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The Saenuri Party (Korean: 새누리당, Saenuri-dang; literal meaning: New Frontier Party[11][12]) is a centre-right,[4][5][6][7] conservative political party in South Korea. Until February 2012, it was known as the Grand National Party (한나라당 Hannara-dang). The party holds a majority of seats in the 19th Assembly, lasting from 2012 to 2016.
The party was founded in 1997 as a merger of United Democratic Party and New Korea Party. Its earliest ancestor was the Democratic Republican Party[13] under the rule of Park Chung-hee in 1963. Upon Park's death and at the beginning of the rule of Chun Doo-hwan in 1980, it was reconstituted and renamed as the Democratic Justice Party. In 1988, party member Roh Tae-woo introduced a wide range of political reforms including direct Presidential elections and a new constitution. The party was renamed in 1993, during the presidency of Kim Young-sam,[14] with the merger of other parties to form the Democratic Liberal Party (Minju Jayudang). It was renamed as the New Korea Party (Sinhangukdang) in 1995, and it then became the Grand National Party in November 1997 following its merger with the smaller United Democratic Party (1996) and various conservative parties.[15]
Three months later, with the election of Kim Dae-jung of the Centrist Reformists Democratic Party as president, the party's governing role came to an end, beginning its first ever period in opposition, which would last ten years. In October 2012, the Advancement Unification Party merged with the Saenuri Party.[16]
Following the 2000 parliamentary elections, it was the single largest political party, with 54% of the vote and 147 seats out of 271.
The party was defeated in the parliamentary election in 2004 following the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun, gaining only 121 seats out of 299. The defeat reflected public disapproval of the impeachment which was instigated by the party. This was the first time in its history that the party had not won the most seats. It gained back five seats in by-elections, bringing it to 127 seats as of October 28, 2005.[17]
On December 19, 2007, the GNP's candidate, former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak won the presidential election,[18] ending the party's ten years period in opposition.
In the April 2008 general election, the GNP secured a majority of 153 seats out of 299 and gained power in the administration and the parliament as well as most local governments, despite the low turnout of votes.[19]
One of the main bases of popular support of the party originates from the conservative, traditionalist elite and the rural population, except for farmers. It is strongest in the Gyeongsang region. Former party head and 2007 presidential candidate Park Geun-hye is the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee who ruled from 1961 to 1979. Although Representative Won Hee-ryeong and Hong Jun-pyo ran for the party primary as reformist candidates, former Seoul mayor and official presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak gained more support (about 40%) from the Korean public.
The GNP suffered a setback in the 2010 local elections, losing a total of 775 local seats throughout the counties,[20] but remained as the most seats in the region.
GNP-affiliated politician, Oh Se-hoon, lost his mayoral position of Seoul after the Seoul Free Lunch Referendum.
The Grand National Party has celebrated its 14th anniversary on November 21, 2011 amid uncertainties from intra-party crises.[21]
The DDoS attacks during the October 2011 by-election have become a central concern of the GNP as it could potentially disintegrate the party leadership.[22]
The Hong Jun-pyo leadership system collapsed on December 9, 2011 and GNP Emergency Response Commission was launched on December 17, 2011, with Park Geun-hye as commission chairperson, to prepare coming up Legislative Election 2012 on April 11, 2012 and Presidential Election 2012 on December 19, 2012.[23]
There was a debate with Commission members about whether to transform the Grand National Party into a non-conservative political party or not, but Park said the GNP would never become non-conservative and will follow the real value of conservatism.[24][25]
In February 2012, the party has changed its political official colour from blue to red, in the past 30 years blue was the symbol of the conservative parties.[26]
The GNP supports free trade and neoliberal economic policies. The GNP favors maintaining strong ties with the United States while distancing South Korea from North Korea. The party is also conservative on social issues such as opposed any legal recognition of same-sex couples.
One of the GNP's important policies is to financially secure The Four Major Rivers Project since President Lee Myung-bak was in office. This project's budget disputes have sparked controversial political motions in the National Assembly for three consecutive years.[27]
The GNP has been less inclined toward the creation of a new capital city for South Korea, to be called Sejong City than the previous administration. As of 2012, the Saenuri Party has indicated that some governmental offices will be relocated to the new city, but not all.
Saenuri Party has been very active in promoting the North Korean Human Rights Law, which would officially condemn the use of torture, public executions and other human rights violations in North Korea.[28] Saenuri representative Ha Tae Kyung is the founder of Open Radio for North Korea, an NGO dedicated to spreading news and information about democracy, which citizens of North Korea have little access to due to the government's isolationist policies.[29] In April 2012, Saenuri member Cho Myung-Chul became the first North Korean defector elected to the National Assembly.[30] In spring 2012, several Saenuri representatives took part in the "Save my friend" protests, organized to oppose China's policy of repatriating North Korean defectors, and expressed their solidarity with Park Sun-young's hunger strike.[31]
A Blue House official of the pro-GNP Lee Myung-bak government illegally infiltrated a party meeting of the opposition Democratic Party, on October 18, 2011.[42]
Saenuri Party, New Politics Alliance for Democracy, South Korea, Labor Party (South Korea), Seoul
Saenuri Party, South Korea, Park Chung-hee, Choi Kyu-hah, Democratic Justice Party