Possibility of Lee Jun-seok and Yang Hyang-ja Merger
Democratic Party Defectors - Lee Nak-yeon Suggests Integration
Big Tent May Be Difficult Due to Share Competition Among New Parties
There is speculation that a third-party new party could contest the general election as a four-way race alongside the two major parties. Negative forecasts have emerged as discussions on the core ideologies and coalition methods of each party, which are key to forming a big tent, have been delayed, weakening the momentum for unification. While emphasizing a big tent coalition among third-party forces, an intense behind-the-scenes competition is underway between Lee Jun-seok and Lee Nak-yeon to gain leadership.
On the 24th, Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform New Party, and Yang Hyang-ja, leader of Korea's Hope, will hold a press conference in the afternoon to jointly announce science and technology policies. The two sides are expected to present a joint vision for science and technology at this event, and some speculate that the two parties may publicly announce a merger on the same day. This comes just one day after Yang met with Lee Cheol-gyu, a key figure in the pro-Yoon faction of the People Power Party.
Former leader Lee Nak-yeon, who left the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the 'New Future Party Founding Supporters' Meeting' held at Seoul Women's Plaza in Dongjak-gu, Seoul on the 16th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
Political circles analyzed that the possibility of a merger announcement between the Reform New Party and Korea's Hope indicates that Plan B for the third-party big tent formation is accelerating. While Plan A envisions the various forces?Lee Jun-seok's Reform New Party, the Future Coalition of Democratic Party defectors, and Lee Nak-yeon's new party, New Future?forming a single unified new party, Plan B is a scenario where the new party from Democratic Party defectors and the new party from People Power Party defectors split and contest the general election as a four-way race alongside the two major parties.
The reason Lee Jun-seok has been focusing on merging with Yang's party is interpreted as an intention to first consolidate one axis of the third-party by uniting the two parties. This would immediately resolve the absence of incumbent lawmakers in the Reform New Party. It could have a positive effect in the future leadership struggle with Lee Nak-yeon's new party and the Future Coalition, which includes lawmakers Lee Won-wook, Kim Jong-min, and Cho Eung-cheon. This is why Lee Jun-seok repeatedly emphasized policy cooperation with Yang and pushed for a merger, even though he said at a press conference right after the founding ceremony on the 20th that "the golden time for the big tent plan has already passed." Earlier, Lee also expressed his willingness for policy cooperation by telling Yang, "The science and technology sector of the Reform New Party will accept your ideas."
The new party led by Lee Nak-yeon, composed of Democratic Party defectors, also appears to be taking a breather regarding cooperation with the Reform New Party. There is a plan to focus on expanding forces by promoting integration between the Future Coalition and New Future. Kim Jong-min, co-chairman of the Future Coalition's founding committee, suggested on MBC Radio the day before that "there will be little difference between Lee Nak-yeon's side and the Future Coalition side. Both started from the Democratic Party, so merging the two is not a problem," hinting at a possible integration as early as this week. If discussions on unification with the Reform New Party proceed slowly, the intention is to first seek integration between the Future Coalition and New Future.
Political circles also see the unification competition within the third-party, centered on leaders Lee Jun-seok and Lee Nak-yeon, intensifying. Lee Yong-ho, a People Power Party lawmaker, predicted on CBS Radio that third-party unification would be difficult, analyzing that "some parties have many lawmakers but low support, while others have no lawmakers but high support, so there is no consistency." He added, "Because of this, once merging starts, each side's share decreases, so they try to delay as much as possible to increase their share, which will cause the unification to be very delayed."
Former emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, Kim Jong-in, also rated the possibility of a merger between Lee Nak-yeon and Lee Jun-seok as low. In a previous interview with a media outlet, he stated, "(The two) inevitably have different personal and political goals, so they will not easily dissolve into one."
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