On April 4th, the Democratic Party of Korea announced the formation of a 'Preparation Committee for Alliance and Integration' to pursue discussions regarding a merger with the Justice Innovation Party. This decision was revealed by Park Soo-hyun, the party's chief spokesperson, following a Supreme Council meeting, where he confirmed that this committee will focus on alliance activities with the Innovation Party and other political parties as well as civic organizations.

When questioned about whether the committee would discuss local election alliance issues raised by the Innovation Party, Park indicated that all relevant topics would be included in the discussions. However, he specified that this does not require a commitment to concrete electoral negotiation plans, such as district allocations for local elections, at this stage, stating that while discussions could occur in the future if needed, they do not intend to characterize the committee as an all-encompassing electoral alliance body.

The formation of this committee comes after Democratic Party leader Jeong Cheong-rae proposed to halt merger talks with the Innovation Party last month but suggested focusing on integration efforts after the local elections. Although the Innovation Party accepted the establishment of the committee, its leader, Jo Guk, has urged clarification on whether the Democratic Party's proposed alliances pertain to local elections or remain vague general promises. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, has indicated that a loose form of collaboration would be sufficient, highlighting the differing expectations from both sides regarding the nature and substance of potential alliances.