# Liberal Party (South Korea)

The Liberal Party (Korean: 자유당; Hanja: 自由黨; RR: Jayudang) 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" (조선민족청년단) as a starting point and incorporated the major five organizations: "National Association for the Rapid Realisation of Korean Independence" (대한독립촉성국민회), "Korean Federation of Labor" (대한노동조합총연맹), "Peasant Federation" (농민조합연맹), and "Korean Council of Wives" (대한부인회) 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 [ko], which is said to be similar to Hitlerjugend. To this day, liberal democracy (자유민주주의) 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" (반공 반일; 反共反日) 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 (화교; 華僑) based on Korean ethnic supremacy and anti-PRC sentiment.

## Election results
### President

| Election | Candidate | Votes | % | Result |
| 1952 | Syngman Rhee | 5,238,769 | 74.62 | Elected |
| 1956 | Syngman Rhee | 5,046,437 | 69.99 | Elected |
| March 1960 | Syngman Rhee | 9,633,376 | 100 | Elected |

### Vice President

| Election | Candidate | Votes | % | Result |
| 1952 | Lee Beom-seok | 1,815,692 | 25.45 | Not elected |
| 1956 | Lee Ki-poong | 3,805,502 | 44.03 | Not elected |
| March 1960 | Lee Ki-poong | 8,337,059 | 79.19 | Elected |

### Legislature
#### House of Representatives

| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position | Status |
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Constituency | Party list | Total | +/– | Position | Status |
| 1954 | Syngman Rhee | 2,756,081 | 36.79 | | | 114 / 203 | new | 1st | Government |
| 1958 | Syngman Rhee | 3,607,092 | 42.07 | | | 127 / 233 | 13 | 1st | Government |
| 1960 | Cho Gyeong-gyu | 249,960 | 2.75 | | | 2 / 233 | 125 | 3rd | Opposition |
| 1963 | Chang Taek-sang | 271,820 | 2.92 | 0 / 134 | 0 / 44 | 0 / 175 | 2 | 7th | Extra-parliamentary |
| 1967 | Lee Jae-hak | 393,448 | 3.62 | 0 / 134 | 0 / 44 | 0 / 175 | | 3rd | Extra-parliamentary |

#### House of Councillors

| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | Position | Status |
| 1960 | Cho Gyeong-gyu | 653,748 | 6.12 | 4 / 58 | 2nd | Opposition |