새 누리 黨 [ N 1 ] [ N 2 ] 
 한 나라 黨 [ N 3 ] [ N 4 ] 
 The party was founded in 1997 as a merger of United Democratic Party and New Korea Party . Its earliest ancestor was the Democratic Republican Party [ 15 ] under the authoritarian rule of Park Chung - hee in 1963 . Upon Park ' s death and at the beginning of the rule of Chun Doo - hwan in 1980 , it was reconstituted and renamed as the Democratic Justice Party . In 1988 , party member Roh Tae - woo introduced a wide range of political reforms including direct Presidential elections and a new constitution . The party was renamed in 1993 , during the presidency of Kim Young - sam , [ 16 ] with the merger of other parties to form the Democratic Liberal Party ( Minju Jayudang ) . It was renamed as the New Korea Party ( Sinhangukdang ) in 1995 , and it then became the Grand National Party in November 1997 following its merger with the smaller United Democratic Party ( 1996 ) and various conservative parties . [ 17 ] 
 Three months later , with the election of Kim Dae - jung of the 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 . In October 2012 , the Advancement Unification Party merged with the Saenuri Party . [ 18 ] 
 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 . This 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 . [ 19 ] 
 On December 19 , 2007 , the GNP ' s candidate , former Seoul mayor Lee Myung - bak won the presidential election , [ 20 ] ending the party ' s ten years 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 , despite the low turnout of votes . [ 21 ] 
 The GNP suffered a setback in the 2010 local elections , losing a total of 775 local seats throughout the counties , [ 22 ] but remained as the most seats in the region . 
 The Grand National Party has celebrated its 14 th anniversary on November 21 , 2011 amid uncertainties from intra - party crises . [ 23 ] 
 The DDoS attacks during the October 2011 by - election have become a central concern of the GNP as it could potentially disintegrate the party leadership . [ 24 ] 
 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 . [ 25 ] 
 There was a debate with Commission members about whether to transform the Grand National Party into a non - conservative political party or not , but Park said the GNP would never become non - conservative and will follow the real value of conservatism . [ 26 ] [ 27 ] 
 In February 2012 , the party changed its political official colour from blue to red . In the past 30 years blue was the symbol of the conservative parties . [ 28 ] 
 One of the GNP ' s important policies is to financially secure The Four Major Rivers Project since President Lee Myung - bak was in office . This project ' s budget disputes have sparked controversial political motions in the National Assembly for three consecutive years . [ 29 ] 
 Saenuri Party has been very active in promoting the North Korean Human Rights Law , which would officially condemn the use of torture , public executions and other human rights violations in North Korea . [ 30 ] Saenuri representative Ha Tae Kyung is the founder of Open Radio for North Korea , an NGO dedicated to spreading news and information about democracy , to which citizens of North Korea have little access due to the government ' s isolationist policies . [ 31 ] In April 2012 , Saenuri member Cho Myung - Chul became the first North Korean defector elected to the National Assembly . [ 32 ] In spring 2012 , several Saenuri representatives took part in the " Save my friend " protests , organized to oppose China ' s policy of repatriating North Korean defectors , and expressed their solidarity with Park Sun - young ' s hunger strike . [ 33 ] 
 The GNP has records of secretly hiring and paying university students to generate online replies favorable to the GNP . [ 34 ] 
 GNP member Jin Seong - ho ( 진성호 ) formally apologized on July 2 , 2009 for making a remark that " the GNP occupied Naver ".[ 35 ] Naver is one of the biggest South Korean internet portals . 
 The GNP passed a bill relating to the year 2011 national budget without the opposition parties ' input on December 8 , 2010 . [ 36 ] It had caused legislative violence before . This process of passing the budget bill sparked controversy of potential illegality . Due to this incident , many South Korean political , academic and citizen groups expressed their outrage against current mainstream politics . [ 37 ] The reason for forceful passing of the bill is mainly due to the budget disputes in the controversial Four Major Rivers Project . [ 38 ] 
 Many Buddhists in South Korea criticized the budget bill on December 8 , 2010 for neglecting the national Temple Stay program . [ 39 ] This has led the Jogye Order , the largest Buddhist order in South Korea , to sever ties with the GNP [ 40 ] and becoming financially independent without any funding from the government . [ 41 ] 
 The interns and the staff working in the National Assembly officially complained on December 17 that their salary was missing after the passing of this bill . [ 42 ] 
 The GNP was criticized for having an inefficient public relations that resulted fewer people voting for them during the 2010 local elections . [ 43 ] 
 A Blue House official of the pro - GNP Lee Myung - bak government illegally infiltrated a party meeting of the opposition Democratic Party , on October 18 , 2011 . [ 44 ] 
 Hwang Woo - yea [ 45 ] ( May 15 , 2012 - May 15 , 2014 ) 
 Lee Jung - hyun ( August 9 , 2016 – present ) 
 ↑ 新 國家 黨 are current translated name in Chinese . 
 ↑ セヌリ 党 is the current translated name in Japanese . 
 ↑ 大 国 家 黨 are former translated name in Chinese . 
 ↑ ハンナラ 党 is the former translated name in Japanese . 
 ↑ " 제 2 장 , 2014 년 도 정당 의 정기 보고 결과 " [ Chapter 2 : Result of general report for the parties at 2014 ] . 2014 년 도 정당 의 활동 개황 및 회계 보고 [ The outlook for activity and financial report of the parties at 2014 ] ( E - book ) ( in Korean ) . National Election Commission . 2015 - 10 - 06 . p . 11 . 
 ↑ Beland , Petersen , Analysing social policy concepts and language : Comparative and Transnational Perspectives , " Park Geunhye , gave social welfare high policy priority . It was a different policy stance from that of her party [ Saenuri Party ] , which had mantained a neoliberal position . " 
 1 2 Manyin , Mark E . ( 2003 ) , South Korean Politics and Rising " Anti - Americanism ": Implications for U . S . Policy Toward North Korea ( PDF ) , Congressional Research Service 
 1 2 The Economist , print edition , April 11 , 2008 , South Korea ' s election : A narrow victory for the business - friendly centre - right , Accessed Oct 19 , 2013 . 
 1 2 Cronin , Patrick M . ( 2009 ) , Global Strategic Assessment 2009 : America ' s Security Role in a Changing World , INSS 
 ↑ " 한나라당 5 곳 ' 싹쓸이 ' … 우리 당 참패 ". Hani . co . kr . Retrieved November 22 , 2014 . 
 ↑ Kim ( 김 ) , Beom - hyeon ( 범현 ) ( December 3 , 2011 ) . 與 , ' 선관위 홈피 공격 ' 악재 에 대책 부심 . Yonhap News ( in Korean ) . Retrieved December 25 , 2011 .