There Was No 'Won Yu-cheol's Rebellion'... After Twists and Turns, a Proper Merger with the Korean Party

Won Yoo-chul, leader of the Future Korea Party, is entering the conference room on the 22nd at the National Assembly to hold a meeting with elected members to discuss the merger with the United Future Party. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] There was no 'Won Yu-cheol's Rebellion' following the 'Han Seon-kyo's Rebellion.' The United Future Party and the Future Korea Party agreed on June 22 to merge. They decided to cancel the party convention that was supposed to discuss extending the party leader's term and to merge on the 29th instead.

The Future Korea Party held an executive meeting that morning and resolved to complete the merger by the 29th.

The party convention tentatively scheduled for the 26th was canceled, and instead, a joint meeting of current lawmakers and elected members was planned to gather consensus. The term of Representative Won, which expires on the 29th, will not be extended.

The Future Korea Party, which started as a proportional satellite party of the United Future Party, had previously experienced internal strife during the candidate nomination process. This was the so-called 'Han Seon-kyo's Rebellion.' The Future Korea Party's nomination committee finalized a list of proportional representation candidates excluding many of the United Future Party's recruited talents from winning positions, which caused strong opposition within the United Future Party. Eventually, on March 19, former Representative Han resigned, and a new list including the United Future Party's recruited talents in winning positions was created, resolving the conflict for the time being.

However, while the United Future Party suffered a crushing defeat in the general election, the Future Korea Party unexpectedly won 19 seats, creating another source of discord. Opinions began to gain traction that there was no need to rush the merger between the United Future Party and the Future Korea Party. If the United Future Party dispatched lawmakers to the Future Korea Party, or independent lawmakers joined, or if they allied with the Party of the People, another negotiation group could be formed. This would allow two negotiation groups to check the 'super-majority ruling party' with 180 seats and also receive regular subsidies for negotiation groups.

This sentiment began to surface externally when Representative Won criticized Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who urged the merger, saying, "Please stop 'internal interference' in the Future Korea Party." Although this was a message to the Democratic Party, it was also taken seriously within the United Future Party. Former Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo urged a swift merger on Facebook, saying, "Representative Won Yu-cheol, please do not follow in the footsteps of senior Son Hak-gyu."

Newly appointed floor leader Joo Ho-young, who returned after a sudden bereavement, expressed his intention to promptly push for the merger with the Future Korea Party. However, the Future Korea Party caused a stir by attempting to extend Representative Won's term. Eventually, Floor Leader Joo and Representative Won met on the 14th and agreed to merge quickly, but the Future Korea Party still showed a lukewarm attitude toward the merger. Representative Won also hinted at an independent course by posting on Facebook, stating, "The Korea Party is the third party with 20 current lawmakers and 19 elected members in the 21st National Assembly."

It was the elected members and party officials of the Future Korea Party and the United Future Party who stopped his independent course. The Future Korea Party's elected members agreed to merge unconditionally within May and conveyed this intention to the leadership. The United Future Party's elected members and officials from both parties' secretariats also voiced a unified opinion. The Future Korea Party leadership, which had said until the day before that "merging within May is difficult," eventually held an executive meeting on the morning of the 22nd and resolved to merge.

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