Chairman Park Hyung-jun: "Difficult to Integrate with Uri Party... 'Anpung' Has No New Party Effect"

Park Hyung-jun, Chairman of the Integrated New Party Promotion Committee. / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Jeon Jin-young] Park Hyung-jun, co-chairman of the Unified New Party Preparatory Committee (Tongjunwi), expressed that integration with so-called 'far-right' parties such as Uri Party is practically difficult. However, he left open the possibility of an indirect alliance for the general election. Regarding Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the National Party (tentative name) preparatory committee, and his attempt to establish a new party, Park dismissed it as having 'no new party effect.' He emphasized that maintaining the existing leadership framework is the best approach concerning the leadership of the unified new party currently under discussion.

On the 11th, in an interview with Asia Economy, Park stated, "The six principles of the Innovation Integration Promotion Committee (Hyuktongwi) include the three principles proposed by the New Conservative Party, and those gathered for integration currently agree with these principles." He added, "The Uri Party refuses to abide by the six principles themselves, so we cannot say, 'Let's break the principles and integrate.' While the option of an alliance in the general election is open, it is an issue to be discussed once the election committee is formed."

Since last month, Park, who has served as chairman of Hyuktongwi, has been leading the process of integrating centrists and conservatives. He also serves as co-chairman of the Unified New Party Preparatory Committee, launched on the 6th, focusing on achieving consensus among integration parties. His primary goal is to unite forces opposing the government and ruling party, expanding the base not only among conservatives but also centrists. Recently, he has recruited many centrists classified as 'former Ahn Cheol-soo faction.'

Regarding Ahn's attempt to form a new party, Park dismissed it as having "no new party effect," diagnosing that "the general election phase is becoming polarized. Within this, the position of third forces inevitably becomes very difficult. For example, securing candidates to run in constituencies is crucial."

He predicted that unlike the 2016 general election, the third zone's position will shrink and polarization will intensify in this election. Park said, "Although there are many non-affiliated voters, it is difficult to accurately determine whether these non-affiliated voters support a third party. If there is no third force capable of building a meaningful base, even those in the center will ultimately make strategic choices."

Park defined the decisive theme of this general election as 'regime judgment theory.' He said, "'Opposition judgment theory' does not make sense. Ultimately, it is a matter of judgment versus stability. Supporters who believe the ruling party should be backed to stabilize governance and opponents who think the ruling party has failed and should be judged are divided."

Park Hyung-jun, Chairman of the Integrated New Party Promotion Committee. / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Even if centrists and conservatives unite after great effort, without innovation, they will inevitably be ignored by the public. In this regard, 'innovative candidate selection' has emerged as a key task for the unified new party. Park highly evaluated the neutrality of the Korean Party's candidate selection committee and proposed reorganizing and expanding the unified new party's candidate selection committee based on this. He said, "This Korean Party candidate selection committee was formed neutrally, excluding past quota-based candidate selections and integration, and unrelated to Representative Hwang Kyo-ahn. Since the 'Kim Hyung-o candidate selection committee' possesses neutrality, fairness, and reformative qualities, we basically acknowledge that and suggest reorganizing or reinforcing it to reflect the meaning of integration."

Park plans to launch the unified new party as early as the 16th and immediately begin forming the election committee. He explained, "There is little time left, so the election committee must be formed by the end of the month. The candidate selection committee should discuss the basic plan and submit it to the new unified party's decision-making body." Regarding the leadership system of the unified new party, he said, "After the general election, a new leadership can be formed entirely through elections. Realistically, the current leadership framework cannot be dismantled now. We must proceed in a way that both sides recognize and preserve the meaning of integration."

Regarding the integration movement of the three Honam-based parties, he analyzed, "This is an integration to rebuild the entire conservative camp, and it is an integration aimed at surviving the election, so its nature is different. It is uncertain whether it will have influence in Honam, but except for a few with individual skills, it is not easy to survive in Honam."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.