Pusan Democracy Park (PDP) was established in honor of and to succeed to the sublime spirit of the citizens of Pusan for democracy, which has played a great part in the development of democracy in Korea through the April 19 Democratic Revolution in 1960, the historic Pusan-Masan democratic Uprising in 1979 and the June Democratic Uprising in 1987.

The establishment of PDP was first suggested in 1995 by the non-governmental organizations including Pusan Democratic Movement Memorial Association (PDMA) and driven in earnest by Pan-Citizens Promoting Committee of PDP Establishment (PCPC), which, after its organization in July 1996, invited the public to join in the contest for the PDP constitution and design proposal and held the public hearings to draw citizens' consensus for PDP, 1996 to 1999.

PDP was finally opened on Oct. 16, 1999, the twentieth memorial day of Pusan-Masan Democratic Uprising, four years after the first suggestion and with the whole heart of the citizens of Pusan and the government and city expense of over fourteen million dollars, as a complex of an outdoor performance hall, an arboretum, thematic memorial corners, circular way and Democratic Movement Memorial Center (DMMC) on the ground over five acres and the total floor space over one and a third acres. In particular, with Standing Exhibition Room, Planning Exhibition Room, Little and Middle Theaters on the scale of tree floors above ground and one floor below ground, DMMC is used as both education facilities for democracy and a culture complex for citizens of Pusan.

PDP is now serving as a witness of the democracy in Korea having followed a thorny path with the citizens of Pusan and all the democracy-loving people home and abroad.