The Unified Progressive Party (UPP; Korean: 통합진보당, RR: Tonghap Jinbo-dang, Hanja: 統合進步黨) is a left-leaning political party in South Korea. It was founded on 5 December 2011 as a merger of the Democratic Labor Party, the People's Participation Party of Rhyu Si-min, and a faction of the New Progressive Party.[2][5] Until 12 May 2012 it was jointly chaired by Rhyu Si-min, Lee Jung-hee, and Sim Sang-jeong.[4][6]
The UPP has proposed an alliance with the major liberal Democratic United Party (DUP), which the DUP has rejected.[4]
In the 2012 National Assembly election the party gained eight seats for a total of thirteen seats out of 300, advancing to the third position, well ahead of the conservative Liberty Forward Party (which lost most of its seats).
On 24 April 2012, the party provisionally voted to drop the "Unified" component of its name, and adopt the name "Progressive Party". The change is subject to a vote of the party's Central Committee on 13 May.[7] On 3 May 2012, the party internal investigation revealed that wide-ranging irregularities occurred in selecting UPP's proportional representation candidates.[8][9] UPP won six proportional representatives in the 11 April general election,[10] but one legislator resigned amid the election scandal. All four co-leaders of the party subsequently resigned on 12 May.[11]