All Appointed Party Officials of People Power Party Resign... Three Days After Crushing Defeat in Gangseo By-election (Comprehensive)

8 Resignations Including Park Dae-chul, Lee Cheol-gyu, Park Sung-min, Bae Hyun-jin
Kim Ki-hyun to Announce Successor Tomorrow

All appointed party officials of the People Power Party resigned three days after the crushing defeat in the Gangseo District Mayor by-election.

Park Dae-chul, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, is attending the Party-Government Consultation on the Five Major Tasks of Youth Welfare Policy held at the National Assembly on the 19th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the 14th, People Power Party Chief Spokesperson Yu Sang-beom stated, "All appointed party officials are resigning for the stability and better development of the party."

The officials who voluntarily resigned that day included all leadership members except Party Leader Kim Ki-hyun, Floor Leader Yoon Jae-ok, and the elected Supreme Council members (Kim Byung-min, Cho Soo-jin, Kim Ga-ram, Jang Ye-chan). All were party officials appointed by Leader Kim.

Policy Committee Chairman Park Dae-chul, Secretary-General Lee Cheol-gyu, and Deputy Head of Strategic Planning Park Sung-min each announced their resignation intentions via Facebook that day. Chairman Park wrote, "The Republic of Korea must move forward," adding, "I will step down for the responsible development of the party."

Secretary-General Lee said, "I have decided to resign for the party's stability and progressive leap," and "I sincerely hope the party will unite quickly to meet the expectations of party members and the public."

Additionally, eight people including Organization Deputy Head Bae Hyun-jin, Yeouido Research Institute Director Park Soo-young, appointed Supreme Council member Kang Dae-sik, and Chief Spokespersons Yu Sang-beom and Kang Min-guk decided to resign. It was reported that the non-affiliated spokesperson group will retain their positions.

Kim Tae-woo, the People Power Party candidate for the Gangseo District Mayor by-election (center), and Lee Cheol-gyu, Secretary General (fourth from the right), are calmly waiting for the election results with supporters at the campaign office in Magok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on the evening of the 11th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The collective resignation of party officials appears to be a measure to take responsibility for the defeat in the Gangseo District Mayor by-election.

Following the crushing defeat by the Democratic Party of Korea in this by-election, which was seen as a gauge for next April's general election, concerns about the metropolitan area elections and leadership accountability arose both inside and outside the party.

Leader Kim is reportedly planning to appoint successors without delay over the weekend.

The People Power Party convened a party members' meeting on the 15th to discuss party reform measures ahead of next year's general election.

At this meeting, it is expected that they will announce reform measures including the appointment of party officials, the launch of the general election planning team, the formation of an innovation committee, and the inauguration of a talent recruitment committee.