Grand National Party
| Politics of South Korea |
| Politics of South Korea |
| Grand National Party | Missing image Img_bottom_logo.gif GNP Logo |
|---|---|
| Korean Name | |
| Revised Romanization/ McCune-Reischauer | Hannara Dang |
| Hangul | 한나라당 |
| Hanja | 한나라黨 Nore: The Hangul name means 'grand nation' |
| Politics | |
The Grand National Party (Hannaradang) is a conservative, right-wing political party in South Korea. It is led by Chairperson Park Geun-hye, the daughter of former president Park Chunghee. The party is considered to bear the legacy of traditional ruling elite of the South Korea including military regimes, most coming from the Gyeongsang region.
Following the 2000 parliamentary elections it was the single largest political party, with 54% of the vote and 147 seats out of 271. However, its former leader Lee Hoi-chang lost twice in the presidential election (in 1997 and 2002) and admitted having used illegal donations to finance his campaign, causing nationwide scandal and loss of support.
The party sustained some defeat in the parliamentary election in 2004, gaining only 121 seats out of 299. Yet it managed to retain the major opposition thanks to the overwhelming support from its stronghold, the Gyeongsang region.
On domestic policy, the party is right-wing and conservative, and thus, often the burden of hatred by North Korea's media.