Jeong Cheongrae, Kim Minseok Pushes Back on 'Merger with Rebuilding Korea Party by January'... "Setting a Deadline Won't Help"

Emphasized procedures for gathering views within the party
Han Minsu also pushed back on social media

Kim Minseok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, pushed back against former party leader Jeong Cheong-rae’s call to complete a merger with the Rebuilding Korea Party by January next year. Citing, among other things, the suspension of the proposed merger before the local elections because of procedural issues, he said, “Many people seem to think that setting a deadline like that will not actually help.”

Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea October 14, 2026 Reporter Yoon Dong-ju

On the 3rd, Kim appeared on “Minty 07,” a program on the Democratic Party’s official YouTube channel, Democratic Party TV, and stressed the importance of procedure in discussions about a merger. He said, “A party’s merger or dissolution is a decision that most fundamentally reflects party members’ sovereignty, and it requires the most unified consensus among them. The distribution of members’ views matters, as do the process and procedures. In that respect, regardless of whether a merger was the right move during former leader Jeong’s tenure, I think the merger discussions went awry because they were conducted as a unilateral announcement, apart from the process of checking and gathering party members’ views, and because the process and procedures were disregarded.”

Earlier, former leader Jeong said on the YouTube channel “Park Si-young TV” that, given the schedule for the general election and other factors, the merger with the Rebuilding Korea Party should be officially completed by January next year.

Kim said, “The essence is the same,” and pointed out, “If this is being raised more as a means of internal party struggle than as part of a serious process and effort to discuss a merger in good faith, then if there really is an intention to merge in January, doing things that way will make the merger considerably more difficult.” He added, “Moreover, taking the discussions in a broader context, we have internal systems and discussions among those in charge about how far we can pursue solidarity, based on the premise that integration and cooperation should be our guiding principles. This includes various forms of cooperation with progressive parties, discussions about forming a negotiating bloc, and policy cooperation with the Rebuilding Korea Party. Many people seem to think that suddenly setting a deadline at this point will not actually help.”

Kim said, “We are checking party members’ views, but it is true that the circumstances have become much more difficult following the controversy over the previous merger proposal and the developments since then.” He added, “For now, we need to do what we can, cooperate where possible, and find areas where we can work together on policies and other matters.” He stressed, “The fundamental principle is that we will create a one-on-one race in the next general election. Whether that leads to a merger is a matter to be discussed after various deliberations and through a process of forming party members’ views.” He said, “I do not think linking other internal party schedules to an arbitrary deadline helps this cause, even for those who want it to happen.”

He added that former leader Jeong should also consider the procedural aspect of asking party members for their views. Kim said, “I think it would have been better if former leader Jeong, who emphasized party members’ sovereignty, had raised the issue while respecting their views and the process and procedures for asking them what they think.”

Meanwhile, Han Minsu, a Democratic Party Supreme Council member known to be aligned with Jeong, wrote on social media, “Everyone who needs to know already knows who opposed the merger proposal early this year, who was behind them, and who ultimately ruined it. Let’s not do this.” He added, “Our party members and supporters watched everything that happened over the past months.”

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