The Rebuilding Korea Party said that, regarding talks of a merger with the Democratic Party of Korea after the June 3 local elections, the process can proceed smoothly only if Cho Kuk, who is running in the Pyeongtaek B by-election for the National Assembly, wins. The intensifying contest between candidate Cho and Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Yong-nam is expected to affect the two parties' merger talks after the local elections.
Lee Hae-min, head of general operations for the Rebuilding Korea Party's election committee, said at a press briefing at the National Assembly on the morning of the 1st, "Considering the political landscape after the local elections, if we think about the meaning of unification built together with the Lee Jae-myung administration, it seems that only if candidate Cho wins can that value be realized in the quickest time."
She added, "Merger talks between the Rebuilding Korea Party and the Democratic Party of Korea were first raised by the Democratic Party of Korea in January, and the Rebuilding Korea Party has responded in an orderly and calm manner until now," noting, "Discussions about the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration are where the merger talk comes up."
The chief of general operations also said, "Whether merger talks continue and which candidate wins are vastly different," adding, "How rough the merger process will be, and therefore, whoever must take responsibility for the outcome, whatever it may be, is where it ends up."
She went on, "In Pyeongtaek, the values of chasing power and money by a person (candidate Kim Yong-nam) in whom no value of the democratic camp can be found are being laid bare before everyone," adding, "A candidate who was with the People Power Party, then the Reform Party, a chameleon-like former prosecutor who shopped for party affiliation here and there, chasing influence and nominations."
The contest between the Democratic Party of Korea and the Rebuilding Korea Party over Pyeongtaek B in Gyeonggi Province is intensifying. On May 31, Cho Seung-rae, the Democratic Party of Korea's chief general election director, labeled candidate Cho a "fake Democratic Party of Korea candidate." In response, candidate Cho countered that it was "politics of 'small gain' obsessed only with personal politics at the expense of the greater good."