Hong Jun-pyo on Withdrawing Reform New Party Merger: "Charcoal and Ice Cannot Mix"

Quoting the idiom 'Bingtanbulsangyong'
"It should not have been justified for survival"

Regarding the withdrawal of the merger declaration just 11 days after the unification announcement by Lee Nak-yeon, co-chair of the Reform New Party, Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo indirectly criticized it by saying, "Bingtanbulsangyong (氷炭不相容 - ice and coal cannot coexist)."

On the 20th, Mayor Hong wrote on his Facebook, "This idiom came to mind while watching the collapse of the Reform New Party." Bingtanbulsangyong refers to two objects or people with opposing natures or situations, meaning that they cannot be combined because their goals are too different.

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu Photo by Yonhap News

Mayor Hong expressed regret, saying, "There was too little time for forces with different paths to merge," and "It should have been a unification with the same direction, not a merger for individual survival."

On the same day, Lee Nak-yeon held a press conference at the National Assembly and declared a split with co-chair Lee Jun-seok. This came just 11 days after third-zone new parties such as New Future (Lee Nak-yeon), Reform New Party (Lee Jun-seok and Yang Hyang-ja), Principle and Common Sense (Jo Eung-cheon and Lee Won-wook), and New Choice (Geum Tae-seop) announced their unification.

Lee Nak-yeon, co-representative of the Reform New Party, declared the withdrawal of the merger on the 20th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the sudden split, Lee Nak-yeon explained, "The poor decision on unification led to a shameful outcome," adding, "The agenda to grant full election authority to one co-chair was forcibly passed by a vote at the Supreme Council meeting (the day before). As the agreement was broken and the spirit of democracy was damaged, the maintenance of the unification was also threatened."

He further added, "We have no choice but to return to the state before the unification agreement."

The day before, the Reform New Party forcibly passed an agenda at the Supreme Council to delegate election policy decision-making authority to co-chair Lee Jun-seok. This was an agenda that Lee Nak-yeon had publicly opposed. During the process, it was reported that Lee Nak-yeon and Supreme Council member Kim Jong-min, from Lee Nak-yeon's side, stormed out of the meeting, escalating the confrontation.

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