Liberal Party (South Korea)

The Liberal Party was a far-right corporatist and anti-communist political party in South Korea established in 1951 by Syngman Rhee.

History
As the 1952 presidential elections neared, Rhee made public his intention to organize a party during his August 15 Speech in 1951. Rhee called Yi Bum-seok, then the ambassador in China, and charged him with creating the Liberal Party. Yi used the strong organizational base of "Korean National Youth Association" as a starting point and incorporated the major five organizations: "National Association for the Rapid Realisation of Korean Independence", "Korean Federation of Labor" , "Peasant Federation" , and "Korean Council of Wives"  as temporary sub-organizations under the Liberal Party.

Ideology
Although the Liberal Party name is used, it is not the traditional definition as used in the West. For example, the Liberal Party advocated for Ilminism and viewed Western-style liberalism and individualism negatively, instead suggesting the need for "Korean-style liberal democracy". One of the main values of Ilminism was the Hongik Ingan, based on traditional conservatism, and the Students Protection Corps, which is said to be similar to Hitlerjugend. To this day, liberal democracy in South Korea is still used in a similar sense to "anti-communist system" or "free world against communism" by the conservative camp of South Korea, rather than the same meaning as Western liberal democracy.

As its national values during its reign, the Liberal Party put forward "anti-communist and anti-Japanese" sentiments. At the same time, the Liberal Party showed a very pro-American tendency, so it was closer to right-wing populism than resistance nationalism. The Liberal Party supported a discriminatory policy against hwagyo based on Korean ethnic supremacy and anti-PRC sentiment.