Kim Min-seok criticizes Jeong Cheong-rae's approach to pursuing a merger, foreshadowing the establishment of a unification body

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Minseok criticized the way rival lawmaker Jung Chungrae pushed ahead with the merger process with the Rebuilding Korea Party, ahead of his run in the party convention on August 17. In an interview on the YouTube channel "Kim Eojun's Humble Is Hard News Factory" on the 8th, Rep. Kim said the matter had become tangled because it was handled in a "bombshell announcement" style. He said major matters such as a merger should first undergo workinglevel discussions and internal public discussion within the party, adding that if he had been party leader, he would not have handled it in the same way. He also said that if elected, he would immediately set up an organization in charge of integration, solidarity, and expansion. Rep. Kim said that solidarity is needed with other parties in the progressive camp, while integration is needed with parties that share the same roots. He also argued that coordination between the party and the government had not gone smoothly during Jung Chungrae's leadership, and that the party bore greater responsibility for the recent decline in the party's approval rating.