Woo Sang-ho: "Merger with Open Democratic Party is meaningless after the presidential election... Will be finalized within this year"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Woo Sang-ho, the representative of the Democratic Party in the merger negotiations with the Open Democratic Party, said regarding the timing of the merger, "After the presidential election, it does not hold much significance. It is desirable to complete all procedures within this year if possible."

Woo held a press conference at the National Assembly in the afternoon and said, "The Democratic Party and the Open Democratic Party are parties that do not have significant differences in policy lines and ideology," adding, "Although we had to form different parties due to unavoidable circumstances during the last general election, overcoming small differences to unify into a larger Democratic Party is necessary for winning the presidential election."

He explained, "If the two parties merge, the integration of their support bases will occur, so I believe the synergy effect will not be insignificant," and added, "As analyzed by various media, the support rate for presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is currently stagnant. The Democratic Party is at a stage where it must make efforts to ally with forces that will join together and broaden the structure."

Regarding the negotiations, he said, "The main goal is to expand the outreach to the centrist voters," and added, "The integration of supporters is better the sooner it happens. The integration of supporters and the expansion of outreach to the center are not separate issues. The integration of the support base must be settled first to establish the foundation for outreach expansion."

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