DPK puts brakes on merger plans with Rebuilding Korea Party, for now

Jung Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, heads to his office after a closed-door general meeting of party lawmakers at the National Assembly, Tuesday, to discuss a potential merger with the Rebuilding Korea Party. Yonhap

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has decided to pause its push to merge with the minor Rebuilding Korea Party, concluding that moving ahead before the June 3 local elections would be impractical.

The decision followed a closed-door meeting of DPK lawmakers held Tuesday at the National Assembly. After hours of discussion, most lawmakers concluded that, while party integration might be justified in principle, the timing was inappropriate given mounting internal tensions.

Park Soo-hyun, the party’s chief spokesperson, said the meeting reflected growing concern that the merger debate itself had become divisive.

“Even if the proposal to merge with the Rebuilding Korea Party was made with sincere intentions to support the Lee Jae Myung administration’s policy agenda, lawmakers shared the view that the process has ended up fueling internal conflict,” Park told reporters after the meeting.

He added that lawmakers asked the leadership to “bring the discussion to a swift conclusion” by reflecting the outcome of the meeting.

According to party officials, only a small number of lawmakers argued for pressing ahead with a merger before the local elections. Many instead favored postponing the issue until after June 3, while others suggested exploring looser forms of cooperation, such as electoral coordination, rather than a full organizational merger.

Veteran lawmaker Park Jie-won, who had previously supported closer ties with the minor party, also urged caution.

“If the party moves toward extreme ideological positions, it will hinder efforts to expand toward the political center,” Park said. “We need to slow down, adjust the pace and revisit this after the local elections.”

Party leader Jung Chung-rae was said to have largely listened to the views of the lawmakers during the meeting. He later indicated that the leadership would consult further and report back at a closed Supreme Council meeting later Tuesday.