[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] Former Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo is accelerating the formation of a new party. The Liberty Unification Party announced on the 29th that it will officially launch by holding a central party founding convention at the Baekbeom Memorial Hall in Yongsan on the 31st.
The Liberty Unification Party sent a message to reporters on the same day stating, "We plan to start preliminary election campaigning immediately after the central party founding convention on the 31st." Former Governor Kim was appointed as the party leader. Kim, who had opposed the integration talks between Yoo Seung-min of the New Conservative Party and the Liberty Korea Party, has thus established an independent party.
The Liberty Unification Party introduced itself as "a party uniting patriotic forces from Gwanghwamun and over 1,600 right-wing civic groups." Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon explained that, as a clergyman, he will only provide support from behind the scenes.
The Liberty Unification Party has currently completed the founding of five city and provincial party branches and selected 253 representatives of local councils. They announced that as soon as party registration is completed, they will open applications for parliamentary candidates and nominate candidates in all 253 constituencies by mid-February. Proportional representation candidates will also be finalized by the end of the same month.
The Liberty Unification Party stated that it is "ideologically based on the founding spirit of President Syngman Rhee, which includes liberal democracy and Christian values, as well as the patriotism and devotion of President Park Chung-hee," and that it aims to "uphold constitutional values such as liberal democracy, market economy, and protection of private property, and pursue strengthening the Korea-US alliance."
They added, "More than 10 million people have attended the Gwanghwamun rallies, and the 1,600 civic groups have over 3 million members," and "The Liberty Unification Party plans to unite these civic groups and patriotic forces to devote itself to the movement to oust the Moon Jae-in pro-communist regime."
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