Democratic Party Representative Park Jie-won has firmly shut down rumors of former Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok joining the Democratic Party. Appearing on YTN Radio on August 31, 2026, Park stated flatly, “The Democratic Party will absolutely not accept Lee Jun-seok,” adding that the party leadership would agree with this stance. He effectively cut off the scenarios of an opposition coalition or recruitment that had been circulating in political circles following Lee’s recent resignation from his party leadership position.

Coincidentally, on the same day, Reform Party floor leader and acting head Chun Ha-ram held a press conference to reaffirm the party’s independent path, stating there would be no mergers with other parties. With both sides choosing to keep a clear distance from merger or recruitment rumors, talk of a political realignment in the opposition seems to have lost its steam.

The reason the Reform Party is drawing such a line and focusing on internal stability is the aftermath of a bizarre self-staged scandal that recently rocked the party. During the press conference, acting leader Chun officially apologized for the “matcha latte assault hoax” perpetrated by former candidate Jung Yi-han during the Busan mayoral election. Investigations revealed that Jung had plotted the fake attack with a gym trainer to boost his low public profile, even going so far as to script the attacker's lines.

The grand scenario of political realignment has been put on hold for now, suppressed by Park Jie-won’s ironclad defense and the Reform Party’s painful self-reflection. It remains to be seen what path former leader Lee Jun-seok will chart as he ventures out on his own, caught between a Reform Party struggling to overcome an unprecedented hoax scandal and a Democratic Party that has firmly locked its doors.

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