Korean Party, After Twists and Turns... Final Opinion Gathering on Merger Today

Korean Party 'Joint Meeting of Lawmakers and Elected Members'
United Party to Approve at National Committee Tomorrow
Party Name Likely to Be Decided by Emergency Committee

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 26th, the Future Korea Party will reach a consensus on the merger with the United Future Party after many twists and turns. Once the final opinion gathering is completed within the Korea Party, both parties plan to promptly complete the merger process.

Representative Won Yoo-chul, Policy Committee Chairman Kim Ki-sun, and all 19 elected members of the 21st National Assembly will hold a joint meeting of current lawmakers and elected members at the National Assembly in the afternoon. The Korea Party leadership plans to hold an executive meeting immediately after the joint meeting to approve the merger.

The United Future Party decided to hold a national committee meeting, its decision-making body, on the 27th to ratify the merger. Both parties agreed to start practical discussions immediately after the national committee meeting and complete the merger by the 29th. The merger task force said to reporters after a casual meeting held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building the previous afternoon, "If it passes at the United Future Party's national committee, we will set a date and hold a joint meeting of the task force, where we will finalize the registration details for the election management committee for the merger."

United Future Party lawmaker Kim Sang-hoon explained regarding the party name after the merger, "The emergency committee will probably decide on a new party name." Regarding the possibility of adopting a third party name other than the United Future Party and the Korea Party, Kim said, "There probably won't be much discussion about the party name at the joint meeting," adding, "If the party constitution is amended, we will follow it accordingly."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Initially, Representative Won planned to hold a party convention to extend his term as party leader until the end of August, assuming the merger with the United Future Party would not be completed within this month. However, he faced resistance from the United Future Party, elected members, and party officials. At the elected members' workshop on the 21st, the United Future Party resolved to achieve an unconditional merger with the Korea Party by the 29th. On the same day, Korea Party elected members pressured, saying, "The current situation is a commotion caused by Representative Won's personal desire to maintain party power," and agreed on "an unconditional merger within May." Korea Party officials also opposed holding the party convention and began refusing party duties.

Ultimately, the Korea Party leadership, unable to withstand internal and external pressure, canceled the party convention plan, and the merger between the two parties gained momentum. On the 22nd, Representative Won stated, "We are canceling the party convention and shifting to a final stage to listen to the opinions of current lawmakers, elected members, and key party officials," and added, "The Korea Party will resolve to merge with the United Future Party by the 29th."

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