Eonju Lee: "Conservative Unification Must Be Achieved Centered on Representative Hwang Kyo-ahn"

"Not a Korean Party but a Hyecheomoyeo-style Integration is Desirable"

Lee Eon-ju, the preparatory committee chairman of the Future Forward 4.0 (Jeonjin Party), stated on the 8th regarding the Conservative Integration Promotion Committee led by Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty Korea Party, "We agreed on a loose coalition-type integration rather than an absorption-type integration centered on the Korea Party."
/Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Suwan Kim] On the 8th, Rep. Lee Eon-ju, chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the founding of Forward 4.0 (Jeonjin Party), stated regarding the Conservative Integration Promotion Committee led by Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty Korea Party, "We agreed on a 'gather and unite' type of integration, not an absorption integration centered on the Korea Party."

In a phone interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' Rep. Lee said, "'Come into the Liberty Korea Party' would be very difficult, but if the premise of creating a new unified party includes 'starting anew,' 'innovating,' and 'generational change,' then there is no reason for us not to participate." He added, "I said this, and (Leader Hwang) agreed. He is not someone who lies. Since trust is fundamentally there, we decided to believe his words."

Regarding the integration emergency committee advocated by former Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo, Rep. Lee said, "Realistically, the largest force in the conservative camp has to be the Liberty Korea Party, and it is important for the Korea Party to actively participate in the integration and innovation process. Realistically, is there any alternative other than Leader Hwang leading and starting this?" He emphasized, "If things go wrong, even the existing leadership could collapse, leading to chaos and power struggles. Therefore, the important thing is to achieve proper integration."

He cited the example, "In the early stages of the Bareunmirae Party integration, there was talk about Ahn Cheol-soo's resignation. Just before the integration, Ahn announced his resignation and was pushed out. Looking at the current Bareunmirae Party, the lack of leadership and identity before establishing leadership made things very difficult."

Regarding Rep. Yoo Seung-min of the New Conservative Party, Rep. Lee said, "Honestly, I am skeptical about Representative Yoo Seung-min. During the presidential election, we tried to unify, but he was very uncooperative, and even now, I feel like he is just stalling without clear intentions."

He also commented on former People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo, saying, "Although there are slight differences, I think it is the same. If there is a willingness to participate, it is important to unite now."

Meanwhile, on the 7th, at the New Year's greeting ceremony of the Liberty Democratic National Union and others called 'Free Camp 2020' held at the Press Center, Leader Hwang said, "The Moon administration has destroyed our economy and plunged people's livelihoods into hardship in less than three years. We don't even know who is handling diplomacy and security." He added, "To stop this, the only way is to achieve a landslide victory in the general election. The first task is integration. While strengthening our individual powers is important, uniting and fighting to win comes first."

Leader Hwang continued, "I have boarded the train of the grand unification of the free democratic forces. We can only win by uniting. With the launch of the Integration Promotion Committee, all parties will create a framework to realize integration. I ask everyone participating in the Liberty Democratic National Union to join us in our efforts at the Korea Party."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.