Alliance of DJP

The alliance was formed after the NCNP's huge defeat during the general election in 1996, where the party only gained 76 out of 299 seats, and most of the seats were at Honam.[1] Since the general election was around 1 year before the presidential election, Kim Dae-jung faced a serious crisis.[1] His political advisor, Lee Kang-tae, suggested him about forming an alliance with ALDE in order to win the presidential election.[3]

Meanwhile, ALDE was declared as one of the "winner" of the general election, almost all seats (50/299) were at Hoseo.[3] In addition with lower approval ratings of Kim Jong-pil, he also faced the alternatives.[3]

While the idea was just a "suggestion", Park Tae-joon joined ALDE and endorsed DJ in August 1997.[1][3] It boosted the formation, and in 3 November, both DJ and JP agreed to form a political alliance.[4][3] Under the alliance, DJ would run for president but in case of his win, JP would be the Prime Minister.[1] They also agreed for constitutional amendment from presidential to parliamentary system.[1]

The alliance led DJ to win the election,[1][5] and not only at Honam but also at Hoseo.[3] They also won with a huge margin during the local election in 1998.[6] However, conflicts were sparked and for the general election in 2000, they faced dissidents issue. This led the alliance to be lost in the election, whereas the main opposition, Grand National Party (GNP), won but minority.[7]

The defeat was more serious for ALDE, which only gained 17 out of 273, and was unable to be a parliamentary that required minimum 20.[7] In order to settle this problem, 3 MPs of MDP shifted to ALDE.[8] However, the alliance was still not enough to form a majority government, therefore they formed a coalition between Democratic National Party (DNP).[9] Nevertheless, the alliance did not last long, as ALDE supported the oppositions' motion of no-confidence for Lim Dong-won, the Minister of Unification, on 3 September 2001.[10] The alliance was then disbanded on that day.[10]