The Rebuilding Korea Party said it would decide whether to merge with the Democratic Party of Korea based on the will of all party members, and it would delegate full authority over merger-related talks to leader Cho Kuk.
On the 26th in the morning, the Rebuilding Korea Party held an executive committee meeting at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises building in Yeouido, Seoul, and made this decision.
Park Byung-eon, Spokesperson for the Rebuilding Korea Party, met with reporters after the executive committee ended and said, "We decided to determine whether to merge based on the collective will of party members and grounded in the party's independent vision, values, and policies," adding, "Full authority over talks related to the Democratic Party of Korea's proposal will be delegated to the party leader."
He added, "The executive committee held a serious and at times sharply divided debate for and against the Democratic Party of Korea's merger proposal," and noted, "From the Democratic Party of Korea's standpoint, it is a proposal that could be withdrawn in some cases, so there was an opinion that our party should not be swayed too much."
Park also said, "A merger has not happened now, and it seems we cannot prepare for the local elections on the premise that the Democratic Party of Korea's current proposal will necessarily lead to a merger. The possibility of a breakdown remains open," adding, "Our party will proceed as scheduled with the local election preparations that were originally in place."
He continued, "It is highly inappropriate for the Democratic Party of Korea, which first proposed the merger, to make remarks as if it were premised on an absorption-type merger," and emphasized, "There was also criticism in the executive committee that Democratic Party of Korea Secretary-General Cho Seung-rae's act of unilaterally announcing 'within two months' is inappropriate, given that a merger involves a partner."