Woo Sang-ho and Jeong Bong-ju Push for Unification... Ruling Party Also Accelerates 'Unification' Process

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Woo Sang-ho, the Democratic Party of Korea's preliminary candidate for the Seoul mayoral by-election, expressed on the 7th his intention to unify candidates with Jeong Bong-ju, the Open Democratic Party's preliminary candidate, on the premise of party integration.

After meeting at the National Assembly Members' Office Building that morning, Woo and Jeong announced through a joint agreement, "Recognizing that the roots of both parties are one, we agree on the spirit of integration and will strive to achieve it." In the agreement, the two candidates stated, "We agree on candidate unification based on integration," and "We agree in principle to proceed with the integration process through leadership decisions and a vote by all party members according to each party's constitution and regulations."

The two candidates agreed that since the integration of the Democratic Party and the Open Democratic Party requires decisions by the leadership and consultation with party members, integration will be pursued before the election, but if difficult, only a declaration of integration will be made.

Woo said on the day, "Now is the time to prepare for victory in the by-election and for regaining power, so both parties must forget all past minor grievances and join hands on a larger scale," adding, "The opposition is pushing for a politically engineered candidate unification, and if it succeeds, we cannot guarantee our party's victory." Jeong also said, "In the Seoul mayoral election, candidates should be evaluated by citizens based on their pledges, but the democratic-progressive camp supporters should not remain divided into two parties," emphasizing, "Only integration and unity are the way to survive."

Accordingly, once the final candidates of the Democratic Party and the Open Democratic Party are selected, discussions on unifying the Seoul mayoral candidates of the two parties are expected to accelerate.

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