"Will Form a Working Negotiation Team After Appointing the Secretary-General of the People Power Party"
Lee Jun-seok, the newly appointed leader of the People Power Party, is greeting Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the People Party, at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, held an official meeting with Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, for the first time since his inauguration, reaffirming their intention to merge the two parties. However, by leaving contentious issues such as the party name change to be discussed at the working-level negotiation stage, attention is focused on whether future discussions will proceed smoothly. Both parties plan to complete the merger by the end of August, before the presidential election preparations begin.
The private meeting that day was an occasion to reaffirm the merger intentions between the two party leaders. After the meeting, Lee told reporters, “As leaders, we reaffirmed our intention to promote the merger of each party,” adding, “There was no misunderstanding between the leaders.” Regarding the timing of the merger, he said, “I expressed hope that it could be completed as soon as possible,” and explained, “Once we start the bus engine, the number of presidential candidates entering the party will increase, so we agreed to show the public our will for innovation through the merger beforehand, and Leader Ahn shared a similar view.”
Leader Ahn also said, “One of the most important tasks for regime change is the integration talks between the two parties,” and added, “I hope that working-level consultations can proceed quickly starting from today’s introductory meeting.”
However, the two parties have been engaged in daily tensions over the method of merger. On the morning of the same day, Kwon Eun-hee, floor leader of the People’s Party, repeatedly emphasized on YTN Radio’s “Hwang Bo-seon’s Start Morning” that the party name must be changed upon merger. Floor Leader Kwon said, “Going with a new party name is consistent with a principled merger method,” and added, “Since both the People Power Party and the People’s Party include the word ‘People’ (Gukmin), it is not a difficult situation.” She also expressed a negative outlook, saying, “Since Leader Lee does not share the basic perception with the People’s Party at all, it will be difficult to see tangible results within this month.”
Regarding Floor Leader Kwon’s claim for a new party name, Leader Ahn responded to a question by saying, “If you change your position and think about it, isn’t it natural?” and supported the view by adding, “If talks proceed at the working level, it is a matter to be discussed mutually.”
In response, Leader Lee said, “I will find out the reason why the new proposal was made, and once the secretary-general is appointed, we will designate a negotiation representative to provide an accurate answer.” However, he explained, “Our position is to adopt the negotiation plan of former interim party leader and floor leader Joo Ho-young, and that plan did not include the content mentioned by Floor Leader Kwon.”
Meanwhile, this was the first time since 2018 that Leader Lee and Leader Ahn met in an official setting, when they gathered with former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min at the “Youth is the Future” talk concert during the merger talks between the People’s Party and the Bareun Party.
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