The U.S. military government has defined the KDP as conservatives with high educational standards, and believed they wanted Western democracy.

[4] The KDP was established in 1945 by conservative nationalists headed by Song Jin-woo who were opposed to the People's Republic of Korea government set up by Lyuh Woon-hyung, instead backing the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

[4] The Democratic Party won a third of the seats in the Interim Legislative Assembly elections in October 1946, and although it opposed the Assembly's existence due to some of its leadership being excluded,[8] the party provided several of the key figures in the interim administration.

[4] However, its closeness to the American occupation force, together with its association with the landed gentry, meant that it never gained significant popular support.

On 10 February 1949, it merged with other groups in the legislature to form the Democratic Nationalist Party.