Reform Party vows to stand alone and rebuild under new leadership

South Korea’s Reform Party says it will continue alone rather than compromise with established interests, as it tries to recover from a leadership vacuum and a series of internal setbacks.

Acting party leader and floor leader Chun Ha-ram apologized at a news conference at the National Assembly on Aug. 31. Former leader Lee Jun-seok’s resignation left the party without a permanent leadership team, and Chun said the party would calmly prepare a convention to elect its successors under its rules.

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The Reform Party will continue its lonely path rather than make an unjust compromise with vested interests.

Chun called the previous local election result a heavy and shocking outcome, describing it as a serious warning that threatened the party’s foundation. He said the party should have responded with fundamental changes and deep reflection, but failed to do so before further problems followed, including what he called the Jeong Yi-han staged-incident controversy.

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The Reform Party now stands before the biggest crisis since its founding. But we cannot stop amid this confusion.

He also apologized to Busan residents and the public over Jeong Yi-han’s nomination, saying he took responsibility as chairman of the nomination management committee for the local elections. Chun said Lee had worked harder than anyone to find a way through the crisis and propose renewal measures. He also acknowledged his own failure to push reform discussions further or manage the crisis flexibly.

The acting leader said the party now faced its biggest crisis since its founding but could not stop amid the disorder. The incoming leadership would pursue more forceful reform and build the organization and strategy needed for victory in the 2028 general election. Chun also said the party must continue serving people’s livelihoods despite its internal troubles. “The Reform Party will continue its lonely path rather than make an unjust compromise with vested interests,” he said, urging voters and members not to withdraw their support.

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We will start again, looking only to the people, with the same mindset we had when we founded the Reform Party.