Exile’s Associates Launch Opposition Party in Seoul
A new opposition party, formed by the followers of two men who are barred from politics, was formally launched Friday with a pledge to “resurrect a genuine parliamentary democracy” in South Korea.
Police blockaded the house of dissident leader Kim Young Sam to keep him from attending the new party’s inaugural convention at a downtown hotel. Kim Dae Jung, the other dissident leader, is expected to return Feb. 8 from self-imposed exile in the United States.
But the New Korea Democratic Party was hurriedly organized by their followers to challenge the Democratic Justice Party of President Chun Doo Hwan in National Assembly elections scheduled for Feb. 12.
About 480 delegates at the convention elected as party president Lee Min Woo, 70, a former vice speaker of the National Assembly and a longtime political associate of Kim Young Sam.
In a party platform and constitution passed unanimously at a two-hour morning session, the New Korea Democratic Party pledged to support democracy, a free-enterprise economy and a military establishment independent from politics.
It also supported strong ties with the United States and other “Free World allies.”
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