Uri Party

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{{Infobox Political Party |colorcode=#000000 |party_name=Uri Party |party_logo= |leader=Chung Dong-young |foundation=2003 |headquarters=Yeongdeungpo-dong 6-Ga 133, Yeongdeungpo-gu
Seoul, South Korea
서울 영등포구 영등포동 6가 133 |ideology=Liberalism |international= |website=www.uparty.or.kr }}

Template:Koreanname|hanja=열린우리黨|rr=Yeollin Uri-dang|mr=Yŏllin Uri-dang}}

Image:Politics korea uri party.jpg The Uri Party is a political party in South Korea. The party was formerly known as the New Party for Participatory Citizens but changed its name on October 22, 2003. The name translates into English as Our Party and reflects the party's push for national unity and a willingness to public participation and reform according to the party. The official name of the party is Yeollin Uri Party where Yeollin translates to adjective "open" in English. That would form an acronym that reads Yeoru Party, but that usage is discouraged by the party because that roughly means "inferior fellow" in Korean. Hence, the form Yeoru Party is used only by the opponents of the party in a derogatory way.

The party was formed as members in the Millennium Democratic Party loyal to the president Roh Moo-hyun chose to break ranks, when they found it unsatisfactory to work with other party members who showed lukewarm support for the administration. Some 42 out of 103 lawmakers of the Millennium Democratic Party joined the new party, and 5 lawmakers from the Grand National Party also joined.

The party came to international attention when their members physically blocked the speaker's chair in the National Assembly in a failed attempt to prevent the impeachment vote on President Roh on March 12, 2004. (The vote was subsequently overturned by South Korea's Constitutional Court on May 14, 2004.)

As a result of the 2004 Parliamentary election, the Uri Party gained 152 seats from the total of 299 in the National Assembly, making a slim majority.

On August 19, 2004, the party suffered an embarrassing setback when party chairman Shin Ginam resigned following revelations by a national investigation that his father had worked for the Japanese military police during the Japanese occupation. The investigation, initiated on the 56th anniversary of Liberation Day (August 15, 2004) by President Roh, was a part of a national campaign to shed light on the activity of collaborators during the Japanese occupation. Ironically, the campaign was vocally supported by Shin and backed by the Uri Party.

The party's popularity has decreased considerably after the 2004 election because of internal strife and scandals related to the President, and the Uri party failed to secure a single seat out of six electoral districts in the by-election held on April 30, 2005, losing its majority status in the National Assembly.