The First Gateway of the Third Zone Big Tent is 'Candidate No. 3'... Possibility of Securing It

Lee Nak-yeon and Lee Jun-seok, two former leaders from the ruling and opposition parties respectively, are launching new parties after leaving their original parties, giving momentum to the formation of a 'big tent' where third-zone forces gather under one roof. The political circle believes that securing the 'number 3' ballot symbol will be crucial for the third forces to gain influence in the general election. This is why the potential alliance between the Reform New Party led by former leader Lee Jun-seok and the group of former Democratic Party members including Lee Nak-yeon, as well as 'Principles and Common Sense' members Kim Jong-min, Lee Won-wook, and Cho Eung-cheon, is drawing attention.

On the morning of the 12th, Lee Jun-seok, Chair of the Reform New Party's Policy Committee, spoke on KBS Radio about the physical merger with the opposition-led new party under the slogan 'unite under number 3.' He said, "We need to assess which force has the mass to gather people at the center," adding, "In drawing the blueprint, there must be a plan that many people can share." While acknowledging that more time is needed for alliance and chemical integration, he left open the possibility of a big tent in the general election and expressed willingness to continue exchanges.

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon and former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok are greeting each other at the joint book launch event held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 9th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

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Earlier, Lee proposed a blueprint for alliance with the opposition-led new party that involves dividing constituencies and proportional representation to avoid conflicts in the election, and a separation model where constituencies run under a single ballot symbol while proportional representation candidates are judged based on their respective party platforms. He believes that this approach would allow the general election to be contested under ballot number 3 while accelerating the pace of alliance among third-zone new parties.

Under the current circumstances, to secure ballot number 3 through a new party alliance, more than seven seats are needed, surpassing the Justice Party which holds six incumbents. The incumbent lawmakers likely to join the third-zone new party alliance include Lee Won-wook, Kim Jong-min, and Cho Eung-cheon from Principles and Common Sense, as well as Yang Hyang-ja, leader of Korea's Hope, totaling four members. If all of them unite and additional incumbents from the People Power Party and the Democratic Party join the new party in the future, securing ballot number 3 is considered possible. On the same morning, former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Yong-nam also joined the Reform New Party. Securing seats through alliance is also practical in terms of real politics, as parties with five or more but fewer than twenty incumbents receive 5% of the state’s regular subsidies.

However, a variable is that former leader Lee Jun-seok’s side does not agree with Lee’s so-called 'loose alliance' proposal. On the same morning’s radio broadcast, Lee Jun-seok explained the third-zone big tent situation, saying, "Completing the final party formation before merging takes a very long time," and "We are at the stage of finding a point where if we come together from a certain time, we are recognized as one party."

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok (from the right), Yang Hyang-ja, leader of Hope for Korea, former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon, and Geum Tae-seop, co-leader of New Choice, are attending Yang's book launch event held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 9th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

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Meanwhile, the 'Principles and Common Sense' lawmakers held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the same day to announce plans to establish a new party tentatively named 'Future Grand Alliance.' Former Justice Party lawmaker Park Won-seok and former Hannara Party (predecessor of People Power Party) lawmaker Jeong Tae-geun also declared their participation. They emphasized, "To break the entrenched politics and change the world, reform forces and future forces must unite and form an alliance." They particularly presented agendas such as ▲responding to new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), ▲solutions to polarization and inequality, and ▲measures for climate crisis, population crisis, and regional extinction. The 'Future Grand Alliance' plans to hold a founding initiator meeting on the 14th and serve as a platform to build the third-zone big tent.

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