Advancement Unification Party 선진통일당 先進統一黨
President	Lee In-je
Assembly leader	Kim Nak-seong
Founded	1 February 2008 (2008-02-01)
Dissolved	25 October 2012 (2012-10-25)
Split from	Hannara Party
Merged into	Saenuri Party
Headquarters	14-14 Yongsan Building, Yeoeuido-dong Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
Ideology	Conservatism (South Korean) Regionalism
National affiliation	Advancement and Creation Association (2008–2009)
Colours	Dark Blue
Website
Website (archived)
Politics of South Korea Political parties Elections

Advancement Unification Party (Korean: 선진통일당; Hanja: 先進統一黨) or AUP formerly known as Liberty Forward Party was a conservative political party in South Korea. This party was created by Lee Hoi Chang, the presidential candidate who lost 2007 presidential elections. On 12 February 2008, the party merged with the People First Party, which got 18 seats in the 2008 Parliamentary election, making it the third-largest party in the National Assembly. The party was absorbed by Saenuri Party on 16 November 2012.

Human rights activism

In February–March 2012, just before the scheduled national elections, Liberty Forward Party representative Park Sun-young became active in the "Save My Friend" campaign, a series of protests protesting China's policy of forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees;^[1] she went on hunger strike in front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul and was hospitalized after fainting; once she recovered she resumed her efforts to raise awareness about North Korean human rights issues.^[2] In April, during a speech at an event hosted by the Korean-American Freedom League, Park criticized the Catholic Association for Peace and Justice, questioning its silence on the plight of North Korean refugees and arguing that the Left's anti-Americanism was distracting from much more serious issues: "Defectors) are ruthlessly being killed, so how can you remain completely silent? In the Republic of Korea, there is a wildfire anti-American movement, but they never make a single critical statement against China."^[3]

2012 election

Logo of Liberty Forward Party

Liberty Forward Party headquarters

In the 2012 National Assembly election the party lost all but five of its 18 seats, declining to the fourth position, well behind the left-leaning Unified Progressive Party (which gained seats). Party leader Sim Dae-pyung announced his resignation after the party's poor performance.^[4]

Electoral results

Election	Leader	Constituency				Party list				Seats		Position	Status
		Votes	%	Seats	+/-	Votes	%	Seats	+/-	No.	+/–
2008	Lee Hoi-chang	984,751	5.72	14 / 245	new	1,173,463	6.85	4 / 54	new	18 / 299	new	4th	Opposition
2012		474,001	2.20	3 / 246	11	690,754	3.24	2 / 54	2	5 / 300	13

References

External links

• Official web site