon Seok-yeol government to push ahead with the motion's passage despite most of the party's supporters being opposed to it. Members of the moderate and anti-Lee Jae-myung factions criticized Lee Jae-myung and urged for him to resign as party leader.

A public opinion poll later revealed that 44.6% of respondents agreed with the passage of the arrest motion, while 45.1% of respondents opposed it. When limited to Democratic Party supporters, 83.2% opposed the passage of the arrest motion.

Afterwards, numerous key party officials resigned in order to reorganize the party.

On 23 September 2023, Lee Jae-myung broke his fast that had lasted for 24 days, which he had started to demand a government reforms and the resignation of the entire cabinet.

Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo was elected as the party's new floor leader on 26 September 2023. Hong, belonging to the party's moderate faction won the support of the pro and anti-Lee Jae-myung factions. Other key party positions were won by members of the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction, while the anti-Lee Jae-myung remained critical of Lee's leadership.

In October 2023, the Democratic Party won the by-election for the mayor of Gangseo District, Seoul defeating People Power Party candidate Kim Tae-woo. The party's candidate Jin Kyo-hoon was elected with 56.52% of vote, while the People Power Party canddiate Kim Tae-woo came in second place with 39.37% of the vote. The party received support from Basic Income Party, Social Democratic Party, and the Minsaeng Party.

On 3 December 2023 Representative Lee Sang-min, who was critical of Lee Jae-myung, left the party citing it increasingly becoming a one-man show dominated by Lee.

During the primary, many people critical of Representative Lee Jae-myung were eliminated, creating controversy. During this process, key party officials who were not nominated left the party. Among them were key figures such as the former floor leader and vice-chairman of the National Assembly. They left the party and joined the New Future Party, led by former leader Lee Nak-yeon, or the People Power Party.

Ideology
The Democratic Party of Korea is primarily described as a centrist party. The Democratic Party of Korea is described as a centrist party by numerous sources: However, the party is also described as centre-left due to it being the main liberal opponent to the conservative People Power Party.

The Democratic Party is evaluated as the mainstream centre-left option in Korea. Due to the nature of South Korea's electoral system, minor parties rarely win seats in elections, leading most progressive voters to vote for the Democratic Party through tactical voting.

For this reason, the Democratic Party is sometimes treated as a "progressive" or "left-leaning" party when compared to the conservative, right-leaning People Power Party. In addition, some conservative-leaning politicians criticize the progressive wing of the Democratic Party by labelling them as "leftist extremists." The Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, and the Dong-A Ilbo (collectively known as Chojoongdong) have also criticized the Democratic Party as being leftist/left-wing. Currently, major politicians of the right-wing People's Power Party also criticize the Democratic Party's policies as "leftist policies that ruin the country" and being "socialist."

However, some researchers argue that the Democratic Party has centre-right policies by international standards. It was evaluated that the Democratic Party is considered progressive within Korea despite not being progressive by international standards because Korea has a more conservative political landscape compared to other industrialized democracies (mainly belonging to OECD). Some researchers have placed the DPK's position on the political spectrum to the right of Christian democracy, saying that the DPK is "more [economically and socially] conservative than the centre-right German Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU)" in particular. The Democratic Party's LGBT+ policy is more conservative than CDU. Because of this, some left-leaning researchers have placed the party more right-wing than Western European conservative parties. Also, many members of the Democratic Party, such as Lee Hae-chan, Moon Jae-in, and Lee Jae-myung, define the party's de facto identity as 'true conservative', 'moderate conservative' or 'centre-right'. In his book titled 1219 The end is beginning, Moon Jae-in writes, "it is only a backward political reality unique to South Korea that political forces which are centre-right in nature are attacked for being left-wing."

Leadership ideology changes
The ideology of the Democratic Party has gone through changes depending on its leadership. In the party's early days, moderate and conservative-leaning leadership were mainstream, but as a result of progressives and conservatives competing for leadership, the party has gradually moved in a progressive direction.

During the early days of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, co-leaders Kim Han-gil and Ahn Cheol-soo took a tough stance on relations with North Korea and pursued harmony between selective welfare and universal welfare. As moderates, they faced criticism from progressives inside the party for being 'center-right', leading some progressive members to withdraw from the party. After the party's defeat in the 2014 South Korean by-elections, Kim and Ahn resigned as party leaders. Kim Han-gil and Ahn Cheol-soo joined the right-wing People Power Party in 2022.

After Kim and Han's resignation, moderates Park Young-sun and Moon Hee-sang assumed party leadership through an emergency committee. Later, in the 2015 party leadership election, liberal Moon Jae-in won over moderate Park Jie-won. Moon's resigned as leader shortly before the 2016 South Korean legislative election, due to factional conflict and continuous losses in by-elections. He was succeeded by an emergency committee led by conservative economist Kim Chong-in.

Afterwards, liberals Choo Mi-ae and Lee Hae-chan served as party leader. Lee Hae-chan suggested the party move in a progressive direction, claiming that the party is not a progressive party by international standards, and its policies are much more conservative than those of reformist parties in Europe, labelling the Democratic Party "centre-right"

After that, moderates such as Lee Nak-yon and Kim Tae-nyeon held the party leadership. However, after the progressive Lee Jae-myung was elected as the party's leader, the party moved in a more progressive direction, to the dismay of the moderate and conservative factions.

Factions
The Democratic Party is a big tent party, with ideological factions spanning from centre-left to centre-right on the political spectrum.

As of March 2024, the party's mainstream is dominated by the liberal and progressive pro-Lee Jae-myung faction. The once influential pro-Lee Nak-yon faction has de facto moved to the New Future Party. They were joined by members of the anti-Lee Jae-myung faction Hong Young-pyo and Sul Hoon, who quit the Democratic Party citing their opposition to Lee Jae-myung. Although its influence has been reduced from years past, there is also a social conservative and economic liberal faction centered on National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo.

Liberals


Social liberal populists support centre-left, progressive policies including New Deal-like policies. The faction enjoys high support from general party members, but there is less support among the party's National Assembly members. The faction is centered around Lee Jae-myung and often referred to as the "pro-Myung" faction.

When Lee Jae-myung initially entered politics, he was called Korea's Bernie Sanders and was considered an anti-establishment alternative to the moderate Democratic Party. Jacobin magazine referred to Representative Lee Jae-myung as a progressive in 2017. But after 2022, he is mainly described as a liberal and has rolled back some of his pledges that were criticized in the past as radical.

When the "pro-Lee Jae-myung" faction started out as a minority faction in 2017, its base of support was mainly in Seongnam City. He ran a 'labor law firm' that helped defend workers in Seongnam. While serving as the Mayor of Seongnam, he implemented radical progressive policies such as providing universal basic income for young people, free school uniforms, and expanding social welfare programs such as free postpartum care. At the time, his faction included moderate social democrats like Eun Soo-mi, and others from South Korean socialist groups, such as the former South Korean Socialist Workers' Alliance.

However, during the 2022 presidential election, he advocated for economically liberal policies such as real estate deregulation, acquisition tax relief and pro-business arguments. This trend intensified during the 2022 presidential election campaign, when Lee emphasized "centrism and civic integration". During the presidential campaign, Lee spent much time meeting and gaining support from centrists and conservatives. The party emphasized "economic growth" throughout the election campaign. Some columnists of the Hankyoreh reported Lee Jae-myung as saying, "I should have shouted for reform and change, not pragmatism and integration," revealing his regret for turning to a more moderate stance. Lee was also criticized for leaving behind his (liberal/progressive) "values" to win the votes of conservative voters.

Centrist reformists


Centrist reformism has historically dominated the Democratic Party and its policies. The centrist reformist faction historically originated from the Donggyo-dong faction which was centered around President Kim Dae-jung. The party's moderate reformists mainly belonged to the pro-Moon faction, with a minority of members belonging to pro-Lee Nak-yeon and pro-Chung Sye-kyun factions. However, compared to the pro-Moon Jae-in faction, they are economically liberal and slightly more conservative. In particular, the pro-Lee Nak-yon faction embraced economically liberal measures and drew support from the conservative wing of the party.

The former president, Moon Jae-in has been described as liberal and centrist reformist. His government has been described by several experts as a "centrist-liberal government" while taking a culturally liberal approach to military reform, school reform, and environmental issues, but a somewhat moderate socially conservative approach to disability rights and LGBT rights. He also implemented reformative economic policies like implementing the 52-hour workweek, increasing the minimum wage, and regulating the housing market. Lee Nak-yon, former Prime Minister under Moon administration, pledged to continue Moon's policies, proposing "New Welfare System," which would upgrade and expand South Korea's social safety net. During his campaign for party leader, Lee Nak-yon gained support of some pro-Moon Assembly members.

As of March 2024, the influence of centrist reformists have decreased as some members centered around Lee Nak-yon, including Lee himself left the Democratic Party to establish the New Future Party.

Conservatives


Conservatives like Kim Jin-pyo   display socially conservative attitudes on abortion and LGBT+ rights but support economically liberal policies such as the deregulation of real estate. A survey conducted by the Maeil Business Newspaper which evaluated members of the National Assembly based on their voting records concluded that Kim Jin-pyo was closer to being conservative than centrist. Kim introduced the "Homosexuality Healing Movement" as one of several proposed countermeasures against South Korea's low birth rate, which aimed to "convert" LGBT+ people to being heterosexual. Despite his conservative tendencies, Kim won the support of a majority of lawmakers in the election for speaker of the National Assembly.

In addition, there are Christian democrats within the party, such as former assembly member Park Young-sun. Park had claimed in an interview that "I was the strongest opponent of the 300 members of the National Assembly in the past on homosexuality". In 2021, she turned to a more moderate conservative stance, saying she supports a more moderate form of anti-discrimination law that factors in "religious exceptions". Park remains skeptical about holding queer parades.

Moderate conservatives such as Kim Young-choon, Kim Boo-kyum, and Yang Seung-jo who defected from mainstream conservative parties make up an extreme minority within the party. Within the Democratic Party, they take a relatively conservative stance, such as opposing reformist bills that include installing CCTVs in operating rooms.

Conservatives in the Democratic Party are politically opposed to the new liberal and progressive faction centered around Lee Jae-myung Whenever disputes between the factions arise, Democratic Party conservatives demand that the pro-Lee faction voluntarily leave the party, or insist that the party can split.

Minorities
There are several political minorities in the Democratic Party. They take a critical stance towards the party's mainstream and elite, though with little ideological coherence.

Liberals like Park Ji-hyun support the rights of immigrants, and adhere to liberal feminism and cultural liberalism. Although they are liberals, they oppose populism and are socially liberal to progressive, leading to frequent conflict with the party's pro-Lee Jae-myung faction. Regarding the arrest motion of Lee Jae-myung, she strongly criticized party leader Lee Jae-myung, saying that his arrest motion and previous investigations by the Prosecutor's Office were the cause of the party's decline in approval ratings. She has criticized the US Supreme Court's decision to revoke the federal right to abortion and is an open supporter of abortion rights.

People from the left-wing progressive Democratic Labor Party, such as assemblyman Park Yong-jin, voted against the Democratic Party's 2023 budget plan, labelling it a "tax cut for the rich." However, Park also insisted on reducing corporate tax, sparking criticism from within the party.

Economic and labour policies
The Democratic Party supports the expansion of fiscal expenditures to gradually increase welfare alongside elements of economic liberalismDPK supports the market economy and includes a large number of people who show economic liberalism such as deregulation. This tendency is particularly evident in the party's conservative faction. and fiscal conservatism. The party supports the market economy, but also values the need for state intervention in the market. In 2020, the party pledged to implement a version of the Green New Deal to move South Korea towards carbon neutrality by 2050.

The party takes a favorable stance on government intervention in the market, while keeping some distance from labour politics and labour movements. For this reason, the Democratic Party was classified as a "conservative liberal" party by left-wing media.

However, Lee Jae-myung supports New Deal liberalism, which is economically progressive and labor-friendly, unlike Moon Jae-in, who was a pro-Chaebol centrist. Lee's stance won the support of former and current executives of major labor unions in South Korea. Lee Jae-myung was compared to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his New Deal Coalition as he formed a big tent political coalition based on liberalism that brought together social conservatives, reformist liberals, left-wing social progressives, and anti-Chaebol labor activists. The Democratic Party succeeded in enacting the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act, which emphasizes corporate responsibility for industrial accidents, overcoming opposition from the right-wing conservative camp. Noh Woong-rae, a pro-labor member of the party, criticized the Yoon Seok-yeol government's attempt to extend working hours in an interview with left-wing media, emphasizing the strengthening of union rights and the responsibility of companies for safety management. He announced that he would soon attempt to enact a yellow envelope law that would limit companies' compensation for damages to striking workers.

Social policies
As a big tent party, the Democratic Party has no uniform social policy, with members ranging from social liberals to social conservatives. The party has generally been classified as socially liberal,   but is also influenced by Christian movements, leading it to have some socially conservative characteristics. The party opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage and homosexuality.

Sexual minority and human rights policies
Most Democratic lawmakers oppose anti-discrimination laws that prohibit discrimination against LGBT+ people and immigrants, with most members valuing "social consensus." One DPK assemblyman said that “I am the most hawkish opposition to the anti-discrimination law. We, the Democrats make the decision”. The party's liberal faction attempted to raise socially liberal policies, such as anti-discrimination laws, as controversial bills, but this was aborted due to opposition within the party. Some members of the party's conservative faction, along with church officials, staged a protest against the anti-discrimination law. In December 2023, party leader Lee Jae-myung stated his opposition to unilaterally passing an anti-discrimination law in the National Assembly. The former floor leader and one of they key members of DPK, Park Hong-geun, made clear his negative position on the anti-discrimination law, saying "it has aspects that go against the God’s providence of creation". The party itself did not state an official position on the anti-discrimination law prior to the 2024 election, while conservative party answered ‘reserve’ on the anti-discrimination law. Newly elected speaker of the house Woo Won-shik said that “as a Christian, I oppose homosexuality and think that it’s not right” while making it clear his negative stance on anti-discrimination law. Floor leader Park Chan-dae said that “I want Korea to become a country which shows the providence of God”. Party secretary-general Kim Yoon-deok also opposed the anti-discrimination law saying that "anti-discrimination law tries to ban discrimination against sexual identity and sexual orientation as if they were the same as sex and disabilities which are legitimate grounds for non-discrimination".

In the North Jeolla provincial assembly, DPK assemblymen blocked an ordinance to urge anti-discrimination which was proposed by a member of the Justice Party. Na In-kwon, a DPK council member, who one of the main opponents of the ordinance, said the "Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Law causes sexually curious youths to fall Into homosexuality, corrupting next generation leaders".

Assemblyman Kim Moon-soo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who is preparing the Student Human Rights Act as the first bill, said that he will reflect the concerns of the churches such as ‘opposition to the homosexuality’ in the bill, connoting that the DPK would rule out teenage sexual minorities from the scope of legal protection.

The party's socially conservative attitude on issues related to LGBT rights, feminism, and abortion mainly draw from Christianity and South Korea's Confucian traditions, but aside from those issues the party demonstrates moderate-to-liberal social policy. The DPK opposes corporal punishment for children and led the complete abolition of laws that justified corporal punishment for children in the past. The DPK also supports strengthening punishments for domestic violence.

Abortion and reproductive rights
The Democratic Party opposes abortion, campaigning on actively participating in movements to prevent abortion in the 2018 local elections. Additionally, socially conservative members of the party that oppose abortion, including National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, occupy key positions in the party and exert great influence.

National Security Act
The party takes an ambiguous position that neither supports nor opposes the abolition of the National Security Act.

Democratic lawmakers jointly proposed a plan to repeal the National Security Act in 2021, but it ultimately failed to pass.

Immigration
Most of the main politicians of the Democratic Party are neutral on the issue of immigration regardless of faction. As immigration issue is not a main social problem in Korea as Korea is still a homogenous nation, there aren’t much discussions about immigration. The party claims to oppose racism, but they also opposed the passage of an anti-discrimination law which bans discrimination against immigrants. Several party members showed concern on the government’s plan to establish a national immigration office. The party opposed admitting Afghanistan refugees in 2021 while the conservative party supported it. The party oppose the government’s plan to establish Immigration Office to boost immigration. DPK provincial councilor of the South Choongcheong province was criticized after demanding the differentiation of the minimum wage application against the foreign immigrant workers.

Religion and other policies
The DPK's Christian influences have also been criticized by other religious groups. In December 2021, the Moon Jae-in government invested 1.2 billion won (US$1,000,000) in a campaign to promote playing Christmas carols in stores such as restaurants and cafes. South Korea's Buddhist community opposed the measure, calling it a policy that gives preferential treatment to a specific religion.

The DPK views criticized the consumption of dog meat, with President Moon Jae-in stating he was considering a legal ban on dog meat in September 2021. In addition, the party supports reforms on student rights issues.

Foreign policy
The Democratic Party has historically maintained a friendly stance with the United States, considering it a strategic ally of South Korea. However, its leader Lee Jae-myung referred to the presence of the United States armed forces in Korea after its a liberation from Japan as an "occupying force. " In a meeting with U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, Lee expressed his opposition to the Taft–Katsura agreement, stating that the United States' approval of the agreement led to the Japanese annexation of Korea. Lee has also called China a "strategic cooperative partner" and said South Korea does not have to side with either country.

Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the party supported maintaining friendly relations with Russia, with the aim of swaying Russia to cooperate with South Korea rather than North Korea. The party condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, many DPK politicians also did not attend Zelensky's video speech to the South Korean parliament. The party caused controversy in April 2022 by inviting a pro-Russian professor who denied the Bucha Massacre at a party forum. When president Yoon Suk Yeol mentioned the possibility of providing weapons to Ukraine from South Korea on 19 April 2023, many DPK politicians criticized Yoon and said South Korea should not be hostile to Russia.

Japan
The party opposes Japan's historical revisionism and is known to speak for victims of Japanese war crimes. The DPK holds a very nationalistic stance against Japan. President Moon Jae-in said the human rights of victims of Japanese colonialism are an important factor in the relations between the two countries. Party leader Lee Jae-myung stated in 2023 that Korea should declare an all-out war against Japan’s historical revisionism.

The party opposes Japan's remilitarization efforts and revision of its constitution as it fears the return of Japanese imperialism. The party's politicians are opposed to a military alliance with Japan, stating that "Japan is not an ally" to South Korea.

North Korea
The party strongly supports the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and aims for peaceful relations with North Korea. The party also officially advocates for increasing cooperation with the North to create a foundation for reunification. The party has a strong ethnic nationalistic stance, so they often emphasize being of ‘one race’ with North Korea.

Leaders

 * Note: $ERC$ - as head of Emergency Response Committee