[Initial Observation] Sindang That Appears as Soon as You Open Your Eyes, Fatigue Already Setting In

These days, news of new party formations is heard as soon as one wakes up. Recently, Representative Yang Hyang-ja declared the formation of a party, rumors have surfaced about preparing a 'cross-party alternative new party,' and some in the opposition claim there are 'Jo Guk new party' and 'Chu Mi-ae new party.' The Justice Party declared the formation of a new party when former and current party officials announced their withdrawal. In the conservative camp, there are calls for the necessity of a 'conservative coalition.'

As a senior politician said, one can truly feel that the 'season of the general election' is approaching. Just as the sound of cicadas signals the coming of summer, the surest sign that the general election season is near is the formation of new parties. This is not to distort their genuine intention to change the political reality by creating new parties; it is simply the reality. Every time before a general election, well-known former politicians make a fuss about forming a third new party, but after the election, it has repeatedly become a predetermined course that they are absorbed into major parties under the pretext of unification.

This means they have never succeeded. The most recent famous failure case would be Representative Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party's 'new politics experiment.' He caused a sensation in 2011, giving rise to the term 'Ahn Cheol-soo phenomenon,' and won 38 seats in the 20th National Assembly election, but ultimately ended the experiment by joining the People Power Party during the last presidential election unification process. There is no need to go back as far as Chung Ju-yung's Unification National Party or Moon Guk-hyun's Creative Korea Party.

Despite continuous failures, new parties claiming to be the 'third zone' keep emerging because many citizens are disillusioned with existing politics. According to a joint public opinion poll conducted by Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV through Metrix on the 1st and 2nd of this month, 47.7% of respondents believe the formation of a third zone party is necessary, which is more than the 42.4% who think it is unnecessary.

The problem is whether voters will actually support them in the general election. The proportion of respondents who said they would support a new party was 29.1%, while a majority of 60.3% answered 'no.' Citizens think a third zone is necessary, but they do not actually want to vote for them. Why does this contradictory result occur?

The reason is probably that the new parties citizens want are not yet visible. The 'New Party' led by former Representative Geum Tae-seop claims to be new but only criticizes existing major parties. The Korean Hope Party founded by Representative Yang Hyang-ja claims to be a 'blockchain party,' which sounds new, but it is unclear what exactly they intend to do. Potential new party candidates seem no more than the 'mergers and splits' of old politicians. Moreover, with new parties being formed here and there, the novelty of the 'third zone' itself feels diluted among the many forces.

There is a village with only two eateries: a gukbap (rice soup) restaurant and a noodle restaurant. The villagers, tired of eating only gukbap and noodles, hoped for a new restaurant. Reading this desire, a self-employed person opened a steakhouse. Contrary to his expectations of success, it was deserted. The owner eventually closed the business. The villagers did not simply want something new; they wanted a steakhouse better than the gukbap and noodle restaurants.

The feelings of citizens looking at the third zone new parties now are similar. Those who have emerged claiming to be new political forces have already been experienced to the point of saturation. What citizens want is whether they can present a vision that can be an alternative to the two major parties and whether they have the ability to govern the country. Simply opposing the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party cannot meet the heightened expectations of the people.