Four Third-Party Forces Agree to Merge... New Unified Party Named 'Gaehyeok Shindang'

The four third-party forces?Gaehyeok Shindang, Saeroun Mirae, Saeroun Seontaek, and Wonchikgwa Sangsik?that broke away from the two major ruling parties have agreed to merge and contest the general election scheduled for April 10.

New Future Co-Leader Lee Nak-yeon, Reform New Party Leader Lee Jun-seok, Principle and Common Sense Assemblyman Cho Eung-cheon, and New Choice Co-Leader Geum Tae-seop are greeting Lunar New Year travelers on the morning of the 9th at Yongsan Station in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, the 9th, they held a joint press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and abruptly announced that they had agreed on a merger plan for the integrated new party (tentative name).

According to the agreement, the party name will be Gaehyeok Shindang, and the party leadership will be a co-representative system with Lee Nak-yeon and Lee Jun-seok. The leadership body will be called the Supreme Council, with each of the four forces recommending one member. Lee Nak-yeon, the co-representative, will serve as the general election campaign committee chairman. Additionally, the integrated new party merger convention will be held promptly after the holiday. Previously, they held a roundtable meeting until the night before to discuss the so-called 'Big Tent' formation, but opinions diverged over the party name and leadership system of the integrated new party. However, with the agreement to merge two months before the general election, it is inevitable that the election landscape centered on the two major parties, the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea, will be affected.