Lee Junseok: "Democratic Party and Cho Kuk Innovation Party Are Like the Same Chinese Restaurant... Merging Makes Sense"

"Refusal to Cooperate on Special Prosecutor Reveals Cho Kuk Innovation Party as Democratic Party’s Junior Partner"

Lee Junseok, leader of the Reform Party, said on January 22 that he believes it is appropriate for the Democratic Party of Korea to propose a merger with the Cho Kuk Innovation Party.

Speaking to reporters after the party’s Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly, Lee stated, “You can’t run politics like you’re in the same Chinese restaurant but using two different phones.”

Yonhap News Agency

He also brought up the fact that the Cho Kuk Innovation Party rejected a proposal for the opposition parties to jointly sponsor the special prosecutor bill regarding the Democratic Party’s candidate nomination bribery allegations.

Lee remarked, “When we previously suggested cooperating on the special prosecutor issue, I believe we were questioning the Cho Kuk Innovation Party’s identity as an opposition party. By effectively expressing their refusal at that time, the Cho Kuk Innovation Party likely came to be seen by many citizens as a party that wants to become the Democratic Party’s junior partner.”

He continued, “The People Power Party and the Reform Party have clear and distinct positions on martial law. There has been talk about linking an election alliance to joint efforts on the special prosecutor investigations into the Unification Church and the Democratic Party’s nomination bribery allegations, but we have never considered such an alliance, and from our perspective, there is no reason to form an election alliance.”