Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the main opposition People Power Party, attends a party meeting Monday after Oh Se-hoon called for the party to change and said he would not seek its nomination for the June 3 Seoul mayoral election. Behind him is Rep. Bae Hyun-jin, one of the lawmakers at odds with the party’s current leadership. Yonhap
Spurred into action by an unprecedented lack of bids from hopefuls seeking the People Power Party (PPP) ticket for the June 3 local elections, the main opposition party moved to distance itself from former President Yoon Suk Yeol. In a resolution adopted unanimously, the party said it "opposed the return of Yoon" and again apologized for his martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024.
The resolution from Yoon’s former party comes more than a year after the start of the political crisis. The time the conservative party took to respond suggests entrenched interests within its ranks. By responding to calls for a change in party leadership that emerged during Monday’s discussion, the PPP could signal that its effort to redefine its relevance to voters is genuine.
Incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who opted out of the PPP nomination race for the mayoralty, assessed the resolution as a “meaningful change.” He added that a baseline had now been set for the elections.
A four-term mayor, Oh is considered a strong contender despite the PPP’s relatively low approval ratings nationwide. Despite the dominance of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in the National Assembly and in public approval, Oh is still seen as having a competitive chance if he runs for reelection.
The most recent poll by Realmeter, released Monday, showed the PPP trailing with a 32.4 percent approval rating, behind the DPK’s 48.1 percent. Other potential Seoul mayoral contenders — Rep. Na Kyung-won, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and first-term Rep. Shin Dong-uk — also opted out of the party’s nomination race.
The PPP leadership must now translate the resolution into action to redefine its relevance to the public, after months of crisis and mayhem.
“The nation and the People Power Party cannot return to the past,” the resolution said. The conservative party now has to walk the talk. In practical terms, the party must present viable candidates and policy pledges, especially as the DPK fields multiple hopefuls.
In the key race for the Seoul mayoralty, five candidates have registered for the DPK nomination contest, including Jeong Won-oh, head of Seongdong District. Korea has long been accustomed to two major parties vying for power while maintaining a political balance. At the current rate, that long-standing dynamic could shift, with the ruling party facing a fragmented field of opposition groups.
The PPP leadership under Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, a former judge who has led the party since August 2025, has taken a myopic approach by courting hardcore PPP supporters, some of whom rallied around the slogan “Yoon Again.”
Source: Korea Times News
