Minor progressive parties seek to unify

Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the minor opposition Justice Party, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

Minor liberal parties seek to unify in the coming months in order to spread their common values more effectively and challenge the two-party system in the general election next year.

Speaking to reporters at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sunday, Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the minor opposition Justice Party, said she will join forces with those who share similar visions, with a plan to finalize the process by the end of October at the latest.

“We will meet with those who agree with the social vision that the Justice Party pursues with a firm determination to challenge the two-party system,” Lee said. “We are seeking to collaborate especially with those in the labor and green activism movements.”

There have been reports that several former members of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea such as Rep. Yang Hyang-ja and Keum Tae-seop, a former lawmaker, have also been moving to create a new party. Yang said she will make her plans official on Monday.

When asked about the possibility of uniting with them under the same tent, Lee dismissed it, saying that their parties share little common ground.

“I want to make it clear that we cannot form a single party just because we oppose the two major parties,” she said. “Given the path they have followed, I hold a very skeptical view (of that possibility).”

Lee did not elaborate on any specific efforts to convince other parties, particularly the Progressive Party, which is deemed to have more pro-North Korea views. This would pose a challenge to her plan.

When all the procedures are finalized “in late September or early October,” she said, the members will be unified under a new party name and identity.