Heo Eun-a "Reform New Party Maintained Depending on Party Members' Choice"
Yang Hyang-ja "Voting Should Have Been Done Within 60 Days After General Election"
Heo Eun-ah, leader of the Reform New Party, stated, "The Reform New Party will retain its current party name according to the choice of party members."
On the morning of the 26th, Heo held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office to announce the results of the "All-member vote on party name revision." He said, "We conducted a consultation process over two days, on the 24th and 25th," adding, "Out of a total of 71,447 party members, 29,204 participated, resulting in a voter turnout of 40.8%, and among them, 65.6% (16,162 members) preferred the Reform New Party." He continued, "15.4% (4,488 members) preferred 'Hanguk-ui Huimang,' and 19.0% (5,554 members) preferred a third party name."
Heo stated, "When the Reform New Party merged with Hanguk-ui Huimang last January, we agreed to change the party name through a party convention procedure," adding, "However, on February 9, when we declared the launch of the Third Zone Unified New Party, we newly decided in Article 1 of the agreement that 'the party name shall be the Reform New Party.'" He further explained, "This party member vote was conducted to resolve the ongoing controversy regarding the party name change and to fulfill both conflicting promises," and said, "It was carried out with the intention of conclusively settling the party name issue for the sake of unity."
Yang Hyang-ja, a former Reform New Party lawmaker who founded Hanguk-ui Huimang last year, emphasized in a phone call that day, "Since it was agreed that the party name would be Hanguk-ui Huimang within 60 days after the April 10 general election, the vote should have been held then." She added, "I am not trying to cause discord at all," and said, "There was a clear promise, and former leader Lee Jun-seok must keep his trust."
A commemorative photo is being taken at the Korea Hope Party Admission Welcome Ceremony held at the National Assembly Communication Office on January 30. From the left, Yang Hyang-ja, then representative of Korea Hope Party; Lee Chang-han, former vice chairman of the Semiconductor Association; and Lee Jun-seok, then representative of the Reform New Party. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
The Hanguk-ui Huimang side announced on January 29, when merging with the Reform New Party, that "the top priority agreed upon was to maintain the party name," and stated, "Until the general election, the Reform New Party and we will move forward as one, and at the first party convention after the general election, we plan to continue as Hanguk-ui Huimang."
Heo concluded the day by saying, "The Reform New Party is one," and expressed gratitude, "Thank you to all party comrades who participated in the vote." She also said, "We will respect the views of party comrades who have presented different opinions and reflect them in party affairs."
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