Son Hak-kyu, Barunmirae Party to Push for Proportional Representative Expulsion on 18th Amid 3-Party Merger Halt

Son: "Honam New Party Must Not Revert to Old Practices"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 17th, Bareunmirae Party lawmakers held a party meeting and agreed to push for the expulsion of proportional representation lawmakers after Representative Sohn Hak-kyu effectively rejected the three-party merger of the Bareunmirae Party, the Party for Democracy and Peace, and the Alternative New Party.

Bareunmirae Party lawmakers Park Joo-sun, Joo Seung-yong, Kim Dong-cheol, Kwon Eun-hee, Kim Sam-hwa, Kim Soo-min, Kim Jung-ro, Shin Yong-hyun, Lee Dong-seop, Lee Tae-gyu, Lim Jae-hoon, Chae Yi-bae, and Choi Do-ja met at Joo Seung-yong’s office, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, and announced that they plan to hold a party meeting on the 18th to submit the issue of expelling proportional representation lawmakers.

Lawmaker Joo Seung-yong said, "We want to hold the party meeting even today, but to urge Representative Sohn’s decision, we decided to wait just one more day and hold the meeting tomorrow. We will listen to the opinions of all 11 proportional representation lawmakers and submit the expulsion motion."

Earlier, after the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, Representative Sohn told reporters, "The ratification of the three-party agreement is a sensitive issue, and we need to broadly gather opinions from the public and party members, so the review has been postponed. For now, it will be postponed until the next Supreme Council meeting."

Representative Sohn emphasized, "Regionalism for electoral convenience cannot be our choice. The founding of a Honam New Party can never be a new event. Our politics must not regress to old habits. When the centrist reform forces firmly uphold the third way and take the lead in political reform and generational change, we will be able to receive the people's choice in the general election."

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