Unified Party's New Name and Platform to Be Decided Next Week... Voices Pointing Out 'Procedural Legitimacy' Concerns

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The new party name and platform of the United Future Party will be decided next week. The existing party name, decided upon during the merger last February, will disappear into history after just half a year. However, there are also criticisms within the party regarding procedural legitimacy.

The United Future Party will hold an online National Committee meeting on the 2nd of next month to decide the new party name and platform. The party’s Emergency Committee resolved in a video conference on the 29th to hold the Standing National Committee on the 1st and the National Committee on the 2nd of next month. Multiple candidates for the new party name will be reported to the Emergency Committee on the 31st of this month, and after gathering opinions within the party through meetings such as the parliamentary caucus, the final proposal will be submitted to the National Committee.

Due to the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the United Future Party’s schedule was once put on an 'all-stop,' but the plan is to proceed without postponing the Standing Committee and National Committee by conducting them online and through ARS voting.

If the party name change is finalized at the National Committee on the 2nd of next month, the existing party name will disappear into history after about half a year. Conservative parties, which had repeatedly split after the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, made a fresh start as the 'United Future Party' on February 17th ahead of the general election, but the merger effect faded due to the election defeat.

There was also public opposition to the tone of the existing party name. Former Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo pointed out on Facebook, "When our party name was first decided as MiTongDang (United Future Party), I questioned why it had to be MiTongDang." He added, "In legal terms, 'MiTong' is an abbreviation for 미결통산 (pending total), used in criminal rulings to indicate the number of days pending in each judgment document, which could give the mistaken impression that we are all defendants who have been detained and prosecuted."

To decide the new party name, the United Future Party held a public contest from the 13th to the 21st of this month. Among the approximately 16,000 submissions, the word 'Gukmin' (People) appeared most frequently with about 3,300 entries, followed by words like Freedom, Korea, and Future. Within the party, names in verb or sentence form, rather than the typical '~Dang' (Party) style, are also being considered.

However, there are voices raising concerns about procedural legitimacy, arguing that the revision of the platform and policies is being conducted without in-depth discussion. United Future Party lawmaker Jang Je-won criticized on Facebook on the 29th, "They say they will convene the National Committee online on September 2nd to revise the platform and policies. The floor leadership is hurriedly considering how to hold the parliamentary caucus," adding, "Is it possible to set the National Committee schedule first and then worry about when and how to hold the parliamentary caucus?"

He said, "Whether intoxicated by a sudden rise in approval ratings or flustered by a drop, the Emergency Committee’s arbitrary actions are going too far," and added, "At this point, it is realistically impossible to hold a proper parliamentary caucus."

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