Jang Donghyuk Meets Senior Lawmakers... Pressured to Realign Party Line Amid Fears of Election Defeat

Meeting Held with Party Leader on the 26th
Senior Lawmakers Urge Jang to Change Party Line

Jang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, met on the 26th with senior lawmakers who are serving their fourth term or more and listened to their views on the party line. As internal disagreements over whether to "cut ties" with former President Yoon Suk Yeol intensify, senior lawmakers are openly calling on the leadership to realign the party’s course, signaling the full-scale emergence of internal conflict.

After finishing a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the same day, Jang held talks with more than 15 senior lawmakers, including Kim Kimoon, Kim Doeup, Kim Taeho, Kwon Youngse, Na Kyungwon, Park Dae-chul, Park Deokheum, Yoon Sanghyun, Joo Ho-young, Cho Kyungtae, and Cho Bae-sook. The meeting reportedly took place at the request of these senior lawmakers.

Previously, on the 24th, these senior lawmakers held a separate meeting and reached a consensus that, under the current course of the leadership, it would be difficult to secure victory in the upcoming local elections. Representative Lee Jongbae stated that they "shared the view that it would be difficult to fight the upcoming local elections under the current circumstances" and added, "We will gather public sentiment and a range of opinions and deliver them to the party leader."

The core of the conflict is how to define the party’s relationship with former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Immediately after Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial on charges of leading an insurrection, calls for "cutting off Yoon" intensified both inside and outside the party. However, on the 19th, Jang drew a line by criticizing this as "splitting the party." Political circles are interpreting this in effect as a refusal to cut ties with Yoon.

Jang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, is meeting with senior lawmakers at the National Assembly on the 26th. Provided by Yonhap News.

It is reported that, during the meeting, senior lawmakers again stressed the need to adjust the party line in order to secure centrist appeal. Representative Yoon Sanghyun said, "In the end, the ones who gave the ruling party a pretext to attack were us, the People Power Party," adding, "I said we should first acknowledge our own mistakes and publicly ask the people for forgiveness," and continued, "We must swiftly cut through the Gordian knot of martial law, insurrection, and impeachment, and escape from the quagmire of division as quickly as possible."

Representative Na Kyungwon also said, "The Lee Jaemyung administration is trying to completely seize control of the judiciary while blinding and deafening the people with real estate and stocks, yet it is our own party that is even noisier," adding, "We are making discordant noises over the Daegu-Gyeongbuk integration issue, and in the midst of this crisis, some are obsessed only with shallow, self-serving politics. It is regrettable that we are falling into their scheme of sowing discord by our own doing."

Questions are also being raised among first- and second-term lawmakers in the party. Lawmakers close to the pro-Han faction and those belonging to the group "Alternative and Future" have been urging Jang to draw a clear line with the "Yoon Again" camp. There is growing concern that, if internal conflict drags on, the party’s cohesion could weaken ahead of the local elections.

Some observers say that the leadership’s authority is now being put to the test. This is because disagreements over the party line are being openly expressed, making internal fissures visible. Attention is focused on how far Jang will go in accommodating the demands of senior lawmakers through this meeting. Depending on the outcome, the party’s future power structure and its strategy for the local elections are expected to be significantly affected.