Saenuri Party

The Saenuri Party, also known as the New Frontier Party, until February 2012 the Grand National Party (Korean: 한나라당, Hannara-dang) is a conservative political party in South Korea. The party holds a majority of seats in the 19th Assembly, lasting from 2012 to 2016.


It was renamed as the New Korea Party (Sinhangukdang) in 1995, and it finally became the Grand National Party in November 1997 following its merger with the smaller Democratic Party, and various conservative parties.[citation needed] Three months later, with the election of Kim Dae-jung of the leftwing 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.
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. It 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.


On December 19, 2007, the GNP's candidate Lee Myung-bak won the presidential election  ending the party's 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.
On the performance of President Lee Myung-bak and of Grand National Party, 25.4 percent of the population of South Korea answered "good" and 67.3 percent "bad" according to a poll by Donga Ilbo conducted in August 2008. Poll numbers for the opposition, however, were even lower.
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 1963 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.


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.
The DDoS attacks during the October 2011 by-election have become an central concern of the GNP as it could potentially disintegrate the party leadership.

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.
There was a debate with Commission members about whether transform the Grand National Party into a non-conservative political party or not, but Park said GNP never transform in to non-conservative, and will follow the real value of conservatism.