1955년 민주당 창당기 자유민주주의론의 배제 정치

The Exclusion Politics of Liberal Democracy Theory in the Period of the Democratic Party’s Formulation in 1955

The Democratic Party was a conservative opposition party formed in September 1955, against an enforcing management of the Government party’s Constitutional Amendment in November 1954. The opposition forced including the Democratic National Party, enraged by Constitutional Amendment of 1954, started to plan for an organization of a new political party after composing the Guardian Constitution Comrades Association(Hoheondongjihoe) as a negotiation body inside the National Assembly. The initial ideology for a new political party organization was epitomized by anti-Communism, anti-dictatorship, democracy, and progressivism. They regarded Lee Seung-man and the Liberal Party as anti-dictatorship forces and put up the ideology of ‘anti-Communism’ for the first time in the Korean history of political parties. The new party movement forces concentrated on extensions in their forces and based on a way of ‘first organizing then making ideologies’ which puts ideological discussions in the backseat. Pros and cons argument on the problem of joining Cho Pong-am, who represents progressive forces after 1955, aroused within the new party movement group. These phenomena was immediately an argument surrounding the new party’s ideological identity. Cho Pong-am soon officially revealed his willingness to participate through the Feb. 22 statement, which followed the instruction Kim Seong-su, the highest leader of the Democratic National Party. Kim Seong-su passed away on the 18th of February, right before the Feb. 22 statement was announced, but it is known that he has agreed on Cho Pong-am’s tolerance when alive. However the Democratic National Party executives decided on the exclusion of Cho Pong-am on the 26th of February. Conflicts and oppositions of the free democratic group which suggested his exclusion and the democratic unity group that suggested comprehension roused in this process. After that, the Guardian Constitution Comrades Association held a meeting on April 1st and officially decided exclusion of the Cho Pong-am forces. And they insisted liberal democracy as an ideological excuse to be justified. Accordingly, the new political party gave up the cooperation with progressive forces including Cho Pong-am, while ensuring its identity as conservative party. The liberal democracy that the free democratic group put up was eventually an expression of their willingness to consist a new party only with conservative forces, excluding the progressives. Their liberal democracy was first suggested as an ideology for a party in the Korean history of political parties but lacks political ideas systematically, and was nothing but a temporary, instrumental ideology to exclude the progressives such as Cho Pong-am. In fact, not only liberal democracy wasn’t suggested as a political idea at founding convention of Democratic Party on September 19th, but also was never mentioned in speeches of any major leaders. Thus, the very first suggested liberal democracy in the Korean history of political parties merely was used as a political language to exclude the progressive forces after all.