[Reporter’s Notebook] Is the People Power Party Relying on Lee Jae-myung’s Legal Risks as Its Winning Strategy for the General Election?

Ruling Party Begins Full-Scale Preparations for General Election
Still Unable to Shake Off 'Prosecutor Nomination' Allegations
Should Heed the Warning About Being the 'Less Backward Force'

The People Power Party has formed a Special Committee for Organizational Strengthening (JoGangTeukwi) and has begun full-scale preparations for next year's parliamentary general election. The JoGangTeukwi is responsible for reorganizing party branches with vacant chairpersons and appointing organizational chairpersons who can secure advantageous positions in the upcoming primary elections. However, criticism has already emerged that the committee is dominated by 'Pro-Yoon (Pro-Yoon Seok-yeol)' members.

Earlier, the party leadership, at the nationwide party members' council chairpersons' workshop held on the 2nd to reaffirm their determination to win next year's general election, prominently called out the name of a particular top committee candidate, giving the impression of favoritism. The party atmosphere is already unsettled due to concerns over so-called 'prosecutor primaries' and 'directive primaries' in the upcoming election, yet the leadership itself displayed behavior that undermines fairness.

Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, is greeting at the National Party Committee Chairpersons Workshop held on the 2nd at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On that day, Secretary-General Lee Cheol-gyu reassured the party branch chairpersons by saying, "There are rumors about the primaries, but the painful history of our party's past mistakes will never be repeated," yet few branch chairpersons took his words at face value.

As Secretary-General Lee stated, the People Power Party has suffered from 'primary nightmares' in every past general election. In the 2016 20th general election, close aides of former President Park Geun-hye, including self-proclaimed 'Jinbak (true pro-Park Geun-hye) identifiers,' manipulated the primaries, leading to defeat by the Democratic Party. In the 2020 21st general election, which was touted as a 'reform primary,' the Democratic Party swept 180 seats in a landslide victory.

Nevertheless, the party leadership still refuses to remove the 'Pro-Yoon label' that could fuel internal conflicts because they have a trusted backing. The opposition faces setbacks such as the legal risks of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, allegations of money envelopes within the Democratic Party, and suspicions of cryptocurrency investments involving lawmaker Kim Nam-guk. In political circles, the sarcastic remark "The ruling party's winning strategy for the general election is leader Lee Jae-myung, and the opposition's winning card is President Yoon Seok-yeol" is often heard.

However, the People Power Party cannot afford to leisurely rely solely on Lee Jae-myung's legal risks. Recent various opinion polls (for detailed information, refer to the National Election Commission website) show that the party's approval rating has been stuck in the mid-30% range for several months.

Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook, who spoke as a lecturer at the party branch chairpersons' workshop, displayed photos of Lee Jae-myung and former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk on a large screen, calling them "our party's benefactors," and said, "Thanks to them, the People Power Party is perceived as the less backward force." The party should pay attention to this pointed joke about being the 'less backward force.'