People Power Party Non-Lawmakers Urge Jang Donghyuk, Who Refused to 'Sever Ties with Yoon', to Resign

"The Only Path to Return to the People"

Twenty-five current constituency association heads of the People Power Party who are not members of the National Assembly and others have called on party leader Jang Donghyuk to step down, after he refused to 'sever ties with Yoon' despite former President Yoon Sukyeol being sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial.

Jang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, is greeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on Feb. 20, 2026, ahead of announcing his position regarding the first-instance sentencing of former president Yoon Sukyeol. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

In a statement released on February 21, they said, "Stop pushing the party further into the quagmire of alienation from public sentiment and resign," adding, "Only that path will truly allow our conservative camp to return to the side of the people."

They said, "We can never agree with the anti-constitutional perception that disparages the court's ruling on the December 3 martial law by talking about so-called traces of conscience," and criticized, "A leadership that labels critical forces as 'targets that must be cut off' and divides party members only amounts to self-destructive isolation that locks the People Power Party inside a closed fortress of its own making."

They continued, "Immediately stop the hypocrisy of deceiving the people and party members by wrapping one-man rule that goes against public sentiment in the packaging of unity."

Signing the statement were constituency association heads including former Supreme Council member Kim Jonghyeok, who was expelled from the People Power Party, former Vice President for Organization Ham Kyunggu, as well as Kim Kyungjin (Seoul Dongdaemun B), Kim Geunsik (Seoul Songpa C), Oh Sinhwan (Seoul Gwangjin B), Lee Jaeyoung (Seoul Gangdong B), Jang Jinyoung (Seoul Dongjak A), Choi Donik (Anyang Manan), and Ham Ungyeong (Seoul Mapo B).

At a press conference the previous day, Jang directly refuted the first-instance ruling on former President Yoon, which held that the December 3 martial law amounted to insurrection, saying that "the presumption of innocence must be applied."