Kim Min-seok, Choguk Innovation Party merger in full swing

Kim Min-seok, chairman of the Democratic Party, has requested the formation of an official dialogue channel with the Choguk Innovation Party, formally beginning discussions on grand coalition alliance including the possibility of merger.

According to political circles on the 31st, Chairman Kim stated at a Supreme Council meeting held in the National Assembly that regarding relations with the Choguk Innovation Party, "We have already declared that alliance in broad terms is unconditional," and "no one knows whether the method will be merger or non-merger, but the principle is that we will ally in any case."

He said whether to merge would be left to the judgment of party members of both parties. Chairman Kim stated, "We will process this through democratic procedures while confirming the overwhelming will of party members from both parties," and requested of the Choguk Innovation Party, "If you could designate a channel where we can talk together quickly, I would appreciate it."

Chairman Kim established a Great Integration Promotion Unit directly under the party chairman on the 24th and tasked Representative Park Beom-kye (Daejeon Seo-gu B) with overseeing integration, alliance, and expansion discussions. A Choguk Innovation Party Alliance Division led by Representative Lee Hae-sik (Seoul Gangdong-gu B) was separately organized within the promotion unit.

This can be seen as moving the conditional integration principle presented by Chairman Kim during the party chairmanship primary to official party procedures. During his candidacy, Chairman Kim stated that merger could be pursued if the principles of consent from Democratic Party members and Choguk Innovation Party members, and maintenance of the Democratic Party's name and identity, were met.

Unlike candidate Jung Cheong-rae, who argued for early merger with the Choguk Innovation Party at the time, Chairman Kim demanded speed control, stating that sufficient discussion and party member consent should come first. Even after taking office as chairman, he has not presented merger as a fait accompli, but by establishing a dedicated organization and requesting official negotiations, he has entered the implementation phase of integration and alliance pledges.

Government personnel appointments also coincided with grand coalition alliance movements. President Lee appointed Representative Lee Hae-min of the Choguk Innovation Party as Presidential Office AI Future Planning Senior Secretary, and as the Democratic Party has made inter-party alliance and merger possibilities official, the party and government are showing signs of keeping pace in expanding the grand coalition.

Chairman Kim also praised the previous day's cabinet reshuffle as "the beginning of a very important change in national governance direction," stating "taking this reshuffle as an opportunity, we will accelerate the pace of alliance significantly."

The Choguk Innovation Party kept the door open for alliance while resisting Democratic Party-centered integration methods. This was because the Democratic Party established a "Choguk Innovation Party Alliance Division" in the Great Integration Promotion Unit without prior consultation, and linked the issue of relaxing negotiating group requirements to merger.

Shin Jang-sik, chairman of the Choguk Innovation Party, said on the radio on the 26th that he "first heard about the establishment of the alliance division from the media," and stated "when I talked about reform, it sounded like you wanted to haggle, and honestly I was uncomfortable."

Chairman Shin stated, "We will compete on reform, cooperate on people's livelihoods, and ally without any gaps in protecting democracy," while emphasizing that "trust-recovery measures are necessary before that." Drawing a line regarding the possibility of Democratic Party-centered absorption merger, he stated, "If it's done that way, I have no intention of entering into a mixed-party alliance."

전시언 기자 yourside@news-s.kr